Ichiban Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar

Reviews 4

RA

Raeth Fennec

Ichiban is great! Me and my friends love it and I make a point to go at least once a month. Ive taken huge groups there or just a friend and I. Every visit has been pleasant. The couple of one-star reviews are extremely off-base and Id risk saying completely undeserved. Dont let some crazy wannabe Michilin-socialite dissuade you from enjoying this restaurant. There are a couple sushi gems in the Ann Arbor area which are better for quality or price (though none are both), but Ichiban has a pleasant middle-of-the-road atmosphere thats not too uptight but not cheap either. Their food is a little pricey, but their accessible location and reliable slightly-above-average quality is worth it. Their signature rolls are delicious if a little complex, and their chicken and steak are enjoyable just by themselves if you have someone along who doesnt like fish. A few things I love about Ichiban include the tables for two in the back (they have curtains and are raised from the floor by one step.) The bar is sizable, serves alcohol and provides quick sushi with a direct view of their skilled chefs. The hibachi performances are acceptable (on par with similar hibachi experiences such as Benihana) but fun and timely and they make no gripes about ordering sushi at the hibachi grill if you have a group. The hibachi grills can also seat very large groups of 10+ with ease. The wasabi and ginger are always fresh and compliment the fish well. A couple things Im critical of. The dishware is generally not completely spotless, with the exception of the sushi plates. They never tend to be super slow, and it shows that they dont polish plates and dishes, often leaving a few water spots. Personally, this doesnt bother me in the slightest as its not a price point where Id expect impeccable plateware/cutlery. That said, Ive never had any food stuck on one or anything like that. Some of the lunch and dinner combos (Sashimi/Sushi regular) change a lot depending on what they have a lot of in stock. Theyre not terribly explicit that these are "chefs choice", though theyve never had any problem with me asking specifically to NOT have a certain item included. Their nigiri is particularly expensive, which is a shame because I love nigiri! (For the price they charge, you usually get two pieces, though their pieces are larger than normal.)

PA

Paul Johnson

The first problem was the host was very rude, hardly looked at us or spoke to us. We walked in, he picked up some menus and walked away without saying anything, and then looked back when we didnt follow (we werent sure because he didnt say anything or look us in the eye or acknowledge us in any way). Weird and very unfriendly even in a professional way (as opposed to a more genuine warm friendly which I prefer). So then we get seated at the teppanyaki grill. Other than the actual grill itself... the whole grill area was filthy. I mean... filthy. Floor, edges of the table/grill cooking hood, trim on the table... grimy. I could easily and clearly see just under the edge of the grill and there was dripped down heavy residue that was clearly OLD and just left there. All of this dirt and grime was just everywhere and easily and clearly visible. They just dont care. The chef was very talented in technique... but was unfriendly and seemed pissed to be there. When he served he flung food everywhere. Another customer next to us had some of her (expensive) filet Mignon dropped and he didnt even say anything or do anything about it. She just got less without comment. When he started cooking the vegetables he dropped ALL of the onion on the floor and said or did nothing. Didnt get more and take care of it. We just didnt get it, but we paid for it. The food we did get was actually good. I almost couldnt eat it upon seeing the filth (wondering what it is like where we cant see) but for some reason I did eat. I will not eat here again. Honestly unless the decline is very recent, I dont understand how this place has 4 stars. I may sound picky but this is only the 2nd review Ive ever left so Im not prone to pick apart every little thing. But when it comes to truly unfriendly behavior and disgusting filth... these are things a restaurant cannot have issues with. Its why you go out.. to have fun socially and eat good, safe, clean food. Dont trust the place... the filth was just out of control.

RY

Ryan Matthews

The good: The fried rice was very good. The steak was cooked to the proper doneness. The bad: We were on the hibachi side and had extremely poor service from our waitress (and waiter she was training). On top of not getting refills until after our meal was over the people we were seated with repeatedly asked for a side of Japanese mayo which was never brought to them. We were seated by the drape that hangs between the kitchen and the dining area and were getting very cold. They had the back door open and it was around 30 F outside. When we asked them to close it they did.....for a while and then it was opened and got cold again. Also, due to us sitting by the curtain we could see all the servers standing around and eating food as the curtain was always blowing open and being moved. That just doesnt look good and is aggravating when your waiter/waitress isnt coming around. As far as the food went the hibachi cooked items could have been portioned out better as I was on the end and got gypped on the veggies a bit. Another odd thing to me was that everything had teriyaki sauce on it (chicken, steak, salmon, rice, etc). It seemed a bit overpowering. Finally, the most off putting thing was the general grime and dirtiness of the grill and table. They didnt seem to empty the grill garbage hole nor do a good job cleaning all the bits off of the grills. My table didnt seem to be wiped down well and to top it off my first glass of water had crusty bits on the glass. In the end I would rather drive a little ways and go to a different hibachi restaurant if that is what I was craving. I cant see myself wanting to go back to try it again.

JE

Jennifer Compton

My husband and I have been to Ichiban on several occasions, usually with groups of friends. We love the food and the chefs. Last week, just he and I visited for the first time (without friends). We enjoyed ourselves. The hibachi chef was great as always. The sushi is also always delicious. We were quite disappointed with our server. We ran out of water early in our meal and didnt see her again for 20 minutes. The other individuals at our table also were out of drinks for most of their meal. We finally had to find her to get her to help us. We tipped 20% regardless of her terrible service. After finishing our meal, I went to use the restroom while my husband waited in the bar area. Our server proceeded to walk around the bar area showing all of the other employees how poorly we tipped. She was so out of hand that my husband and I called a few friends in the serving business to find out if the 20% was as rude as she was claiming. Not having drinks for most of our spicy and tasty meal really put a damper on the experience. Dealing with the server acting that way afterwards really made me question the business practices. Has anyone else ever had this type of experience?