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The BEST. 'nuf sed!
p.s. one of the reasons why I can't move out of the area.... lol
Great find in Santa Maria! I liked the coziness of the restaurant, even though that probably will result in a longer wait as this place gets more packed. I came in on a Thursday night around 8pm so it was relatively empty. I was greeted nicely, seated right away and ordered my food. I ended up ordering a Philly roll and the Dynamite roll. I liked that the Philly roll included some cucumber instead of the usual tuna and cream cheese. The highlight of the meal was the Dynamite roll. I loved the sweet sauce that was drizzled on top of the scallops and California roll. It made for a deliciously different-tasting roll.
The price was a little high compared to the usual sushi restaurants I frequent in the Bay Area (I'm in Santa Maria for business) so I was a little disappointed from that aspect. I do like the freshness of the food, the extras (tea, salad, miso soup), and the friendly employees. Minus one star for the slow service even though the place was practically empty. That won't deter me from going back though, since this is probably my favorite place to go now whenever I'm craving sushi while here on business!
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Had lunch this week and tried their lunch special...great buy and wonderful assortment, I highly recommend this restaurant. Very authentic Japanese food. I look forward to trying more items.
The seats were full early so I recommend getting there in time or you will wait in the center area and smell all the good food going out to the patrons.
Thanks for the find, Yelpers! Was on a road trip with the family and needed a place for dinner - went to Ichiban based on the reviews. The food was very good and the staff were very friendly. The price range was decent, as were the sushi/sashimi portion sizes. A nice place to dine after a long time on the road.
Noted negatives - For the combination platters, the skewer it comes with was really dry - none of us who ordered the combo plates were exactly sure what it was, maybe a purposely dried out cube of chicken? It was some kind of light colored meat that was pretty solid and flavorless. And for the cooked salmon combination plate, the salmon was kind of dry. Yay for sauce, that helped in both cases.
The positives - The 'cold' items such as the sushi/sashimi and salads were good in general. One of the cooked things that our table universally enjoyed was the tempura. Their breading was very light and crispy - no floppy oily veggie sticks here.
So if you are a seasoned Japanese food eater - I'd suggest sticking to the sushi and tempura. The staff was very friendly and attentive. Comparable to a good sushi place in the SF Bay Area.
People thought this was:
Ichiban serves up some good Japanese food! Lunch is a good bargain; but expect to pay a little more for dinner.
The chicken katsu combo is very well sized! For combos, you can't go wrong: tsukemono, sunonomo, sticky white rice and miso soup come with your meal. The tempura is well cooked and comes with warm tempura dipping sauce (two large shrimp tempuras and two gyoza pieces w/ sauce come with the meal).
Hot tea is offered, or you can ask for some sake, Japanese beer or even some canned soda (w/ glass of ice).
I am familiar with this place since they opened in 2000; in my opinion, the best in the Central Coast and a nice surprise for locals and visitors alike. Only minutes off of highway 101.
For Santa Maria, this is as good as it gets, which isn't a bad thing.
I have been mostly for lunch, only once for dinner. Very friendly and courteous staff, nicely organized menu with plenty of choices, and reasonable prices.
The combination platters are a helluva bargain because you get quite a bit (soup, salad, entree, and fruit). They range in price, but I don't remember them being higher than 13.00. The standards are here, such as beef teriyaki, chicken teriyaki, fish prepared shioyaki style, and sushi/sashimi combination plates.
Their sushi is slightly high, although it's good. If you order a roll, the pieces are big, not thumbnail sized. On this visit last week, I ordered the Spicy Tuna roll (nicely done, although earlier versions of this--a couple of years ago--were MUCH better), a Salmon Skin roll (nice and crunchy, with nice pieces of salmon included), and the Poke salad. The poke salad sucked this time. It's a huge portion of a seaweed salad, mixed with pieces of tuna. The pieces of tuna were generous, so they get points there, but the salad had too much juice. It shouldn't be that "wet". It lacked the pizazz of other Poke salads I've had where there was a mixture of salmon and tuna, along with some other seasonings.
Like I said, for Santa Maria, this is pretty good. It's the only place I'll go to for Japanese food, and there are 3 places serving it in town.
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Hard to believe, but yes, it's true. This place is pretty good!
Ever since I left living in Japan, I crave authentic Japanese food. Most of the menu here is by the book -- with only a few concessions to Americanized tastes (e.g. fusion sushi rolls). The combination dinners are ginormous, just so you're prepared! The unagi (eel) sushi was generously cut. The miso soup was thick and brothy. And the tempura was lightly battered, with an equally light sauce that went perfectly.
As other Yelpers have said, the lovely ladies serving the tables are a delight, as are the white-chocolate cookie biscuits that you get with your check. If you're in Santa Maria, stop by! Lunch is $10 or less per person. For dinner for two, we paid $42 including tax & tip.
People thought this was:
I'm actually shocked that I haven't reviewed this place yet.
Basically its the only thing I miss about Santa Maria when I lived there during my little Vandenberg tour. It was so good I went there for dinner at least once a week and I still prefer it over any Japanese restaurant in San Luis Obispo. So what makes this place so great?
1. Obviously great food from the beginning to the end.
2. I love the ladies in the front (especially the shortest lady). They always seem very happy and never frustrated no matter how busy the place is.
3. Excellent quality, even more excellent price. 2 people about 40 bucks and thats getting some sushi for apps and an entree.
4. Those little white chocolate cookie things you get when you pay. I have no idea what they are but they are great.
I can honestly say I've practically had everything on the menu. I highly recommend the makanuchi.
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Even though i have only been here once i must say i really enjoyed this place. I dont know of any other sushi restuaraunt that gives you Cabbage, Hot tea and Miso soup for free, the tea was so so but hey it was free!
The rolls are a descent portion and fairly priced too.
There was one thing that kinda bugged me though, my husband ordered a roll that took the waitress a half hour to bring. When she came to our table and asked if we wanted anything else, he asked for his roll again, she brought it in less than 5 min, i think she forget about it.
Which was alright because we noticed the restaurant was getting packed so she had her hands full.
I haven't tried any other sushi places in Santa Maria so i can't say this one is the best but its at the top of my list.
Five stars for....
...being the best thing I could find in Santa Maria.
...for being my last meal in Santa Maria -- the case settled
...for living up to its name
...for great service
...for the best Goyzu ever
...for cheap beer
I stayed over in Santa Maria on my way to LA, and decided to look up Yelp to find a good restaurant in town. Ichiban popped up, and I was craving for some Japanese food, so my friend and I went there.
EVERYTHING said about the restaurant here on Yelp is true! The ladies there were supremely friendly and helpful, the food was presented beautifully, and the quality was first rate! The sushi and nigiri here rivaled some of the great restaurants in the SF Bay Area (Fuki Sushi in Palo Alto comes to mind).
The place was slightly expensive, but not too bad. $60 for 2 people including tax and tip (generous one).
I was extremely impressed by their tamago (a Japanese friend once told me that in Japan, you can request the tamago and taste it first. If they cannot make the tamago right, then you can walk out for free. I don't know if this is true, but since I love tamago, I always order it). Their rainbow and eel roll were gargantuan, so beware of how much you order!
Overall, great restaurant, and definitely somewhere I would visit if I ever find myself driving through Santa Maria again.
(They close at 9pm, so don't go too late!)
Wish they had Ichiban in LA! This is the best place to go for Jap food. They serve similar lunch and dinner menus, but the prices at lunch are waaay cheaper. About $10 - $12 for complete meals I think. Have the exact same meal at dinner and the price goes up to $14 - $20.
Sushi and sahimi are fresh. If you need a pit stop on the drive along 101, try Ichiban. The food is very good!
I can't say that I liked many things about the Central Coast... In fact, I hated it. Moving out there made me miss all the accessible things back home in the Bay Area that happens to have a HUGE Asian community... But Ichiban totally gave me a little piece of home. I was so homesick in the beginning of our move out to Vandenberg, that my husband had to take me to Ichiban every single night for the first month it seemed. IT NEVER GOT OLD. The prices aren't as cheap as, ya know, going to Mc Donald's or something, but it isn't much more. Dishes (like HUGEEEE dishes btw) run about 12-18 bucks, but it includes Miso Soup, fruit, gyoza, rice, and salad.. oh. and a pretty good portion of meat or fish. Their sushi is deicious, and like a lot of the reviews say, it's ALWAYS fresh. The place itself is so beautiful. You can sit in regular restaurant seating or in their tradition Japanese rooms.. It was such a great thing to introduce my white friends (LOL) to. Their servers have always been so nice to my husband and I, and I will always miss having dinners there, and watching my husband down a sake bomb. :)
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Had dinner again the other night with a friend. We both had the sashimi dinners which were OK. Not the best I've ever had but acceptable overall. The fish was not as firm like top grade stuff but was very well presented. There were several slices of ahi (yellowfin tuna), tako (octopus), yellowtail, salmon, mirugai (clam), and swordfish?. The dinner comes with mixed tempura consisting of three shrimps plus battered veggies. The chicken yakitori was not all that impressive since the cubed chicken white meat was dry as shoe leather. That was my only complaint. Two deep fried gyozas were also included with a ginger dipping sauce. The miso soup plus the pickled tsukemono was excellent as was the green salad with some sort of light vinagrette dressing. All ot the above cost $20 per person which I thought was reasonable. Surprisingly, the place was quite popular with local patrons especially for a Wednesday evening while the next door restaurants were almost empty. Goes to show who's has the best grub in town!
Went there for the first time with a friend who has been going there for years. Had the teriyaki BBQ… Read more »
Santa Maria, CA
Category: Nightlife
Santa Maria, CA
Category: American (New)
Santa Maria, CA
Category: Restaurants
Santa Maria, CA
Category: Restaurants
Santa Maria, CA
Category: Restaurants
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