Ichiza
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 5:00 p.m.-3:00 a.m. - Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Private Lot
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: Yes
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Good for: Dinner
- Alcohol: Beer & Wine Only
94 Reviews for Ichiza
THANK YOU YELP!!!! This is hands down one of my favorite places to eat in Vegas. The only problem we had was there was so much to choose from we didn't know where to start. We kept thinking they would think we were pigs, cause we couldn't stop. The seaweed salad is amazing, the bacon wrapped mochi to die for, every skewer we ordered was full of flavor and all the fish was incredibly fresh. The bill was cheap too! After we walked to the 99 Ranch Market and loaded up on food for our stay. Parking is a pain, but well worth it.
Loved it! Great, creative menu items and lively ambience! And super cheap - my husband and I had dinner, dessert and beers for just $50! We would have paid more than twice that on the strip. I'll definitely go back. It'd be a fun place for a group, too.
If you want a izakaya style dinner in Vegas this is the place to go. If you want to eat some good grub after drinking all day and all night in Vegas, this is the place to hit up. My friends and I hit up this place a little after 1 and were happy this place was still open and serving up great food.
After a few rounds of sake, we were ready to order. We got various yakitori, uni mochi, grilled garlic, cold tofu and a few other things I couldn't remember and it was all tasty, especially for a bunch of hungry guys in the middle of the night. It's too bad this place doesn't open for business because we were still craving some more of this grub and sake the next day for lunch. Instead, we hit up the buffet lines at Wynn (Wynn Buffet FTW!!). On the serious note, if you want good Japanese food in a chill environment instead of the numerous buffets in Vegas, make sure you check out Ichiza!
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Ichiza is the best in vegas! Oishiii ! OOmai! Aldente! Mui Mui Bueno! Shukuliya! Five Star Taste! Try Yakitori grilled chicken on a stick! with steam rice! mmmmm good! They have the best Yakitori & best grilled squid ika no maruyaki in vegas! Okonomiyaki is good! All the grilled fish is good! Oyako don is yummy! Atomosphere is cool like Summer Matsuri mood! Dessert try home made toast with vanilla ice cream! or milk soy based pudding there mmm taste like kinaco and coolomitsu...Ichiza has a variety of traditional japanese home made food. You ought to try them! You will be addicted! Thanks Ichiza! Staff there moves quick like a wind! Thank you God for growing this food on Earth and you created with your love for people!
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I must come here every time I'm in vegas. They open until 3:30am, so that helps. They have a menu with lots to order from, but they also have specials on the wall. And it's all over the walls! I love the beef tongue yakitori, grilled octopus, chicken gizzards, and noodles.
Filled with memories of Hagi, the last sake bar I visited, I ventured into this one on the very opposite coast. It was a busy little restaurant with Japanese rock music playing loudly over the speakers. Both good signs. We stared in awe at the specials written all over the walls for a minute or so and then Pop took on the task of ordering food. We ended up with a blur of many plates of yummy looking things and as we finished some, more would arrive.
Our menu (or as much of it as I can remember): beef tongue on-a-stick (yummy, but a bit tough), kim chee and pork (delicious!!), rice and wild vegetables (also yummy), potato croquettes (mm.. potato-y), tofu and tuna salad (eh, not so great), some sort of sushi roll with their freshest fish and pickled vegetable (so great!), and a sweet and salty fish (my sister loved that one!). I think that might be all, but I wouldn't be surprised if I missed something!
For dessert we had to try the honey toast that people recommended here on Yelp. But... I don't remember anyone mentioning that it was a HALF a LOAF of bread! We were full to bursting and we had to eat this thing?? It was very delicious though. The ice cream melted into the crunchy half-loaf of bread with sweet honey drizzled all over. It makes my mouth water just thinking of it! We also got the coffee jelly and my sister and I thoroughly enjoyed that also.
How did Ichiza compare to the other restaurant in NY? Pretty close! Except.... there wasn't any taiyaki on the menu and no calpico... oh well.
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I love this place and I love the Chinatown in Las Vegas in general. Very authentic izakaya Japanese food and attentive service. Although all the yakitori food might seem cheap at $2-4 dollars, it adds up because the portions are small and you find yourself ordering like 2 orders of the fried quail eggs (yummy!)
I feel like they could add something to their broiled rice balls (some bonito flakes maybe?!) and their menu can be more comprehensive rather than forcing you to strain your neck as you read off food items written on the wall. Other than that, it is pretty tops in my book.
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one word! wow!!!!!!!!!!
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Very authentic Japanese food. I tried the prepared squid and some pork liver, yes very hardcore. They were delicious. Then tried the hand rolls that you can roll yourself with spicy tuna.
The waitress's English (Engrish) were not that good, but that is expected for an authentic place. The prices were not too bad either.
Overall, it was a good experience for me.
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Food: 4.25 stars (deduct one star because of the inconsistency)
Service: 4 stars
Price: 5 stars
It is located 2nd floor in a plaza in the Chinatown area. I am surprised how could Mona C. took a photo with no customers inside because this restaurant is packed all the time. We had dinner here twice and had to sit by the sushi bar both times because all tables were full. They have a huge selection of dishes and I love the decorative menus on the wall. Don't look at the regular menu they give you. Look up on the wall and those are the great dishes.
We've tried the tofu salad with sashimi $7.50 (very very yummy!), squid soft-bone fritter $4.50 (great with sake or beer), miso butterfish $7.75 (delicious), grilled salmon belly $5 (super yummy!), beef tongue stew $8.50 (the sauce was too thick and rich, it could fill your stomach in a second), one small bottle of house sake $5.75 (just ok), seared tuna with ponzu sauce $6.25 (ok), grilled eggplant and shrimp $6.50 (little sour and spicy - good). Most dishes were delicious, but somewhat inconsistent. We had the same dish twice in two different nights(around 6:30pm) and the taste was different. Also a lot of the dishes on the wall were sold out, so we couldn't try the uni and toro.
We also tried a glass of tomatchu $5.50, which was a mixture of shochu sake and tomato juice. It tasted just ok, not enough tomato juice and not enough sake. We had the famous honey toast $6.50 for dessert. By looking at the photos from Yelp, I thought it was a big scoop of butter on the top. But actually it was vanilla ice cream. Very unique, yummy, and filling!
The waitresses were polite and attentive even they were busy. The price was awesome and unbeatable. I highly recommend this restaurant. And if you go, go early or make reservation ahead of time. Oh remember, they don't open lunch on weekends.
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I'm starting to hate yelp.
70ish reviews on how awesome this place is.
There was a cockroach on my table. We hung out. It crept onto my plate for a ponzu sauce nightcap.
I honestly was grossed out but not completely. I know good places are often dirty places. I understand. But when I pointed it out to the waitress, she just made a feeble attempt to kill my new little friend, after some manic missed squashings all over my table.
Shortly after Mr. Roach was laid to rest, we were offered free mochi ice cream. Wow. A fricking roach just joined me for dinner and you're offering me a 20 cent consolation dessert? Fuck you.
To be fair, the food was mediocre. 2 stars for that and minus 5 stars for the roach and minus 1000 stars for their generous compensation and apology for the mackerel that worked its way back into my mouth as vomit.
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Totally authentic Japanese food in an Asian shopping center off strip. Quaint little restaurant but you need a reservation. Mostly Japanese folks there, seems very local. There's a table where everyone takes off their shoes and sits on a pillow to eat... very cool. Food was excellent... but be careful, everyone's English is bad and they might mistake your order of Shrimp Tempura for Shrip Dumplings??? And they might double your check because the girl was looking at the wrong receipt! -- Other than that, the food was excellent and was pretty cheap!
Yelp sent me... and I took the husband thinking that it would be new for us both -- he'd already been -- Bartolotta took him dammit but didn't tell me because he didn't remember the name -- but recognized it immediately when we walked in.
Since we get to go out together so rarely -- and on a Saturday night -- this was fun -- like a mini vacation (ok, we really really really need a real vacation....).
I loved that he knew four people as we walked in -- one was the GM from Sen of Japan (he used to be GM at Okada) -- he said hellos and we were seated at the counter -- little double benches (which later began to bother his back, but I loved 'em). This way we could see the action in the kitchen -- it's a busy place.
We ordered tons -- taking turns from the menu and the specials on the wall (I really love that if only I wasn't so damned nearsighted!)
We ordered the tempura stringbeans, the custard, I wanted uni (he was speculative about it), we looked for everything spring-y...so that meant bacon-wrapped asparagus, 4 kinds of mushrooms, softshell crab, and a few other things recommended by our server since we love spicy, too. (and of course, after looking at all the pictures on yelp -- honeytoast!)
He's not a big sake fan -- me, a student happily in training! My first glass was expensive, but I couldn't resist -- and ended up getting a less expensive glass 2nd (3rd & 4th...hic) because they ran out of the first -- and loved the 2nd one better -- appropriately Happy Bride -- while he drank his beers.
Food came out fast and furious -- the fun thing was watching others see what you ordered to see if they should, too, as well as chatting up neighbors at the counter (the unadventurous seem very 'fishoutofwater' here -- fortunately the ones we met took the husband's unsolicited advice and were nice and friendly.)
We had a great time -- just filled up fast -- and hated it, since we ended up seeing all sorts of dishes fly out of the kitchen that we wish we'd ordered... like the yellowtail -- almost napoleonlike in presentation.
The best things that night were the simplest (custard, stringbeans, asparagus) -- but they do make serious effort at presentation on some dishes -- it's like a rollercoaster ride of yumminess -- even though some of the specials and dishes on menu have pics next to them, for the most part you really can't tell by the description what it's going to look like. (love that, too) -- and sometimes, they just change the dish based on what they have in.
We watched a woman in the back working diligently the entire time we were there, carefully prepping something very tiny -- too far away to really tell -- but we loved her attention to detail.
We did notice that the big stock pots needed some serious cleaning -- they're blackened -- and honestly not appetizing to look at -- the chef needs to crack a serious whip there, but other than that, everybody worked clean.
Service was friendly, helpful and efficient -- no complaints at all here.
I was a little suprised how brightly lit the room was - the back sunken tables were the coziest spots and good for groups of 8 -- but make note, this place is tiny -- so when it's busy, a line forms quickly, although tables do turn pretty fast. I noticed that they do take reservations -- their website offers the service, too -- but I don't think anyone's watching, so don't assume you're in...also, what's up with the random porn (Craig's List like) on their site ...?
Thanks Yelp -- not sure why there are recent cranky reviewers -- Ichiza is a very welcome addition to Vegas on so many levels, I can't imagine giving it anything but a glowing review -- and I'm seriously looking forward to going back!
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What is wrong with you people?! Despite my high expectations, this restaurant barely made mediocre.
The first time I went was for lunch. I didn't like any of it, but you can't order any of the groovy stuff on the board at lunch so I figured maybe I just needed to come back for a magical dinner.
We ordered some bok choy that was fine but nothing to write home about. We ordered some kind of sashimi thing that I thought was supposed to have sweet potato but it came with daikon and though the menu mentioned nothing about quail egg, there is the gloopy thing in the middle. I barely eat even chicken eggs. Eggs gross me out. So I tried to scoop out the quail egg but the whole thing felt contaminated.
I tasted it anyway and the fish, while not off in any way, was just not wonderful. It was kind of stringy and somehow lacking in that super fresh tuna taste that I love.
Then we got some tempura green beans. They were fine but no sauce came with them. We had an octopus and cucumber/seaweed thing that had little taste, but was fine. We had a spider roll that was one of the most tasteless spider rolls I've ever had. We had some other things, but nothing memorable. Even the kimchee was bland!!
Not one single thing impressed me. Most everything was bland. At best, perhaps I could say I liked the sake.
Not recommended by me. Don't believe the hype. Meh.
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Way to live up to the hype. After reading all the Yelp reviews and remembering my last attempt to try great ethnic cuisine in Vegas (see Lotus of Siam review), I was a bit apprehensive about hailing a taxi to Ichiza. But after a 1 hour wait, I left, both very full and very satisfied.
1) Location - Ichiza is located on the second floor of a strip mall in the area of Las Vegas that most call "Chinatown." For those familiar with the area, it's the next strip mall adjacent to the large Sam Woo/Ranch 99 mall.
2) Decor - typical of izakaya, the place is tiny and crowded. Signs are everywhere about all the available dishes and alcohol is plentiful. The one thing I did notice, amazingly given it's Vegas, is that this place is smoke-free. All patrons go outside to smoke. Good riddance.
3) Food - the food is greasy, delicious, and prepared fast. Whether you choose skewered chicken wings and gizzards or bonito sashimi with ponzu sauce, the key is to order a lot of items to go with your sake. I'm sad I didn't feel well enough to eat the mochi bacon skewer, but I did partake in the Honey Toast.
4) Service - for a crowded and small place, service is amazingly good. The patrons tend to stay forever, but the staff does it's best to keep you up to date on how long you have to wait. Beyond that, they did a great job in calling a cab and even going downstairs and waiting with the cab so that someone wouldn't take it. Thumbs up.
5 stars for a Vegas place that leaves up to the hype.
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I've had better sushi, service, and sake before, but it's hard to complain when it's so cheap. It's also open late (until 3 ish) and conveniently located too, so I go here with friends/dates/family every so often.
I'm a fan of their kim chi fried rice...good kim chi and good serving size (enough for 2). I'd recommend their tofu steak too. It can get pretty crowded past 10PM on the weekends, but I actually prefer when there's more people around. I feel awkward when sitting at the bar area, because the sushi chefs will sometimes stare at you while you eat...weird.
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After a weekend of fast food and tasteless cafeteria food at the Grand Canyon, we were in search for a decent dining option in Vegas before heading back to our respective home cities. I used Yelp to find Ichiza. When we got there at around 7PM, the place was pretty packed and we were told the wait would be at least 30-45 minutes. Our flight was around 9ish so we were cutting it close but decided to wait since nothing else seemed appealing around the same plaza.
Ichiza's host (perhaps owner) was really patient and nice, trying to help us as much as possible to make sure we get a table and still make our flight without rushing too much. After 20 minutes, we got seated and the food came within 5 minutes after placing our orders. Everyone was really nice, being sensitive to our time constraints, etc.
Now for the food -- if I had never had izakaya-type food, I think I'd give Ichiza a little bit more love. But having eaten at places like Gochi and Tanto in the South Bay, CA, it's hard not to be somewhat impartial to this little place off the Vegas strip. The range of food was great, but the quality wasn't consistent for each dish (e.g. karaage chicken and miso ramen = no good). But still worth checking out when you're in Vegas. Place is open until 3AM and call at least 2 hours in advance to secure reservations.
I really had high expectations for this place given how everyone before me raved about it. Plus I have been traveling to research dishes when I open my own izakaya restaurant.
Of course, my friend and I come here after being at LAX, so we may have gotten in on the tail-end of it all. Overall, it was not bad. Seems like the type of place you go with friends to drink and be merry. Not the culinary adventure I was expecting.
I heard about this place from a Japanese foreign exchange student, all he did was rant about how awesome it was and how it reminded him of a restaurant near his house back home. I had to go see it for myself and I wasn't disappointed.
Ichiza is great. There's a large selection of things to order (even larger if you can read the Japanese signs on the walls :) and the service is great as well. It's a great place to go for some good food and drinks with a few friends. The atmosphere is very warm, inviting, and "homey"... for a lack of better words.
I highly recommend their honey toast for dessert. That dish was the highlight of my night.
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Oh.... I almost forget about Ichiza. This is one of the best izakaya. I wish they make its branch in Orange County. Even you are in Las Vegas, you can forget about gambling. Very nice place to go with your friend and enjoy drinking.
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Heard about Ichiza from my roommate on her last trip to Vegas, and decided to check it out with the family on our annual Vegas trip. I have to give this place extra props because my parents actually liked it.
What was I doing bringing my totally unhip Vietnamese parents to a pretty hipster izakaya in Vegas? Well, they don't like sushi, and wanted to taste other Japanese food. And because I'm such an accomodating daughter, I figured this would be a good opportunity. But it didn't occur to me that the place had pretty much all bar food and young patrons. So when we stepped in, I felt so uncool at first, but with my mom being so cute and my dad being so genteel to the waitresses, I was reminded that they have been in this country long enough to know how to deal with non-viet-traditional people.
My mom ordered a TOFU STEAK (I guess that sounded appetizing to her), and out came a huge square of lightly marinated tofu on a bed of boiled bean sprouts. My parents pretty much devoured that whole dish, bean sprouts and all. Dad ordered the ika-yaki (grilled squid) and loved how it was seasoned. I was happy he ordered it because I got to eat it, too. I got the soft shell crab and sis got the soba noodles. We had a few more dishes (chicken gizzard, more tofu, etc.) and all them were pretty tasty.
All the food came out fresh and light. We all felt full enough with our 10 or so dishes and no one had indigestion or that gross feeling of super grease afterward.
My parents, being so polite, thanked the manager and the waitresses in their accented English and said that they hope to see them again. And for a moment I felt that my parents were pretty hip...
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I live in San Fran and want to move to Vegas for Ichiza everyday. Really, here in the bay the weather is beautiful but I dream about Ichiza way too much. Been there about a dozen times thanks to fellow yelpsters and you really can't beat this place as far as bang for your buck. Love the salmon belly, hamachi tar tar, 4 kinds of mushrooms, and baby softshell crab.
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I enjoyed my meal here. The atmosphere was fun and everyone seemed to be genuinely having a good time. The service was decent considering how late and busy it was.
Salmon Skin Salad- tangy, crunchy, and tasty. I'd order this again.
Buta Kimchi- The kimchi wasn't fermented at all and the pork was sweet. I think I was expecting something more along the lines of the Korean version of this dish so I was disappointed. But even if I hadn't had some sort of idea of what I thought the dish was supposed to taste like, I don't think I would've liked it because it was too sweet for me.
Udon- They were out of Ramen and it being a cold night, I wanted something soupy and hot. I opted for the Udon and was pleased that the noodles were soft without being too soggy and the broth was hot and soothing. Yum.
I rarely get off the strip to eat when I go to Vegas so this was a nice change. Definitely good eats.
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What??? A Japanese Izakaya in a Chinese strip mall close to a Ranch 99? If it werent for the generous contributions of fellow yelpers I would never have set foot in this place.
The hotel dining scene in Vegas is sickening: Chinese noodle bars charging $13 for a bowl of noodles and $9.5 for Char Siu buns.
Buffett lines of no less than 200 people waiting at ANY given time? Call that soup lines for those with too much to spend!
Yes I know there are upscale restaurants like Fleur de lys etc
but as I mentioned in other reviews I am no VC or hedge fund guy and I dont work for Google.
I did not come to Vegas for punishment.
Viva Ichiza, YOU ARE A BREATH OF FRESH AIR IN THE DESERT!!!
Great authentic "in ya face" Izakaya style Japanese food.
Fast and efficient service.
Affordable prices.
Fresh fish (in the desert?!?) YES! Fresh tuna (as evidenced by the Tataki and Tekka makis)
Order from the wall, that's the specialty du jour.
Be adventurous. Everything tastes good.
We had our Christmas eve dinner there, far from the madding crowd. Lovely experience.
Word of caution: For those who are not driving, request the hostess to get you a cab when you get the bill.
Taxis will not stop on the street where the strip mall is,
as the owner explained it to us.
Also call ahead of time to see if they are fully booked,
happens when there are trade shows (CES, Interop) where Japanese Kaisha-ens would flock to this place.
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Thank you Yelp for existing - without you, we would never have found this place and missed one of the more pleasurable experiences of the last field trip.
The five of us ate ourselves through roughly 15-20 dishes and left very full but happy campers. I was not that impressed by all things fried: the Wasabi Green Bean Tempura was OK, but not stellar and the Katsu was actually just so-so and quite dry.
But everything else (sashimi, the rolls, the delicious beef, the broiled mackerel and salmon, ...) was very yummy. Some things a bit heavy on the butter, but yummy.
One hint: it's definitely worse to invest the time and neck-kink to read all the specials that are tacked up all over the walls, those were the best dishes we had!
Oh, and including beers and tip, we walked out for just under $30 per head. 4 very satisfied stars!
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400th review... I think we'll turn the corner with Ichiza. After reading the reviews for this place, I bookmarked it for a must stop. After the first time, I had to go again on the weekend as well. Killer eats to be had here.
First time in, it was Halloween Eve so everyone was decked out in funky costumes. Oddly, even if it wasn't Halloween, it wouldn't have seemed out of place. There were only two of us so we sat at the counter and ordered up a pitcher of Kirin, Beef Tongue, Buta Kim (stirfried pork with kimchee), Chicken Gizzard, Shishamo (smelt fish), fried chicken, spicy tuna roll, ramen, bacon wrapped mochi, ume chazuke (green tea over rice with pickled plum), and probably a few other things that aren't coming to mind. Everything was excellent, and it was fun tricking my cousin into eating some "weird" stuff. =)
Second time in was saturday night, this time with Emily and my mom-in-law joining us as well. Pretty much ordered all the above plus shishito (twist pepper), sushi chazuke (it was basically a shishamo roll with a dip sauce), the chicken wings, chawanmushi, gyudon (beef bowl), oyakodonburi (chicken omelet rice bowl), natto okra (delicious!), kushi katsu (bite sized pork cutlet on a skewer with onion), and I'm sure I'm missing a few again. Had a great time both times, and I'm sure to be back again next time I'm in town. Pics are posted. =)
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I want to thank all the people on YELP who have reviewed Ichiza.
Thank you -
Thank you -
Thank you.
In my life time I would have never eaten here if it were not for the outstanding reviews from everyone.
I have driven on Spring Mt. road many many times and have never, ever seen Ichiza.
Well now I have ....
What a great way to start 2008.
Went for lunch and the staff was very patient with me.
I was not sure of the lunch specials and finally ordered Ginger pork ....
Just outstanding.
A light refreshing soup, wonderful salad and the ginger pork was "par excellance"
I can not wait to go for dinner as I looked at the handwritten dinner menu and really wanted the Soft shell crab - looks wonderful.
And I have to have the honey toast for desert.
Once again .... Yelpers out there - thank you so much
I owe this excellent experience to all of you .......
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Not that this place needs another glowing review, but I couldn't resist since the food was so good. We ordered 15 dishes and loved EVERYTHING. Not sure how we put down all that food, but we were very fat and happy leaving the restaurant.
My favorite, well there were so many... buta kimchee, chawanmushi, fried octopus legs, beef tongue and honeytoast... I actually could have listed all 15 dishes.
I would recommend making reservations. It was definitely packed.
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So what else can be added after so many reviews? My only complaint: Will you people stop ordering the hamachi collar?!!!
Every time I order one, it's sold out. Now how can something that's not on the menu be sold out unless there's a conspiracy to deprive me of the only thing I can think of that is offered but not on the menu.
Seriously, the food here is great. I'm trying to eat my way through all of the "specials" on the board (haven't been disappointed so far) and the regular menu items are good as well. It has a vibe all its own. Come with friends and have a blast or sit at the counter and see the kitchen show.
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Oh, yeah. This is my kind of place. Everyman decor, upper level of a done over strip mall, rough hewn table, hand-printed signs on the wall, cheap prices, good food. I had sashimi that included tuna, albacore and mackerel and loved it. My companions had squid which was very good. They were a bit slow with the check but I forgive them for that. I will definitely return.
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Once again, thank you Yelp for helping me find another great restaurant to satisfy my hungry tummy... My boyfriend's parents live in Vegas, so we come here a couple of times a year. For the past year, I've been wanting to try this place out, and finally got around to it tonight. I really liked how the restaurant was set up - small, simple, and traditional looking - they're not trying to look super nice, rather than giving off a more comfortable eating atmosphere.
The inside of Ichiza consists of around 10 tables, and then there's a tatami (I don't know if there's a spelling for it) section with 2 long tables, where you take your shoes off and sit on the ground. Then besides that, there's the kitchen area.
The service here is ok, not great but not bad. It is what it is. However, the food is really good. Like Richard L. said, it's like tapas, but Japanese style. I guess this type of cuisine is called "Izakaya" as I have learned after reading all of these reviews. Living in the Bay Area, I actually have yet to find a place with this type of cuisine - everyone in the Bay is really hung up on sushi (hey, which i love, dont get me wrong).
Anyhow, my boyfriend and I came here tonight and we ordered an order of their udon, chicken skewers, agedashi tofu, kimchi fried rice, and spicy tuna roll. The udon was really tasty and they added some seaweed, egg, and veggies to it. I didn't try the chicken skewers, but they looked like Teryaki Chicken pieces on a stick, and my boyfriend liked them a lot. The Agedashi Tofu, which is one of my favorite appetizers, came with a generous portion of fruit, and 4 huge slices of tofu. The tofu was very fresh and soft, and the dish was very good. Spicy tuna roll was pretty good, but not amazing. Lastly, I loved their Kimchi Fried Rice.. Ichiza's fried rice definitely kicks some @ss... It was sooooo tasty and with the kimchi, it was the perfect amount of spicyness.
Overall, 4 stars for above average food and very low prices. (all of those dishes only came out to about $22.) Definitely a lot lower than the prices we're used to. All of the smaller dishes run from $3-$5, and larger dishes run from $6-$9.. none of it is expensive. If I lived in the area, I would definitely come back.
And, they're open till 3AM!
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Tapas! Japanese style.
This is probably the most apt description I can think of when describing Ichiza and it's menu. The majority of the menu at Ichiza consists of prepared dishes on small plates or bowls that cost no more than $6 each. There are Sushi dishes, but this is not a Sushi place. You will order a multitude of small plates that can vary from appetizers to fried plates to soups to salads to desserts that you will combine together in a meal.
That is... if you can get a seat in the restaurant. If you don't have a reservation... there could be problems of a wait that could be close to thirty minutes. But the wait is well worth it.
What Kathy, my daughter, and I ordered...
Salmon Skin Salad topped with Salmon Roe - Great!
Broiled Cod - Superb!
Deep Fried Octopus with mild whole Green Chile - deelicious!
Fried Chicken, stir fried in a red-pepper sauce mixture
Clams in a Miso-like Soup base
Fried, thinly sliced, Chicken Gizzards with String Beans - Very Good!
Beef Tataki with Ponzu Sauce Dip
Three bowls of plain Japanese Rice
Banana Filled Crepe - Obviously made beforehand and refrigerated.
Would have liked this Crepe freshly made and warm. It was OK,
though.
Two glasses of sweetened Tea
In summary... one of the best Japanese restaurants in Las Vegas. My daughter's favorite Japanese... now also mine.
Before I leave Las Vegas... want to try one of their desserts... bread with Ice Cream.... impressive!
FYI: Try Tea Station directly under Ichiza in the same mall... Tea Station serves Taiwanese snacks / meals in similar small portions along with their Tapioca Teas. A different interpretation of Tapas-style meals from Taiwan.
Comment: It is utterly amazing to me that institutions, considered low-class in their original country, can find great success here in the United States! This type of establishment in Japan would only attract the office worker crowd after work for drinks and tidbits of food - after import into this country and you have a five-star restaurant that attracts more people than some fine-dining establishments. AMAZING! Can only happen in the good ol' US of A. Another good example is Pho in the Vietnamese community. I know of former street vendors peddling Pho on streetcorners in Vietnam now driving a couple of Mercedes vehicles and having a handful of restaurants in Los Angeles!
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Thank you Yelpers for reviewing this place or I would probably be starving halfway through the crazy long line to the Wynn buffett. It was christmas eve and the wait was 4 f*cking hours. I kid you not.
Ichiza is a fabulous little restaurant of japanese food, tapas style. food is great! Our waitress was friendly and accommodating. You must try the black cod. That was heaven! The atmosphere is cozy, it reminds me of this little place in st marks in nyc. Similar food. Very japanese and tastes authentic. The only problem is that they also have hand-written menu all over the wall, which makes it a little hard to see.
I highly recommend this little restaurant and would totally go back here whenever i'm in sin city.
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We went here for lunch. It was quite a challenge to eat my noodles with chopsticks! I am not used to eating with them and the noodles kept breaking! I was determined though and it was very slow moving!
The only negative I can think of is that this place does not offer a wide variety of beverages. I was hoping for something other than tea in a can. I opted for the authentic Coke! HA HA
The good news is that the positives outweigh the negatives. I cannot say enough good things about this place. Surely, this place will become one of my favorite stops in all of Vegas! The food was just that yummy! For what you get, it is very inexpensive too. That makes this place a winning combination!
I thought that the Japanese music added a nice touch! The servers were very welcoming and friendly too!
Update: 11/4 - I went here late at night with a group of 6 people for dinner. We called ahead for a table and the soonest we could get in was around 10:30. This place was right on time with our reservation although they were packed with people waiting outside to get in. We even had a choice between sitting at a regular table or a Japanese style table. My friend chose the Japanese style table. We had to first take off our shoes and crawl across these long seats in order to get to our seats. That was a lot of fun on the way in, but on the way out we were stuffed and it wasn't as fun! Still though, good times!
The plum wine is out of this world! They had a completely different menu for dinner and for Americans, I believe it is harder to read than the lunch menu. My friend looked terrified of the menu and I helped her by pointing things out (as if I knew what I was talking about). Everyone loved every single thing we put into our mouths! There was not even a single mediocre item that we ordered! Everything was perfection! I tried to photograph most of our food. Please check out the photos!
I did have an easier time eating with the chopsticks during dinner than for lunch. Apparently, they serve different noodles and these were just easier to handle. They didn't break on me!
Order the mango mochi, it is "to die for."
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The only authentic izakaya of Las Vegas, definitely worth visiting for a casual night out with hungry friends. If you love to drink and enjoy authentic, off the beaten path menu items of Japan uncommon at your local Japanese restaurant, this is the place for you. Be prepared and keep in mind that it's an izakaya where quiet dining is not to be expected.
Despite this jewel of a find out here in the desert I give it only four stars due to the rather disappointing ramen experience which was nothing more than what it seemed like noodles in miso soup. I have yet to find a good ramen place which unfortunately does not exist in Las Vegas...
UPDATED 12-27-07: Came here again and this time it wasn't as good as before. I don't know what it is. This time, even though it was good, it just didn't blow me away like last time. So one star off.
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THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to all the yelpers who rated this place highly. That was the main reason why we bookmarked it and decided to check it out. I wasn't sure how late they were open but we arrived pretty late, around 10pm and crossed our fingers as we entered. Man, it was bustling! Turns out they were open until 3am Mon-Sat, until 2.30am on Sundays. However, last call is 45 mins before closing so make sure you arrive on time.
So there were 2 guys waiting for a table and the hostess asked if we wanted to sit at the counter. Lil guy was all for it. So, counter it was. I was just fascinated by the atmosphere in here. There were 2 tatami tables with very drunk people singing and carrying on. They were obviously having a good time.
We were given menus but it was the posted items above our heads which interested me. Hubby left the ordering to me. I ordered an udon ($6.35) for little guy with his usual edamame ($3) and agedashi tofu ($4.35). Then, I proceeded to order a bunch of items for us adults.
Uni pon ($5.50) arrived first. It was 4 plump pieces of uni sitting on thinly sliced cucumbers nestled on daikon spaghetti wading in a pool of ponzu sauce. OMG it was fantastic. The uni was soooooo fresh and flavorful. I could've eaten 3 of these.
Then came the salmon skin salad ($5). This was no ordinary salmon skin salad. This was the emperor of all salmon skin salads I've ever had. Crunchy slivers of carrot, shreds of lettuce, grape tomatoes, daikon sprouts, perfectly cooked salmon skin, grated daikon, topped with a dollop of roe. Hubby and I shared this but were fighting over who got the last morsel.
Taramiso, otherwise known as miso butterfish ($5.50) is something I've been craving since leaving Hawaii. I used to eat it at least once a week. After a year of missing it and seeing it on the menu here was enough for me to kiss the ground of this izakaya. The taramiso did not disappoint. In fact, it was so perfect hubby and I again commented on how much we've missed this dish.
All the while, lil guy was enjoying his udon, edamame and agedashi tofu while watching his portable DVD player oblivious of all the ongoings around him.
Tofu salad with tuna sashimi ($7.50) was interesting yet refreshingly delicious. Romaine lettuce, followed by mashed tofu, topped with diced avocado and cubed tuna sashimi, toss in a few daikon sprouts and a pinch of bonito flakes and voila, a masterpiece. The grape tomatoes complete this both in color and texture.
Of course an izakaya meal isn't complete without some sort of alcohol. We had 2 large bottles of Asahi draft ($5.50/bottle) and then we finished by sharing a bowl of miso chasu ramen with extra chasu ($10). I'm sorry, but Santouka Ramen does not measure up to the ramen here and it was the last item we ate. The broth was perfect, not too salty and not under flavored. The chasu had just the right amount of fat interspersed with the lean bits. It looked like pancetta. Hubby was a bit skeptical but I assured him he would like it, and guess what? He did.
This is definitely bookmarked for our next visit to Vegas, and let me tell you this, I'm reliving my meal right now just by writing this review and the bad part is, I'm not eating the food as I'm writing this. BUMMER!
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If you want dinner at 1:30 in the am, Ichiza is the place to go. Our server was awesome, friendly, and recommended some great dishes! Don't be fooled by the menu they hand you - the real menu, with the yummiest dishes, are on the wall! We ordered mini deep fried soft shell crabs, bacon wrapped sticky rice (holy ichiza!), mussles, clams, etc. All waaaaay under budget and waaaaayyy fantastical. Oh and if you're a big drinker, order one of their shoju d