Ichiban

It's a nicely sized restaurant that is quiet, clean and give some more personal feel to the dining experience for their menu. The food is always good. The surface is always fast, amazing and courteous and continuously checks upon you. And the sushi is some of the best in the area by far. Has been consistently amazing for at least a handful of years now. Will always go there and stop by when I drive through the area. As it is a must.

The best sushi and unagi Don I have ever had. The ichigo and white Dragan rolls were beautifully presented and delicious. Highly recommend this restaurant.

When I first walked into Ichiban Sushi Bar, I was immediately greeted by a homely, humble atmosphere. Japanese fans lined the ceiling while a single waitress bustled around the small dining room of 15 tables. After deliberating over the lengthy maki menu (and I mean deliberating!) and deciding on the mango shrimp tempura, the crazy roll, the rainbow roll, and the salmon avocado roll, I learned that the young waitress taking my order was the sushi chef’s daughter, while the other older waitress was the chef’s wife. The traditional Japanese way of sushi preparation proved to be successful - the sushi I experienced was nothing short of the best sushi I had ever had. The thick slices of fish on the rainbow roll were mouthwateringly fresh, exposing hidden flavors as they melted in my mouth. The crab mixture was white and savory, rather than the dry stringy red “supermarket” style of crab found in other sushi restaurants like Wasabi. The rice was the perfect texture - not too hard but not gummy or soft. The mango shrimp tempura quickly became one of my favorite rolls, as the freshly fried shrimp blended perfectly with the sweet mango, which did not have the sour after-taste found in many frozen mango slices. The salmon avocado roll further proved the superiority of Ichiban’s fish. The thick slices of avocado seemed perfectly ripe as well, a rare occurrence at other sushi restaurants in Saint Louis (mainly Wasabi). I think the clear winner of the four rolls was the crazy roll. This roll was so stuffed that I had to take two bites to finish each piece. What’s even more crazy than the crazy roll itself? It had the ability to actually make me full from a sushi meal, which is something I never thought possible until Ichiban. So what did I learn from this experience? Your favorite sushi restaurant is making sushi wrong. This is how sushi is supposed to be: thick slices of fresh fish, fresh ingredients, and stuffed rolls.

I went on a Saturday night which was very quiet. I got nigiri which was large pieces of fish but not quite the same sized ball of rice but it was still delicious. They had more to chose from for nigiri than I have seen before at a sushi place. Service was good, there seemed to be only two workers there but that didn't slow down any service. As you can tell from the picture, I had a monster sized roll which was sooooooo good. I will definitely be returning.

Eel related everything is good! Plum sake is very classic. And matcha ice cream is the best dessert!