Ichiban Grill Super Buffet

This review was drafted 11/​16/​2013 and I wanted to give it another chance. But I just found out it’s closed. Boohoo.
I don’t eat buffets often enough unless I have something to compare with. I was attracted by its coupon in the mail. I thought to give it a try. I came here when the restaurant just opened a few months.
My experience was not fantastic. The parking lot was small and entrancing was confusing. The restaurant was just opened and the titles in the front already buckled. I ordered a cup of hot tea. It came in a cafeteria style mug, filthy outside. I had to use a straw to drink, because I was thirsty.
The grill area was away from buffet, but I felt the serving utensils were already contaminated from the raw food.
The sushi looked dull, not tasty.
The dim-​sum line was a mess. People took the food out and left baskets on the steamers. so, to find food, I’ve got to dig through the empty baskets.
In summary, I got sick from eating here. I can’t say this was pleasant experience, but at least I tried.

This place has closed. It’s no longer in business.

AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL! NEVER EVER EVER AGAIN. 8 pm on a Friday night and the place was almost empty – this should’ve been a clue. The food was old, cold and GROSS. They had corn that looked like it was a few days old sitting out there. Some kind of slop on baked fish that and OLD sushi. They also failed to turn on any kind of heat on a day when it was freezing outside. This made it worse as by the time you reached your table your food was cold. I am not a big fan of buffets but we went to appease my 75 yr old dad as he had been before and thought it was good. Not sure if management changed or the place has fallen on hard times but either way we won’t be back again. Three times we asked for water and the waitress never came back except when she brought the bill. The biggest slap in the face was when the ticket indicated a 15 & 20% tip suggestion-​FOR WHAT!!! A buffet waitress who never returned? She was more interested in sweeping the other side of the room than helping customers. 15%…20%…I think NOT.

I went to this place 3 times and it sucks. The food they have is so salty when it’s supposed to be just right. And plus the waiters are so rude because when me and my dad went there to eat, they asked us what drink and I was thinking and my dad too. But they yelled at us and said «HURRY UP «so I got mad and that was the last time I ever went there ever again

WORST Chinese food I have ever had. First of all, I told them that I was a 20-​year Army Veteran and the manager stated that since today was Veteran’s Day that I had to pay more. That on holidays the price of a buffet goes from $ 8.99 to $ 12.99. And that me being a Veteran didn’t mean anything to them. Then I immediately mentioned to the manager that all the food was dry and cold. So they had the staff just mix the food up. Once I said that I was not satisfied with the food I that I refused to pay the «Holiday Veteran’s Day» fee of 12.99 and that I would pay the normal $ 8.99 fee (I had 12 people in my party) the manager called the police on me for theft. I have never felt such disgrace! I did not leave the premises, I simply asked for the amount to be lowered. I WILL NEVER GO TO THIS RESTUARANT AGAIN AND WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS PLACE TO ANYONE.

The food is nasty, not eatable at all. If you look at the restaurant from outside. It is nice and look great. But when you eat the food, you really want to throw out. The price is not bad. But the food is bad, it is not withy any penny, why is the owner investing so much much to open such a big restaurant, end up with such a nasty food. Too many good chefs in China Town, hire those people who don’t know how to cook just because of cheap labor?
Don’t waste money there at all

I ate here back when they first opened. There food was not that good. Also there were flies and I personally saw them landing on the fruit in the buffet section. I made sure to notify someone.

The buffet looked spectacular! Many stations and such. However there was a problem with the jot food being lukewarm and the cold foods not being cold.
We enjoyed the service though but will not be back anytime soon.

This buffet is very spacious and clean… don’t have to worry about people bumping into you! I thought the food was mediocre. I probably only enjoyed the snails and the grilled garlic shrimp. They had the salted blue crab but it was just ok to me… while they had a good selection, it wasn’t really a selection I really wanted if you know what I mean. They were missing some staple dishes like Chinese bbq ribs, flat rice noodles, and fried biscuits. They have dim sum dishes but don’t expect to see any shrimp or pork dumplings… it’s mainly tripe, chicken feet, and different types of bao. Prices are pretty reasonable… it was $ 12.99 for Memorial Day yesterday… that’s the usual week day dinner price I believe.

Oh no. My great aunt asked us to dinner for Lunar New Year, and she chose this place. I’m not fond of Chinese buffets in the first place. I drove quite a ways to get here, as it is past Dairy Ashford.
Everyone in my family tried to be polite and hold their tongues about the food, but it was dismal.
To begin with, the place smells sticky and unclean when you walk in. The buffet food is unimpressive and unwelcoming, and mostly either mislabeled or not labeled at all. Out of the several rows of food, all of us had difficulty finding anything we really wanted to eat.
The service was nice enough, but honestly, it could not make up for the food. I only had a little bit here and there, and I already felt sick by the end of it. After some discussion among my friends, I realized that people come here because they have oysters and snow crab– but they definitely don’t do a good job with any of the other food. I did not eat any of the shellfish here so I can’t comment on it, but I would not recommend this place at all.

Well, I just love this place because I feel like it’s a combination of Tokyo One + Hibachi, but cheaper. No, this doesn’t apply to the people who go to Tokyo One just to eat all the state-​of-​the-​art sashimi– I’m just saying that their green tea ice cream is amazing. Okay, that’s pretty stupid considering I can buy ice cream anywhere. But, I also love how they can fry eggs for you. I was just craving eggs out of no where, so I went ahead and got two eggs sunny-​side up. Read my previous review for more detailed stuff, but in the meanwhile, enjoy some pictures!

I’m going to make this short, everything was great but there were 2 problems …
1. It’s freezing outside… And Inside, please make it feel welcomed
2. There was water on the floor and people slipped, even tho they knew there was water on the floor, they did not put a caution sign

buffet isnt as large as they claim, I find most chinese food buffets to be larger, like lucky village, but these guys have style, only thing I hate is the asian pop on the radio, I wish they would at least play something everyone can agree to like carpenters music or celine dion (well maybe not celine dion but you get the idea) than some asian pop.
The sushi has different kinds of caviar than the typical orange stuff. At dinner there is oysters and a side of beef, plus they have duck, which is not common of chinese buffets. Most of the time you can expect to find. squid and Celery sticks, spiced baby octopus, usual chinese fare like peppered beef, sweet and sour pork, chicken, etc. dim sum (random entres in pots), soups, a variety of crab, shrimp, crawfish, and best of ALL 5 flavors of ICE CREAM (usually 3 of them are sherbet or sorbet, the 4^th is usually chocolate, but the 5^th is usually something like mint chocolate flake (no hard to chew pleasureless chips), cookies and cream. I stuffed myself so bad the first time I went that it took me 30 minutes to relax, you know when your chest is distended and you know you overate, that bad. So watch out, lots of food.
Update (7÷6÷2013): Have been there three times, the third time I went for July 4^th, yes after I wrote the review I got hungry and went a third time. and they had fried frog legs, first time I had ever tried that, it was pretty good, and they had some of the largest raw oysters I’ve ever seen.

We came here for a late father’s day dinner on Monday night (dad’s choice, I was pushing him to pick someplace nice, but what can you do?) I have been to this location before, when it was Jackie Tan’s.
I walked in, and is seemed like any other Asian restaurant/​buffet. I did feel like they had a lot of buffet stations, with dessert to the side and hibachi/​sushi in the back. I tried a few dishes, and they were alright. The hibatchi guy in the back was not bad, and the sushi looked… questionable. My fiancé tried the ice cream and said it was good; way better than the «ice cream» machines that they have at most buffets.
I wouldn’t say this is the best ever, but they have a large selection and the food was decent (for a buffet). I’d come back if I was in the area hankering for a chinese buffet/​if my dad has this weird craving again, but no way would go out of my way to do this again.

Atmosphere 2
Décor 2
Food 2
Service 2
This is another Chinese buffet, what can I say. I don’t usually go to Chinese buffet, cause the food isnt that great, but someone else made the plans, so we ended up here.
The selection was pretty good, but the quality of the food… not so much. They had cook to order steak, one per person… but no only did they not ask for our preference of how we wanted the steak cook, the simply killed the steak, but making it super well-​done, that it turned into jerky. There were six soups available, but really, the hot sour soup was soooo thick, it was like eating goop, so was the so called shark-​fin soup. I did not expect real shark fin, but come on, atleast add a few more strands of noodles to imitate the sharkfin. There were also no ingredients in the soup at all. They had raw oysters, but i was scared about the sanitation of it, so I didn’t really eat it, same for the raw fish. I ate some of the cooked crab and it was mushy :/​
The cooked clams were good though, I have to admit, and some of the veggies were pretty good. Food here was a hit or miss, and by hit I do not me a 5 star hit, more like a 3.5…
Service here was also not that great. We were asked what we wanted to drink when we sat down. We ordered ice water and tea. They brought my tea, but then left out my boyfriends water :/​whats the point in asking if you aren’t going to serve it anyway…

I avoid buffets (because I’ll overeat) but my parents wanted me to try Ichiban so off we went for a Good Friday lunch!
Pros:
— no MSG symptoms afterwards (and MSG usually affects me a lot)
— wide variety of food
— huge variety of seafood (crawfish, salmon, mussels, octopus, clams, sushi, shrimp, and other types of fish)
— lots of meat to be a meat-lover’s haven
— wide variety of soups (6 or 7 Asian soups)
— wide variety of sushi (that seemed acceptable to my mother)
— ice cream (but only 5 flavors yet not vanilla!?!)
— decent variety of vegetarian stuff (mainly the spicy tofu, leafy green vegetables, and broccoli/​carrot platter
— food taste was fine
— good service from friendly and attentive waitresses
— clean restrooms
— cheap prices, at only $ 8.99 per adult and $ 8 per senior
— really popular restaurant so some people waited in the entrance to be seated
Cons:
— the soup bowls in the soup area ran out quickly and we had to wait for new ones
— slightly-​narrow aisles between buffet stations
— I saw one fellow patron coughing while getting food. Wish they would’ve held back their coughing until at their table.
— running into old friends of your parents who you haven’t seen in 10+ years and seeing their reaction when you tell them you’re a 30+ Chinese adult who’s still single and childless :(

We came here during Saturday afternoon to try this new buffet place. This place just opened, and we saw an ad in the newspaper. The place looked nice and presentable inside. Waiters were nice and service was great.
Food in general was decent. There were a few meat dishes that were a bit cold. I felt for the staff as they were trying to keep their dozens of dishes hot when there were only about 6 people at a time getting food from the buffet area.
Sushi was just okay. There was a Mongolian wok which cooked a decent mix that I gave him (could have put more sauce though).
All in all, I give the food about 3.5 stars, but the service was about 4.5 stars, so round out to about 4 stars. Would come here again, but come when it’s busier, as I’m sure it will help ensure the food out in the buffet area stays fresher and warmer.

Disclaimer: I am not one of those people that believes buffet’s can never get more than 3 stars because that’s ridiculous!
That said, Ichiban Grill Super Buffet was just worth 3 stars. Maybe 3 and a half since our server was fantastic.
My family and I went to Ichiban Grill Super Buffet tonight and took advantage of the promotion right now for $ 3 off per person for parties of 5 – 10 people. (Coupons may be found in your Chinese newspapers, found in Chinese super markets, even if you’re not Chinese run in a swipe one).
Indulge me in a minor history lesson:
Before Ichiban this location was called Golden Chef Super Buffet, it seems the «Super Buffet» part was not the only thing Ichiban held over from it’s predecessor. The décor is essentially the same with some small banners and new lights. The dividers between the tables and the buffet area were scuffed far past the normal wear and tear of a relatively new restaurant. I’m glad they also kept the TVs from before so I could watch Simpson’s and Bigbang theory while I ate. The front waiting area is also exactly the same, down to the decorations around the fountain, makes me wonder if the old owner never shut down really but just decided to change names.
Anyways on to the food.
Most of the food was your average buffet food, sushi selection had more variety than usual although the grade of fish was almost watery tasting. Now it’s a buffet so I have lower expectations but I’d expect my fish to taste at least slightly like, well, fish. My family seemed to enjoy the sashimi and sushi so maybe I’m being too hard on them. The maki rolls fared better, I quite liked the modified phili roll with the inari on top. Avocado roll was surprisingly tasty as well. I noticed in some of the maki the avocado was already turning black which was a bit of a turn off though.
The shining item to me was the grilled squid skewers. Squid was very well marinate and had a slight charred taste that enhanced the flavor, between my brother and I we probably had 10 skewers. Also for some reason their fries were really delicious, although I could buy alot of fries with the amount you pay.
They also have raw oysters the size of which I’ve never laid eyes upon until today (check my photo out for yourself). Now I’ve tangled with raw oysters at buffets before and been sorely disappointed but I was intrigued by the size of these. Let me just say, size apparently does not matter, these were just as bland and tasteless as most buffet oysters although palatable if drowned in sauce and lemons. Also, I notice there was no horseradish which is a staple for raw oysters in my book. My mother seemed to enjoy them though so maybe I’m just spoiled by the fresh shucked oysters as Captain Benny’s. Then again, the buffet cost as much as a dozen oysters there so you get what you pay for.
There’s also a hibachi and a dim sum portion but I didn’t try them out.
Other items included salt and pepper crabs, all sorts of Americanized «Chinese» foods, also American foods like pizza, nuggets etc.
Avoid the crawfish, most of them were frozen and mushy tasting.
Desserts were a bit limited, cheesecake was hard, brother tried all their cakes and said they were all horrid. Self serve ice cream that you scoop out of a freezer was nice although flavors were limited, chocolate was yummy, rainbow sherbet was gross.
The more I write the more I’m leaning towards 2 stars… that saving grace was our poor server, she worked very hard to clear plates for us and made sure our drinks were always full. She did have a slight math issue when it came to the bill and actually subtracted over the discount but corrected herself and apologized profusely. She even explained one of the mystery desserts to my dad, turns out it was chocolate mousse.
All in all it was a pleasant enough experience although I’m not sure I’ll be begging to come back anytime soon.

Awful. You can smell quantity over quality the moment you enter the restaurant. If you like to eat in a trough, then you may enjoy this place. But if you are like me, if I am gonna pay $ 15.99 for sunday buffet, then it better live up to it. But this place sucked. So what if they have crab legs, it definitely ain’t worth $ 16 bucks. So not worth it compare to all the other buffets out there. Way over priced for cheap quality food. The sushi looked colorful but it taste horrible. The steak on the grill is bland and tasteless. The dim sum items are ready-​made food. Everything else is cooked in large quantity and dump over like feeding on a farm. Dirty. Just look at the utensils on the buffet tables or the sushi stand, you can tell the cleaningness of this place.
Your money can be better spent elsewhere, at least on sundays. Don’t waste your money here.

I’ve been to my fair of Chinese buffets and this place is just average.
Food: There are perhaps 8 – 10 buffet stations with a hibachi and sushi station in the back. Most the food I sampled was just average; my favorites were the sweet chicken, spring rolls with peanut sauce, mint-​chocolate foam dessert (sounds bizarre but it was pretty tasty!), and the hibachi grilled steak.
The stations included: seafood (crawfish, salmon, tilapia, oysters, clams), meats (pork loin, honey ham, many types of chicken), American and Chinese style dishes (beef/​broccoli, fried rice, mac and cheese etc), fried food station (cream cheese puffs, chicken nuggets, fries, pizza; I was disappointed at this station as usually buffets do fried foods well — all the things I tried weren’t crispy enough), soups (traditional Chinese styles), veggie/​salad/​fruit, dessert (cheesecakes, icecreams, cakes), dim sum (variety here wasn’t too great but included tripe, buns, dumplings, and pork spare ribs), and sauces of every kind.
The sushi bar in the back offered your run of the mill Chinese buffet sushi (ie: cheap ingredients in strange combinations) but I did notice this sushi was better made and more complex than your average Chinese buffet sushi — there were at least 12 roll types, including California, philly rolls, eel, avo/​samon plus some nigiri (the fish was cut super thinly and wasn’t of great quality though; they also had tamago and inari). They also had seaweed salad (yay!) and spring rolls (this was probably my favorite thing here; my guess is that it’s hard to mess up) with a bunch of sauces and wasabi.
Next to the sushi bar was the hibachi grill — you can make a plate of whatever ingredients you want (sliced meats, veggies, noodles, oysters, steak) and have it cooked ‘hibachi-​style’ in front of you. The sauce they used was pretty bland overall but I did think the flank steak, though tough to chew at times, had a tasty flavor and was fresh.
Service: decent overall; waters weren’t refilled unless you asked and used plates were picked up in 10 – 15 minutes. The staff was polite and quick to accommodate us. It was one of my family member’s birthdays so they made us a special cake with a ridiculous flower candle that shot flames up and «blossomed» when it was lit up (really, you gotta see it to believe it).
Ambiance: this place is brand new and super clean. The entrance décor is actually somewhat tasteful for a Chinese buffet and it’s well-​lit and spacious.
Pricing: Weekday lunch is 9 dollars and dinner is 13; weekend lunch is 13 and dinner is some ridiculous price I’d never pay for. I went on a weekend lunch so I’d assume that if they had any ‘special’ weekend dishes they were out already. Right now is the grand opening so you get $ 3 off your meal.
Overall: so-​so to average place. I don’t think I’d return as there are much better buffets out there in this price range and this particular one didn’t have any ‘redeeming’ dishes that would make me come back for. Personally, I’d rather pay a bit more to go to a higher end buffet and get some amazing food but if you’re in the mood for high quantity, average quality food, this place fits the bill.