Ichiban Sichuan

I have been here twice now. Both times the service was mediocre at best. The first time some friends and I ordered a hot pot and although the waiter was friendly, the rest of our party had already finished their meals by the time our pot came out for us to begin! The whole table also regularly ran out of drink. Then the bill came and they had already charged gratuity. Like another reviewer below, I tend to tip very well but being compelled to do so negates the spirit of a tip. The spicy hot pot was tasty though.
Since the hot pot tasted good, I suggested this as a date night with my fiancé. We will not be going back. We stood in the foyer for a few minutes waiting for someone to come and seat us in the nearly empty restaurant. The server seemed agitated by our presence. The duck dish was HORRIBLE. I have made duck myself, I know how much it costs and how much meat there should be. They say bone-​in, but it should just say duck bone, it was as if they chopped up just the spine and neck and threw it in the sauce. Worse still it is one of the more expensive items on the menu. It was virtually inedible, there were two, half-​inch cubes of duck meat. The yellow tail appetizer was sliced much too thin, there was almost nothing on the plate and the thick sweet sauce disguised the flavor of the fish.
Additionally, I ordered the three pepper lamb dish, the meat was a bit stringy but the flavors were good if you enjoy spicy food. The miso soup and boba tea were also fragrant and palatable. Their flavors are good, but the quality of the meat and service stands for improvement.

I’ve only eaten Sichuan style Chinese food from this place, and they deliver! Service is always pleasant, and food comes out quickly in my experiences. Also a huge plus from me, because of the many vegetarian options and great vegetable dishes that most Western restaurants do not utilize. It is certainly pricey for what it is, but the portions are large.

This review is for the service. The food is ok. 1. They got my order wrong. 2. We waited for over 40 mins for our dishes, and more than1 hr for a stir fry vegetable dish that came overcooked. 3 funny enough, the table behind us (a WHITE couple) came in 40 mins later than us, and they were able to get all 3 dishes in 10 mins, while, of course, we are still waiting for our last vegetable dish which cost 12.95. And this is how it looked. No wonder they suck at service. 18% tip is included in your bill no matter how bad the service was. Being a Chinese who came from Sichuan, I never give Chinese/​Sichuan restaurants 1 star reviews. I know it can be hard to run a restaurant in a foreign country. But their discriminating service quality really upset and offended me. I do not think this is the right way to do business or treat people.

This is one of the better places to get authentic Chinese food in the West Lafayette/​Lafayette area.
Be warned though: it is Sichuan food, so the majority of the menu is spicy. Don’t even bother trying to order a spicy dish and asking for it to be «less spicy» or «not spicy», it’ll come out with plenty of chili peppers and be spicy all the same. I don’t think the kitchen really bothers to make modifications and makes the dishes to the normal level of spice no matter how you ask for it. I had the unfortunate experience of trying to order a spicy soup less spicy. It came out looking as it usually did. When I sent it back to the kitchen, it came out a second time the same way. Ugh…
Service wise is pretty typical of a Chinese restaurant; the servers can be pushy and bit rude. Don’t expect the nicest waiter/​waitresses but they will of course at least do the minimum they’re expected to (take your order in a timely manner, bring your food, etc.)
I really like their scallion pancake appetizer. Their pan fried thick rice noodles can be good too, although sometimes it’s on the greasy side. You can’t go wrong with any of their vegetable dishes either. The menu is pretty extensive so take your time to look, especially if it’s your first time eating there. They feature sushi at the front of the menu but I don’t know how good it is there. Go with friends and order many dishes and eat them family style for the most traditional experience!

I cannot speak for the Szechuan food as we only had sushi. The sushi was good, the rolls were a bit bland but the presentation was nice. Very quiet on a Sunday night, but it is a pretty big place. Nothing like Maru. I also had the seaweed salad, which again was decent but bland. I would say the same about the green tea ice cream. Overall decent but overpriced compared to other sushi places in town.

Pretty good quality Chinese food, sushi not super memorable but probably pretty good. Scallion pancake (葱油饼) from a frozen package, but everything else seemed higher quality.

I love this place! It is definitely NOT your ho-​hum Asian menu, with lots of exotic choices to challenge your palate. Price is good, as is service. It’s my Indiana favorite!

With my cousin starting school at Purdue, my family and I were eager to find delicious asian eats in the area for when we visit. A friend suggested Ichiban Szechuan to us since it has an authentic Chinese menu, so after skimming through a few Unilocal reviews, we decided to give it a shot.
After we got there, we were shocked to see how empty the place was. The inside of the restaurant looked nice, with decently modern décor. The menu was fairly extensive, but the food was priced pretty high for a city like Lafayette.
We went ahead and ordered a few authentic Chinese dishes — for the most part the flavor was on point. However, the 水煮鱼 (spicy fish dish) was not at all like what you would find in China… it was drenched in a thick spicy sauce, that took away from the natural flavor of the fish. It didn’t taste bad per se, but just wasn’t what we expected.
Everything was fine up until we were handed the check. We were a party of 5, and for whatever reason, they had already charged us 18% gratuity. I don’t mind giving large tips, but the waitresses were rude and rarely attended to us. It makes NO sense for the restaurant to charge that on our bill. This is not how you should run a business. Rest assured that we will not be back.

This is the best Szechuan food you can find in Lafayette!
I am a fan of their Thai tea.

The food is alright but mainly you have to know what to order. Lol every time I went, I would go with my Chinese friends otherwise I would never know what to order.

First off, HOLY COW the menu is HUGEEEEE. There are 2 or so pages devoted to sushi rolls and sashimi and then over a 100 menu items for traditional Chinese dishes. I was a bit overwhelmed at first.
The décor is a bit interesting. The restaurant is very large with 2 seating areas. The front area seems to be the typical booths/​tables with larger seating areas. When you walk down the narrow hall, there is another seating area that has a-​oddly enough-​luau/​club theme that boasts several tables, a small bar, and some dim lighting.
I ordered the edamame, 2 sushi rolls (salmon avocado and spicy tuna) and fried green tea ice cream. The edamame was fine and nicely salted. The sushi rolls were simple but pretty good and seemed fresh. Prices for rolls are pretty steep though, ranging from $ 6 – 18 for only 6 – 8 pieces. I admit I was a bit cheap and got the less pricey ones. Unfortunately, I was pretty disappointed with the green tea ice cream. If I order green tea ice cream, I expect the flavor to be bold and obvious, not muted. I felt like I was eating vanilla ice cream with green food coloring. At least it was fried – who doesn’t like fried dough? I also would have asked the kitchen to leave off the huge mountain of whipped cream they over generously put on top.
For just the food, I would have given 3.5 stars. But the service was terrible. Granted, our waitress was new to her job and had a few other tables, but we waited at least 25 minutes to put our order in, another 10 or so to get waters, and then another 15 to get our checks at the end. Service during was pretty much non-​existent. By the time my dinner finished, I was antsy to get out of there.
I would still return if someone else suggests this location for lunch/​dinner and try one of the chinese dishes.

没去过四川，也不知道正宗的川菜怎么样，但是这地方的食物特别油腻，前几周点了个炒菠菜，里面的油量感觉跟红烧茄子似的。。。。。
另外，菜的价格是严重overpriced。。。还真把自己当高档饭店了。。。

You might want to check this restaurant’s inspections on the Tippecanoe health department’s website
. It has had several violations, got closed down, reopened… Maybe they have fixed things, but I know people who got sick eating there.

Excellent head the endless sushi and sake and drinks. Definitely will be going back fort the sushi.

Oh my, this place was great!
I am unsure about a full 5 stars because the ambiance was definitely missing, but the food was superb!
I had a few hours to kill prior to my meeting in west Lafayette so I started looking for a place to eat lunch. Not many places are rated highly in the area unfortunately. I came across this place by accidentally clicking it on the list and almost ignored it because of the 3 stars. Upon reading reviews a bit closer, I noticed most stars were removed due to service and ambiance which I agree are lacking.
That being said, the food is worth all the negatives. This menu might intimidate you as it is quite large and contains some things on the menu like pork blood and intestines but don’t let that freak you out. Great meals await. My coworker and I both got a dish and shared. We got the «cumin beef» and the «spicy fried fish». Both had amazing favors and cooked perfectly. You get huge portions perfect to share but it was so delicious I wanted to keep eating,
Next time I’m at Purdue, I’m coming here again!

Wow we loved this place! Will most certainly be back for more!
We came for lunch on a Saturday. After all the reviews we thought we’d be ushered to the back, but we sat in the front room. However it didn’t look like the back room was open for lunch.
Anyway, we got the goyza for an appetizer. That did not disappoint! However it did come out with our meal, so it wasn’t really an appetizer. Great tasting nonetheless so we were good with it. The goyza sauce is a vinegar base, not sweet but again, still very very good!
For lunch we got the Orange Sauce entrée and the Veggies (add chicken for some protein) entrée and holy smokes it was amazing! The orange chicken melted in your mouth. The veggie entrée was so savory and yet so light. Terrific!
We also indulged in sushi. (First time here so had to try the whole spread). We got a rainbow roll and spicy California. Both very fresh, but not rolled very tight. We both agree that Heisei is still is reigning king at sushi.
Overall the service was great! Don’t expect them to be all up in your business. There was a lady walking around with water which was great. Our glasses were never empty (well they were quickly filled!). It’s certainly a slower pace than your typical sit down. But how great that they don’t cattle you in and out!
Great place! Can’t wait to come back and spend another $ 50! Well, we can wait for that. But it was well worth it!

This place is amazing! My husband and I went out for a quiet dinner without our kiddos. We were immediately greeted as we walked in the door. The Host was welcoming and explained the layout and our dinning atmosphere options. We could sit in the front dinning area that was hip and energetic, or the back «patio» bar with a more quiet and relaxed atmosphere. Without children, we of course wanted the patio.
The sushi was AMAZING. The bartender vwas equally amazing. He was able to produce a perfect golden Cadillac without a question.
Definitely a must go spot for downtown lafayete!

I’m surprised Ichiban has such low reviews. Then, I skim through them. Ah, the service.
To begin with, Ichiban is split into two large sections which are completely unrecognizable from each other. You walk into the large bright room with large tables filled with Chinese peeps. First thought: Cool! If that many Chinese people ate eating here (in massive groups) it must be good.
But then, if you’re white (or non Asian) they’ll whisk you away to the back room, which is a dark, huge lounge. Servers in the front are all Chinese, servers in the back are all white. That’s kind of strange, but maybe they think that’s what we want. My mission: to refuse the back room, sit up front, and order the most adventurous schezuan possible.
So why the 5 — we meet here every Thursday and are going down the menu. We are up to about 30 dishes, and so all have been delicious (minus two that were just alright). The waitresses, I think, know us by now and give us recommendation.
Basically, you have to make the experience your own. Enjoy the spicy ;)

For those ones cannot understand Chinese:
Key points:
1. Poor service
2. Extremely overpriced
3. Automatically 18% gratuity
4. Taste is good
5. I invited Michael I. Jordan to here and he loves the food here.
无脑留言：一般老美黑但是老中赞的，都是味道不错服务极差的，so does here. overall来说，菜本身的味道不错，但是菜价严重overpriced，而且强制charge18%小费，点一道菜加税加小费要20左右，跟抢钱一样。。wtf! 还有不得不吐槽一下这饭馆的破名字，搞毛啊。。就是为了说自己又做sushi又做川菜么。。所以还是要无脑黑一下。。btw，如果不在乎服务差加菜价贵，这里倒是一个不错的选择，当然也不是每道菜都不错，川北凉粉严重差评啊，根本夹不起来，一碰就断。酸汤系列都还可以，孜然羊肉什么的也不错，还有三椒牛肉丝也还不错。
另外吐槽: 评价中餐咱们好歹用中文把菜名打出来. 要不然真心不知道在说具体哪道菜. 除非吃American Chinese Food. Unilocal的语言分类系统弱爆了. 还不如某些非营利性网站…

We are having a great start. I put Alvaro on the spot immediately with the recommendation question. He SAT at my table with me and walked through what I might like! I have been up 16 hours with a long flight so I was a little non-​commital. He wouldn’t give up on me! AWESOME!
I started with 4 Sushi rolls (2 Crab and 2 Salmon). It was beautiful in presentation and flavor. I ordered the fish with Golden Peppers as my entrée. It was flavor with just enough spice. This dish was also presented with pride. It almost looked too good to eat.
This place earns five stars. It is four star food with star five being for service! Highly Recommended!