IPPIN Japanese Dining — Restaurant in Brisbane City

My middle child’s birthday. Being the Japanophile that he is, we visited Ippin, one of the very few Brisbane Japanese restaurants he has not yet visited. Located upstairs in a purpose built, magnificent “village of modern cuisine” in downtown Brissie it could be easily missed amongst this world of gastronomy but it is well worth the search. Brilliantly modern, spectacular, eye grabbing décor was delivered as we were delivered to our table. Lots of wood, lots of light, colourful, swirling light diffusers, flowers all over, a feast for the eyes wherever you look finished by a brilliant bar, fully stocked wine station and open kitchen. How modern is it you say? The bathroom taps have the water temperature electronically LED displayed in the spouts!!! It is worth eating here just for the design scheme. As the kids these days are apt to do the “Ippin Experience Set Menu” ($98pp) was instigated. I was at odds with this choice because I tend to generally disagree with set menus mainly because I do not appreciate others choosing my food for me, sometimes the courses are not to my taste and, in Ippin’s case especially, the A La Carte menu is curiously brilliant! But, it’s the birthday boy’s choice tonight and I am very happy with his decision (as we all were!), A table of six, including our US visitor, we were seated at our solid wooden table with comfy, cushioned chairs on a reasonably quiet Tuesday night. Water and ordered drinks arrived reasonably promptly and we settled in for the experience and oh what a great experience. Each dish was artfully designed in the intricate Japanese way, presented perfectly on an amazing array of fascinating crockery. Each dish was presented as an exact replica of the other five on the table with a taste test of the broad range of Japanese styles. Obviously utmost care and pride is shown in every aspect from purchase to preparation to presentation. Each dish was a perfect combination of flavours matched with obvious expertise. Sauces complemented each morsel and even the garnishes added to the balance of the dish. Deliciously light, uplifting and super fresh seafood dishes were mingled with steak, soup, pork, light as a feather tempura, rice and sashimi, a delicious black bao bun and finished by a delicate green tea ice cream dessert. Each was presented as a work of art almost too pretty to destroy but destroyed they were A massive, glorious range of cocktails, sake, beer and wines to choose from supplemented a plentiful feed that satisfied even the big boy’s gargantuan appetites. Our US visitor had a Wasabi Margherita. Not to my taste but thumbs up from the kiddies. Whilst on the subject of Wasabi, Ippin uses REAL wasabi, not that sacheted synth stuff used in your local sushi joint. Be warned, it’s HOT but is a perfect accompaniment and I would not expect anything less from Ippin’s true Japanese artistry of eclectic food Great service from what seemed like a UN array of staff that were obs pleased and happy to be there. Cannot wait to go back and go full bore on that wonderful A La Carte. Do yourself a favour, if you enjoy proper Japanese food and creativity search out and...

Upmarket Japanese restaurant in West End. We came across this restaurant when we were looking for a place to eat on a rainy day. We couldn’t quite find anything that caught our eye or piqued our interest, until we found Ippin. It was tucked away upstairs and away from the normal bustling West End village. With the pink leaves of a decorative cherry blossom tree, we were lead to the entrance of this beautiful restaurant. They have stair or elevator access, depending on your preference/ needs.

The first thing I noticed about the restaurant was the beautiful fit-out and decor. It was all decorated so beautifully and made you want to dine with them. It is definitely not a casual sushi joint, and the staff definitely don’t treat you like a casual diner. They greet you and welcome you in, and all the staff say something in Japanese to welcome you. The tables are neatly set up and service is attentive and quick.

In terms of food options, there was a relatively large range of menu items, from a la carte to set menus. They also had bento box options, which were great! The food is definitely a bit more on the pricey side, which is probably to be expected, given the look of the restaurant and service. We got the beef noodle soup and a bento box.

The beef noodles were presented beautifully, with the thinly sliced beef sitting on top of a bed of noodles. The waiter pours the soup over it, in front of you, and leaves you with the _ on the side, to add yourself! The flavours and textures in this were great. The noodles were cooked well and the soup was good. It just made you want more!! I would definitely recommend this dish. The grilled chicken bento box was also very aesthetic and had a number of components. The tofu was quite nice but nothing super special. The sashimi was fresh and a good cut of fish. There was also beef, tuna and egg squares. They were cold, which was a bit interesting, but nonetheless nice :) The grilled chicken was quite nice and crisp, but I’d say that the underside was a bit burnt, leaving a bit of a charred aftertaste… Overall, it was nice to try but I probably wouldn’t opt for the bento again

I’d probably recommend coming here on a special occasion. It is a bit more pricey but the staff definitely make you feel more special than just dining at a normal...

The venue was beautiful and had a nice atmosphere but unfortunately that’s where all the positives end for our visit. My friend had chosen to try Ippin for her birthday so I booked for the two of us. It was a rare girls night out had both really looked forward to.

When we arrived they could not locate our reservation and then said we are booked for 730 (when it was actually 7) and our table was not ready. When I showed them the email confirmation they did a whole 360 on the spot and said our table is ready. We were taken to a lovely booth and after ordering drinks we were asked if there was 4 of us coming, which we said no it was only 2 on our reservation. The waiter then said we were seated at the wrong table and he would try to sort it out. Thankfully he came back to tell us that we could stay where we were as we were already comfortable.

During our meal a waitress lead a group of guests over who were clearly supposed to be where we were seated. She seemed to make a bit of a scene as there was a lot of pointing going on and it made my friend feel uncomfortable as she felt like she was getting stares for sitting where we were even though they had seated us there. The group eventually sat at a booth opposite us so I don’t see what the big issue was and why it wasn’t sorted out earlier.

We ordered the Ippin experience banquet ($98pp) and although the food was good but we didn’t feel that there was really any wow factor. We thought the cocktails though were excellent. We thought it was strange that for an upper class dining venue they decided to use wooden disposable chopsticks for its diners.

Being my friend’s birthday, I had noted this on the booking and as we were having our meal I noticed the neighbouring tables were celebrating birthdays too and they had a special dessert brought to their table with a sparkler on it. I thought they would do this for my friend too when it was time for our dessert but nothing. There was not even any acknowledgment of my friend’s birthday given at all by any staff which was rather disappointing.

In our opinion, it doesn’t matter how good the food is, if the service and experience is terrible then it will leave a long lasting bad taste. Needless to say we do not plan...