Ichiban Izakaya Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Warrnambool

🇯🇵🍶 Dinner at Ichiban Izakaya was an unexpectedly 𝑜𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑖 affair featuring some of the best Japanese dishes we’ve ever had in Australia.

🍽️ Starting off with the 🍣 𝐴𝑏𝑢𝑟𝑖 𝑆𝑎𝑙𝑚𝑜𝑛 𝑅𝑜𝑙𝑙 which had fresh ingredients & was seasoned perfectly, followed by the 🍜 𝑇𝑜𝑛𝑘𝑜𝑡𝑠𝑢 𝑅𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑛 with silky-smooth milky pork broth, 🍲 𝑆𝑢𝑘𝑖𝑦𝑎𝑘𝑖 with tantalising thinly sliced beef, soft tofu & udon in one of the best beef broth I’ve ever had, and finishing off with the 🍣 tuna & salmon 𝐼𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑏𝑎𝑛 𝑅𝑜𝑙𝑙 which was a top-up order because all the previous dishes were so good.

💡🪑 Ambience was bright & modern, 💲pricing was reasonable & not overpriced at all as some other reviewers had mentioned, 🤵🏻 service was brisk despite being a busy night — overall a delightful discovery in Warrnambool; despite the myriad of really good Japanese options in Melbourne, this restaurant made us wish they’d open a branch in the capital...

We came across this restaurant when we were doing a road trip in Warrnambool.

We were scrolling online and found this restaurant had so many good reviews. Coming from melbourne and had tried omakase before, we were not sure what to expect before dining here.

We had the omakase set, $78 per person. Course after course, the dishes blew our mind, and exceeded our expectations. There was so much care and detail put into each dish, which we really appreciate. Our stand out dishes for the night were dobinmushi, torched mentaiko scallops, ebi mayo, zucchini skewers and Ume jelly.

The chef has really done so well with all the dishes. No wonder it was quite packed for a weekday, luckily we booked a table beforehand.

If you have not been here yet, it is definitely recommended when you are in Warrnambool. It is truly...

0 STARS One of the most disappointing experiences i've had. Ordered lunch for 4 with a young lady who clearly hasn't worked in hospitality for long (well, at least you'd hope not - terrible!) After 30 mins and only 1 order arriving we were asked if we'd paid - 'no' - as our other meals had 'disappeared'. A lacklustre apology and the'd 'be about 5 mins'. 15 minutes later, no meals, no updates and 3 tables after us received their meals as well as 2 large takeaway orders out the door. 10 more minutes and nothing, so we paid for the 1 meal (was asked AGAIN what we had ordered) and left. To the owner. You may want to look at your front of house staff and educate them about customer service, offer an apology and throw in a drink or entree to appease the situation.

Ohh, it's also pronounced 'okonomyaki'...