Ichiban Sushi Restaurant — Restaurant in Courtenay

Not sure how this place gets 4.5 stars. Visiting from vancouver so we have higher standards. Would personally rate 2.5-3 stars. Giving it a 2 to help lower the ratings a bit as time inflated.

Was surprised at the menu and everything is extremely expensive. $8-9 for a dynamite, tuna roll, but have to comment there was a decent amount of tuna. That’s almost double the price of what we pay in vancouver. Sashimi was $15 for 5 piece which works out to be $3/piece.

Sushi rice was a bit mushy and it was also slightly warm. A bit odd eating that when the fish was cold.

Our party ordered a beef and a chicken teriyaki combo. Surprisingly beef was tender.

Ordered tempura udon but server only heard udon. Not a big deal. The tempura wasn’t bad but it didn’t come with the standard sauce that is usually served with tempura.

Combo was decent deal comparatively if you ordered then individually. 8 pieces nigiri and a yam, dynamite and California roll.

$170 for...

When I am trying out a new Japanese restaurant, I usually order something that I am hoping is easy to make and pretty consistent from restaurant to restaurant.

Ichiban sorely disappointed me.

Gomae - more spinach than I could have ever imagined and less sauce than was useful. There was maybe enough sauce for a single bit. The rest was just piles and piles of plain boiled spinach.

Spicy Tuna Roll - clearly not spicy and while the fish tasted fresh, it seemed to be wrapped in old stale rice.

Rainbow Roll - once again, fresh fish with stale rice that made the entire experience bad.

Sashimi - this was slightly better, but should not be that frozen when served, especially with such thin pieces.

Teriyaki Chicken Bento Box - the soggy tempura was terrible. The only redeeming part of this box and actually the entire meal was the chicken.

I will not be back. I will gladly take my money across town...

I tried this again for lunch. I liked it this time and would go back. Kept to basic dishes like yam rolls and lunch specials. Maybe it's because it's been so long since I've had Vancouver sushi, but I enjoyed my lunch experience. Kind service, better rice than last review by a lot and hot fresh tempura. Yam tempura huge and great value. I took leftover tempura yam home to add to my own sushi rolls.

Old review: The rice was gewy and terrible. The rolls were barely etable and the baked scallop was swimming in mayonnaise. I would not go back and would not recommend. Service was kind and friendly, the only good thing here was the cute building and friendly staff. Wish I could have rated this higher. I've heard other people speak highly of this place, so I will eventually...