Ichika Sushi House — Restaurant in Brisbane

This is the Japanese Food experience I crave.

We were greeted and seated pretty quickly, the waiter kindly washed and dried our table.

We were immediately served water, miso, and edamame.

The miso was very good, the edamame looked a little tired but was still good.

My wife ordered sake sashimi and a California Roll. The sake sashimi was superior to most other sushi spots I've been to. I didn't get to try the California roll but my wife seemed to enjoy it quite a bit.

I ordered a jalapeño popper roll (or something with a similar name) it was pretty novel and had ok flavor. It was solid enough once but I probably won't order it again. Imo, it needs a lil more cream cheese to make it more "popper" like.

The stars of the show:

The tempura 🍤 was second to none in all of tempura I've tried, ever. Perfectly breaded, perfectly fried, and perfectly hot. The shrimp was prepared correctly. I.e. they devained first. I've been to a startling amount of places that do not devain their Shrimp first. The stars were the vegetables though, their potato was deceptively thin. This is a good thing to me, I don't know how they did it, but it seemed like there was a good amount of fluffy hot potato mass despite appearing so thin. The tempura dipping sauce was excellent too.

I saved the best for last, the Tonkatsu Curry was like coming home to a warm cozy house on a cold winter night. It was by far the most gratifying thing I've eaten in a while. For those that don't know, Japanese curry is very dissimilar to Indian curry both can be very good but Japanese curry is creamier, slightly sweeter, and the spices are more delicate than Indian curry in my experience. The sauce was 4.5/5. The tonkatsu was perfectly fried golden brown and displayed beautifully. It was moist, juicy and paired perfectly with the sauce and rice 5/5. Lastly their surprise was adding pickled peppers and onions. This next leveled it for me, the addition of acid added another dimension to the dish and elevated the the flavors of the sauce and cut the richness of the tonkatsu. It was so good I got another for take out. 😩 👌. This was the comfort my soul needed today.

The atmosphere was slightly strange, only in that this particular restaurant has a main room and then a side room. Was slightly confusing at first because I thought maybe they split it up one side sushi side the other side ramen/rice dishes or something like this. This is not the case, you can order anything from either room.

The decor is tasteful, appropriate, and Japanese themed. I noticed the Sakura blossoms placed through out, this was pleasing more than distracting. The dish ware was simple, beautiful and pleasing.

The wait staff was fast, efficient, and polite. The restaurant was particularly busy when we came in so service was slightly jumbled but that did not detract from the over all experience in my opinion.

I'll definitely...

You know, I reallyyyy wanted to give Ichika Sushi House a 5 star review, but the second dinner in a one wk period, led me to think otherwise...

Hear me out! The first visit on a Monday evening at 6pm was met with little to no crowd. Had come by to this spot when it was previously Teriyaki House, so the sights of Ichika's modern esque vibes had me taking a second glance around.

Monday's dinner included 2 Toro Chirashi Bowls and a 49er roll. The bowls apparently came with miso soup, salad, and a single serving of ice cream for two (on the house). Toro Chirashi bowl was out of this world. So much buttery goodness. Mm mm. And that 49er roll?! Witchcraft! We were literally both saying, what an interesting take on the 49er roll bc they didn't put the lemon on top, and you couldn't see it in the roll, but you could 1000% taste it - in a good way, of course! Black magic! Can be tasted, but not seen haha. Okay but I did ask for Hokkaido uni nigiri and they ran out.

I do want to point out that the Monday visit left me a bit curious in terms of what's included vs. what's on the house. I noticed other tables being given edamame on the house and two ice cream servings for couple. Strange.

Welp, that sushi taste remained on my tongue until I convinced another bud to come sushin' w me after I hyped this spot up! Two days later!

The second visit included an Omakase Nigiri, Deluxe Chirashi Bowl, 49er roll (that black magic!), and double hamachi roll. There was just something offffff about the rice that night. That had me completely backtracking everything I said on Monday. It was super unfortunate. They did have the Hokkaido uni order that day (fresh frm Japan that morning, they said!).

In the end, I noted like others have, that there's a learning curve with new restaurants. Their servers aren't entirely familiar with the menus yet. The food was inconsistent btw 1st and 2nd visit. But, I'm here to judge their potential this time! And it's high.

I meannnn a poppin sushi spot in BRISBANE?! Yesss. Right?! BUT they've got huge potential while they work out their kinks on consistency and service. Definitely worth every...

Ichika Sushi House is a bit of a hidden gem tucked away in a strip mall in Brisbane. Don't let the location fool you. This place was buzzing on a weekend night! They only have indoor seating, but luckily, I snagged a spot at the bar right away without a reservation.

They brought out a complimentary plate of edamame to start. It was served cold and unsalted, but hey, free edamame is free edamame, and it kept me occupied while I perused the menu. Shout out to Ichika for having a fun anniversary deal - half off your first drink or a $1 soda if you wish them a happy anniversary!

I went for their omakase nigiri, which at $52 for 10 pieces felt like a pretty good deal. Now, it wasn't a super fancy omakase experience where the chef explains each piece and you savor them one by one. All the nigiri came out together on a plate with a side of ginger. The server did tell me what each piece was, but that was about it. The ginger itself was a bit strong and on the crunchy side. Also, each piece had a dab of wasabi already inside - not a ton, but something to be aware of if you have a sensitive palate.

That being said, the fish itself was fresh, and the cuts were generous. The flavors weren't mind-blowing or complex, but for the price point, it was perfectly pleasant. Overall, Ichika Sushi House is a good spot for a casual sushi meal. The service was friendly and attentive, and the food was decent, especially considering the price. It's definitely...