Ichiban Buffet — Restaurant in Kissimmee

Sushi Heaven!

After a failed attempt on Christmas Day because the line to enter the restaurant was literally out the door into the parking lot, I made it today just before lunch was over.

The all you can eat Lunch price is @ $7.99 and the Dinner price @ $11.99. I stayed for the dinner seating which started at 3.30pm.

And so, if you can imagine, for the following hour and a half I consumed all the sushi my body could handle. I’m from New York and this concept is non existent there. One sushi roll is at minimum $10 (at an ordinary sushi bar) and for something a bit more elaborate, be ready to dish out a good $18 just for a 6 piece roll.

With all that said, I took tons of pictures before I started indulging in sushi heaven... and for heaven’s sake, if you love sushi, I suggest you do the same!

And by the way, I really didn’t notice much difference between the Lunch and Dinner buffet items. For dinner, you have oysters, soft crab legs and extremely large shrimp (salt & pepper soft crabs and shrimp) and that really didn’t justify the price difference. So basically, you can indulged all you want (no time limit) at the lunch buffet price if you want.

As to the array of hot dishes, well they surely looked good. I had a taste here and there but I was so full, I really couldn’t eat that much. Even the pizza looked puffy and cheesy and the fresh salad bar, looked like a picture straight out of Whole Foods.

The sushi to my surprise was good. It was actually, very good. I had previously been to the other Ichiban on International Drive in Orlando but I think, this one is a bit better. The sushi presentation display much better for sure!

One thing I regret not having was the Shrimp Tempura which they prepare to order as well as, whatever you would like from the Hibachi grill.

And... ooooh nooo! I forgot to go over to the cold crab & seafood salad bar... and boy, it looked sooooo, soooo good, arrgghh!

The place from the outside doesn’t look like much, actually it looks like, a nothing restaurant, but don’t let that deter you. Inside, the restaurant is very clean, at least it was, when I was there just a few hours...

Went here with 7 other people and looking forward for good Chinese food after a long and tiring day. The food was great with a good variety of meats, seafoods, veggies and desserts.

The only thing that was really disappointing was the waitress that served us - we were sitting on the left side corner of the restaurant. We had a birthday celebrant and the birthday special states that food is free for the birthday celebrant with a purchase of 5 adult buffets (we had 6 other adults). When she gave us the bill, the birthday special was not included so we kindly asked her to re-calculate the bill. We tried to explain it to her but she was not able to comprehend this. We later learned that she does not understand and speak English very well so we let it go. She was even kind enough to play a birthday song and bring the birthday celebrant a candle to blow. We then paid the re-calculated amount and our change was insufficient (we were missing $10). We kindly told her this and she first insisted saying she gave us the right amount. But we showed her the correct calculation on our phone, which she then got us our extra $10. She then proceeded to ask for a tip. We had thought that the tip was already part of the bill as gratuity so we explained this to her. We asked for our receipt, TWICE, but she did not give this. We proceeded to give her her tip but she rudely walked away and scuffed demanding a higher tip. She even tried to GRAB the cash right out of our hands as she was really wanting the tip. As we were really confused to what was going on, we just decided to put the extra tip on their tip jar. She then proceeded to talk to her co-worker, in her language that we did not understand. At that point, we just walked out.

We ARE planning to tip, but just had to make sure if the gratuity was already included or not. With this experience, we will NOT be going back and will NOT recommend this...

If I could give zero stars, I absolutely would.

I’ve been to Ichiban Buffet in Kissimmee several times, and while the food is generally okay, the experience at the front desk — especially with the man who works there (I was told his name is Sam) — has been consistently awful. This most recent visit really pushed me to write a review.

When I first walked in, I stood at the front desk for a good 2 to 3 minutes while Sam was completely engrossed in his phone. I was literally standing right in front of him, and he never once looked up to acknowledge me. No greeting, no eye contact — nothing. That in itself was rude, but unfortunately, it didn’t stop there.

After getting my food, I brought it to the front, and noticed they had a scale at the counter. Out of genuine curiosity, I asked if they now charge by weight, because in the past they charged a flat fee. Instead of answering the question like a normal human being, Sam snapped at me and said, “Do you want it or not?” — with attitude, as if I was wasting his time or being difficult. I wasn’t being rude at all — I was simply asking a question.

His tone, attitude, and total disregard for basic customer service were incredibly off-putting. This wasn’t just a one-off moment. I’ve noticed he’s always a bit cold and standoffish, but this time, it was just blatantly disrespectful.

What’s most shocking is that he’s the first face people see when they walk into the restaurant. If your front-of-house person is making guests feel uncomfortable, dismissed, or like they’re a bother for asking a question, that sets the tone for the whole experience — and not in a good way.

I don’t usually leave negative reviews, but this was too much. If management sees this: please train your staff — especially the one at the front — on how to treat paying customers with basic courtesy. Until then, I won’t be returning, and I wouldn’t recommend this...