Ichiban — Restaurant in Madison

Ordered Orange Chicken, Sesame Chicken, and Shanghai Spring Rolls from the American-Chinese menu. It was terrible. The orange chicken tasted like someone melted orange soda or orange candy on breaded chicken. There was no other flavor beyond a super sugary orange candy type flavor to the sauce. Trader joes frozen bag of orange chicken is way better. The sesame chicken was just sweet and sour chicken with 5 sesame seeds on top. I kid you not. There was a total of 5 sesame seeds on top of an order of sweet and sour chicken. Sesame Chicken usually is a garlic type of sauce, brown, and not bright yellowish orange. I dont know why they only put 5 sesame seeds on top of it. The rice was dry and a chore to eat. Most of the meal went to waste because the flavor was terrible. Oh, and about half the pieces of chicken were so dry. It was like freezer burned or something. Some of the chicken reminded me of bad, dried out jerky. The Shanginese spring rolls are just tiny egg rolls. They are filled with a little tiny bit of a typical vegetable mix and some type of filler that is a tasteless breading. This type of little egg roll with the breading filler is common in lower quality Chinese restaurants. Good restaurants just use vegetable mix. But, in the US, at least, spring rolls are often something very different from mini egg rolls. I was expecting mini egg rolls. But I had hoped they would be better than the cheap little toaster egg rolls that I can buy from the freezer section at any grocery store. I don't know where to go for a good American-Chinese experience in Madison. But, now I do know...

We were really excited to try this Chinese restaurant, especially because I’m Chinese and had been traveling for a while without finding a good Asian spot. We weren’t super hungry, so we decided to keep it light and ordered the boiled dumplings, scallion pancakes, and the veggie tofu soup.

When the dumplings arrived—only six of them—I took one bite and immediately knew something was off. They tasted exactly like the Trader Joe’s chicken dumplings I’ve had before. I asked the waitress directly, and she confirmed that yes, the dumplings were store-bought. I was shocked. I told her this should have been made clear when I ordered, especially since their menu photo clearly shows what looks like homemade dumplings.

Then came the scallion pancakes, and once again they looked nothing like the pictures on the Google listing or the printed menu. They were flat, pre-made, and clearly not fresh or handmade. I asked about this too, and the waitress admitted they were also store-bought. Her justification? Most of their customers are American and don’t really care.

That was incredibly disappointing. Whether or not most patrons notice, it doesn’t excuse misleading presentation or false advertising. If you’re marketing your food as authentic Chinese cuisine and showing homemade dishes on your menu, it’s dishonest to serve frozen, mass-produced items without disclosing it.

Needless to say, we won’t be coming back unless they advertise properly. Authenticity matters—especially when it’s promised and...

This is one of the few Szechuan style restaurants that everyone who comes to study or work in Madison should try at least once. Huge portions and countless dishes. Look at the picture of the two dishes I ordered and you will see how much meat they give you. From shareable plates to chinese-american classics, this restaurant has it all. Vegetable dishes are fine, but the meat dishes are bold in both flavor and presentation. This is one of the few spots in Madison which has stayed consistent throughout the years. If you don’t know what to order, order one of the dishes with a menu picture, a lot of the pictures are popular dishes and you cannot go wrong. They also always have featured dishes written on the chalkboard which are great choices if you are looking to try something new. The bathrooms are not the cleanest, but fine if you want to just wash your hands. Free street parking and...