Ichiban Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Mason

I had made a reservation at 5:15 pm for a party of six and we were seated as soon as we arrived. Initially, they took our drink and appetizer orders right away but once they brought us our water, they never came back with our food nor to take our main entree order. Eventually, we had to call across the store multiple times just to get the attention of a waiter. At this point, we had already been there for half an hour and were running behind schedule as we had to leave at 6:20 in order to get to our event later that day.

They finally took our main order and we waited another additional 20 minutes, but by then, the food still hadn’t come out. We again had to flag someone down to inquire about our food and informed them that we had somewhere to be. I even asked for the check right then and was willing to pay immediately in order to speed the process up. Because we were running so late, we changed our order to a to-go order and weren’t able to actually sit down and dine in the store, which was very disheartening as we had been hoping to enjoy our meal together.

Despite making our situation known, our food still didn’t come for another 10 minutes and we again had to ask where it was. Keep in mind (besides the appetizers), we only ordered sushi and nothing else so there really wasn’t a valid reason for it to be taking this long. The people sitting in the booth next to us had a similar party size and arrived after us, yet they were served their food much earlier and even left before we got our sushi so I’m not really sure why we weren’t being served.

When we yet again got the attention of a waiter, it turned out that our food had been ready for quite a while. It had just been sitting on the counter near the sushi bar and nobody had come to give it to us – even though I had communicated our urgent need to leave. I’m honestly very disappointed in the service we received that day. They had no problem bringing us our check so we could pay the bill, yet couldn’t be bothered to provide the service that I paid for.

Because of this fiasco, we had to rush to our party and ended up having to eat in the car, which was a huge hassle. The food at Ichiban is good, but the complete lack of professionalism and any sort of care towards their customers is extremely frustrating. I’ve eaten at Ichiban in the past and their service has always been subpar, but never this bad. Frankly, this whole situation has left a bad taste in my mouth and made me not want to come here again. Our experience at Ichiban caused us unnecessary stress on a day that was supposed to fun and memorable. I urge you to consider if the possibility of this situation happening to you is worth coming to this establishment before you decide...

I'm going to break this review into two parts, one for general review and the other for comparison to Dancing Roll (similar sushi place down the road).

General information:

Price: overall cost is very reasonable across the board. $20 is enough to get a substantial meal for two people and there are coupons for things like a free appetizer/$5 off which I recommend you use.

Food: I was surprised by the freshness and quality of the seafood. Everything I tried tasted excellent and was definitely worth the price in my opinion. I personally recommend the rolls with sauce prepared (Ex. Dragon roll). For those that don't have sauce make sure you give them a proper dip in soy sauce mixed with wasabi.

Atmosphere: The restaurant is very open with good decor. In terms of formality I would say it's above basketball shorts and a hoodie but below a suit/tux.

Presentation/service: The food is presented very beautifully, especially the "boats" which are quite literally small ships with dry ice on them so it looks like they are smoking like a steam boat. The service was decent, not outstanding nor bad. It should be noted if you plan to practice your Japanese at this restaurant that most of the waitresses are actually Chinese.

Dancing Roll comparison:

Price: Food prices are very similar, however, Dancing Roll provides complimentary miso soup.

Food: Both have some pretty good choices but there is a very noticeable difference in terms of quality. The seafood at Ichiban is significantly fresher and the quality of the ingredients is much better (overall win for Ichiban).

Atmosphere: Dancing Roll is very small in comparison, meaning if you are sitting next to a screaming child it can be pretty rough in such close quarters.

Presentation/service: Servers are a bit friendlier at Dancing Roll but it's not a huge difference. Decor and food presentation is nicer at Ichiban overall. Dancing Roll is less formal if...

Ichiban now commands the space of the old West Shore Pizza on Tylersville Road. What an upgrade!

The staff greet you and welcome you into a calming space, where booths allow for quiet conversation and a truly enjoyable date night. The menu is flexible, with plenty of sushi and sashimi options for a sushi newbie to make fantastic discoveries. For the regular, the Maki menu and the half priced options enable one to be a "regular" and not break the bank.

Digging into the sushi scene in Cincinnati, a few places quickly rise above the others. Some are gorgeous, with tatami rooms and higher prices. Some are cafeteria fare thrown together by novices. And please, don't allow yourselves to eat refrigerator sushi! :-(

Ichiban is toward the top... a wonderful blend of the delicate sensibilities of a fine sushi restaurant and the ease of a strip mall location. Highlight: the Chirashi comes generously plated with the chef's artistic flair for that night. We have seen plating with artistic sculptures and others with dry ice smoke pouring from a champagne flute!! Do you want to impress on a date, or keep things happy in a decades-old marriage?...come to Ichiban and let yourself be treated to their brand of sushi...