Ichiban Japanese Steakhouse — Restaurant in Roanoke

Ichiban..... The food is pretty good but the service leaves a lot to be desired; I came by solo on 4 occasions. I am very interested in everything asian; so of course I chatted with the staff there and enjoyed learning about chinese/ japanese and vietnamese culture. (the owner is chinese) The food was also good to go with the casual chat. I sat in the bar area and had an excellent time on my 1st 2 visits. Then things changed. My 3rd visit the owner said to me "Hey little guy" firstly addressing me as "little guy" when I am clearly a grown man (who is expecting to be a dad). I replied hesitantly "excuse me" he changed his tone a bit and just said "how are you"? I said I was doing good. He then asked me "Why don't you ever bring anyone with you here?" I asked did it matter since I was bringing business? He replied "not really". I thought it was weird. I asked him what he meant. He replied "Nothing" and he then apologized. I told him don't worry, one day I would bring my wife with me and he would be able to meet her. Food was excellent on my 3rd visit and had no further problems. 4th visit.... I came in and sat down at the bar like my normal routine. Ordered my food and waited. Owner comes out "Hey kid". Calling me a kid. I replied "Excuse me". He responds "Hey kid" saying it a little louder this time. I told him that was disrespectful. He then asked me "Do you have any friends?" I said of course I did however sometimes I just like to eat alone. Which is true. He laughed at me, and then he said "I don't think you have a wife". I asked why. He said "because you come here alone all the time. You don't have a wife. Show me a picture". Now, at this point I am pretty embarrassed and uncomfortable. I told him I didn't have to show him a picture. He laughed and said " I don't mean to offend you, but you never have someone with you, I don't believe you have a wife, or maybe you are not from here". That was it. I just asked them to bag the food up in a to- go bag. The owner told me he didn't mean any harm. Then he tried to play it off like a joke. If it was a joke he wouldn't have mentioned it a 2nd time on my 4th visit. I was planning on bringing my wife later but not now. I don't think I will ever return here. That is incredibly rude and over the top to question a customer in such a manner about his personal life. If the owner is reading this, you can see the picture now. Just look at my profile picture. Thats me holding my wife. Hope you know you lost a good customer due to...

Food was incredibly overcooked, all of the lobster tastes like briney saltwater, and they didn't charge our card for 2 WEEKS! They FINALLY charged our card when we went to the DENTIST and found a magical 100 dollars missing from our account.

Overpriced, overcooked, and the manager claims this is all normal for them. I at first thought I just didn't like the food, but every single time I've had lobster in any other hibachi, every single time I've had fried rice in any other hibachi, they were NOT rubbery pucks of burnt tasting meat. You charge the customer's card ON THE DAY.

Overall, the server was amazing, the chef had a great personality, but when the food tastes like you're going to get sick from it, everything is overcooked, and the manager tries to say that its NORMAL that their lobster tastes like its been off for 3 weeks, I personally wouldn't go.

Do NOT try to blame your bad lobster on the fact that it was frozen. I've had PLENTY of absolutely FANTASTIC frozen lobster. Your. Lobster. Was. Bad. When you're charging 37 dollars for a child's portion size (That's two tiny lamb chops, one tiny lobster tail, and a bowl of fried rice with soup or salad), and the lobster tastes like THAT, YOU are the problem. Lower your prices, this is INSANE. I could've spent 100 bucks at Crab Du Jour, got 4 full servings, and had enough leftover for deserts and drinks.

When the manager went to the back to redo my lobster, I honestly think he just brought the same plate out to me to try to prove I couldn't tell the difference. I just shoved it in my to go box to not make a scene and he comes out and goes "You didn't have a problem with that lobster, all of our lobster comes frozen its supposed to taste like that." And to preface, I was entirely kind the entire night. I thanked everyone, I had nice conversations with the waiter and the chef, I was quiet and courteous to the staff, I apologized when I didn't think the lobster was good, and just asked to have it refunded. They just "remade" it and sent it back to the table, accusing me of "Faking it" or something. Its not like I asked for the entire meal to be refunded, I JUST wanted you to take the lobster off my table and refund the lobster. I two pieces, decided it was probably going to kill me if I ate anymore, and just...

Extremely Disappointed – Not the Experience We Were Expecting

We made reservations ahead of time for a birthday celebration with a small group of nine people. Upon arrival, we were seated quickly, which was appreciated and initially gave us hope for a smooth evening. Unfortunately, that’s where the positives end.

While the cook at our table was friendly and entertaining, the entire experience was marred by poor communication and unacceptable service. The portion sizes were shockingly small—barely enough for a lunch portion, let alone dinner. My wife ordered chicken as her main course, and it was such a small serving that I had to ask the waiter to give her my portion just so she could complete her meal.

Our drinks were served at the very beginning of the meal and then completely forgotten. No refills were offered, and no staff member checked in to see if we needed anything at all. After sitting for another 30 minutes with no service, I had to go to the front and ask if we could get our check so we could finally leave.

While speaking with the front desk, I also pointed out that the table next to us—which included children—had been waiting over an hour just for drinks, and no one had come to their table either. The staff gave a half-hearted apology and brought us our check. They applied a 10% discount for the inconvenience, which we appreciated—until they ran our card and somehow “accidentally” removed the discount, resulting in a higher final total. We were told it was an honest mistake, but the entire experience had already left a bad taste in our mouths.

What was once a fun and dependable place for a family dinner and show has now become a shadow of what it used to be. The food is subpar, the staff seemed unbothered by complaints, and there was a general attitude of indifference from the team. I wouldn’t recommend this...