Ikebana Sushi Bar – Carolina

Visiting from out of town I was in the mood for sushi. It was small quaint place. We were told to sit where we liked. The server asked what we like to drink. I immediately asked for the drink menu. The server was a bit unknowledgeable of what I asked for. She said guest usually ask for whatever drink they want. I asked for a wine list, she had that. I asked if they had Saki she said yes but again no menu for that. I ordered one I was not familiar with. We ordered the Caribbean roll, California and the Carlos roll. Very good. My favorite was the Caribbean roll it had fried plantain on top. We also had dessert very yummy. Overall the food is good, the servers need more training in customer service. The prices were high.

Overpriced sushi at its best! Save yourself the headache and avoid this chain-​style sushi joint.

Poor customer service, for an overpriced not-​so great food.
Recently a friend and I met for lunch at Ikebana, something we used to do a lot before I moved. Just 5 minutes before noon my friend arrives to the restaurant, and the personnel tells him that they open in… 5 minutes. So he is left outside in the heat and no shade to wait. Disappointed, we quickly agree to walk next door to Longhorn, and happily eat and spend a good chunk of money while we catch up for 1.5 hours.
Back in the day before social media, Marketing 101 stated that it costs at least 5 times more to retain a current customer than obtain a new one.
How much did you loose here Ikebana? Up your game; your food is not great to risk your customer service.

slow service 1hr to order other to wait for food

Messi roll is delicious

Great sushi in a local strip mall… innovative rollls and dishes. great flavors and very creative looks… Nice service in a quite atmosphere… nice for lunch or dinner…

My favorite sushi restaurant in Puerto Rico [and it has to be the one in Plaza Escorial, Carolina — Best food, best service].
I’ve been visiting this restaurant since it very first opened [especially because of its proximity to my home]… This is where I first tasted sushi in my life. And I’ve visited many other sushi restaurants in PR and haven’t found one that is as good as this one. I only have one other fave sushi spot, but it’s a whole different concept so they can’t actually compete with each other [Sushi Hana in Roosvelt Ave].
Where do I start? They have amazing appetizers. But I must say that my all time favorite are the Spicy Tuna Chips. You should also try the fried calamari which are excellent. I could recommend so many rolls. But just be sure that their sushi chef’s are excellent and their work is exquisite. They have a wide variety of rolls and each one is very different from the other. You can never go wrong.
Most people consider it to be pricey, but it’s worth it since their service and products are excellent.
You MUST try the fried cheesecake. It is AMAZING. Also, they have great offers for lunch. You can create your own bento box for great prices. There are a lot of sushi restaurants in Puerto Rico but Ikebana Plaza Escorial MUST be at the top of the list.
Kudos to the manager; she’s amazing!!!

Bento Box at Ikebana Sushi Bar at Plaza Escorial. Tuna sushi roll was VERY GOOD! The rest absolutely SUCKED! The microwaved dumplings were served with Ponzu (?) sauce rather than the typical light sweet Shumai dipping sauce of soy, mirin and scalion, the scallops were overcooked and the sauce was foul. The salad — (how can you screw up a salad?) had too much vinegar and was almost packed into it’s cubby hole. The «chefs» in the kitchen are obviously NOT trying the food! Next time (if there is one) sushi ONLY. Lastly, I am not a hugh fan of automatic gratuity added to bill.