Ichiban Hibachi Buffet

As all-​you-​can-​eat sushi bars go, this one tops my list! Immediate seating from a friendly hostess, followed by a stroll to the hibachi grill. Get this: you make your OWN plate (from raw meats & veggies), place your name and table number on a sticky note, and voilá; hibachi made to order! I had the steak, chicken, AND shrimp with noodles, onions, and mushrooms – YUM! Then we headed to the sushi bar where we loaded up on delicious sushi AND sashimi… And the cuts of fish weren’t too shabby. As my boyfriend settled in to his food coma, I headed to the dessert table for a cream puff and some cookies and cream ice cream! And, get this… As I checked in on Unilocal,a $ 5 off coupon popped up! The meal was already reasonably priced, and I just got another $ 5 off?! Yes, yes… Ichiban comes highly recommended from this Unilocaler! Two chopsticks UP.

Typical buffet that you find in most areas. This one is really busy. probably because it is close to the theme parks in Orlando.
They have a good amount of seafood/​sushi and also I got to use my mandarin speaking skills with the staff.

We ate at this restaurant on June 17^th and was pleasantly surprised. The food was fresh and delicious! I was hesitant to try the oysters, as I’ve never had fresh oysters at a buffet. However, the oysters were wonderful! We will definitely return when we visit Orlando!

For $ 8.99, you can gorge yourself on OK sushi. Ichiban is kind of creative with their selections (sushi shaped like pizza slices, covered in red, asian hot sauces), but you kind of get what you pay for and there isn’t a huge varitey — no sashimi either. I’ve been to better all-​you-​can-​eat sushi places, but this place is more than adequate for the price.

My family came to visit and we went here for dinner. The price was decent. It was like $ 14.99 for dinner per adult. A lot of Chinese/​Hibachi buffets charge like $ 16+ per person because they usually have larger selection.
The goods:
They have an okay selection of dinner entrees to choose from. Most of them taste good. They have an okay selection of sushi options too. There’s a platter of tuna, salmon, and white fish sashimi that ALWAYS gets cleared in like 2 minutes. It’s like when people stalk the stone crab legs. If you’ve been to good Chinese buffets, you know exactly what I’m talking about loll. My water was aways refilled and the server came by a lot to pick up our finished plates. Attentive.
The bads:
I’m not a fan of their Hibachi. You put what you want on your place and then you give it to this guy who stands in front of the kitchen and he writes your name down and say he’ll bring it to your table when he’s ready. He doesn’t ask me how I want it cooked, what sauces I want, etc. It’s not like MOST Hibachi where you can see what they cook and tell them to add sauces as you like. If you don’t say anything, they just mix their default sauces and send it back to your table. I also didn’t like the way they plated/​showed their sushi rolls/​pieces. It looked messy and unappealing. I didn’t want to try like 6 different rolls because they didn’t look good to me. They should also not call this place «Ichiban» but it gives off the perception that they’re a Japanese /​Hibachi buffet. But it felt more like a Chinese buffet to me with some Sushi options on the side.
I probably wouldn’t come back here if it was just my decision. I’d only recommend it if you’re not a picky eater and have a really open mind lol.

For the money that you pay, the selection is good. The Sushi is not the quality you would find at Amura or another high end restaurant, but it is pretty darn good for the price that you pay.
The stir fry station is nice where you are able to fill your plate with a selection of veggies and then top of with the protein of your choice and then it is brought to your table relatively quickly.
The buffet has a good number of items, not the best, but a good selection of items.
It is nice to go to lunch with co-​workers every now and then for something different!

This was not a good buffet compared to other Asian buffets I’ve been to. The signs didn’t seem to match up to the sushi so I wasn’t really sure what I was picking. The sushi looked sad and made with thin shaved pieces of fish. The hot food items looked soggy, greasy, and unappealing. I didn’t even try the make your own stir fry.
We were seated in a smaller room with 3 mega air vents that were blasting air making it super cold. We had to ask 3 times for the air to be reduced. Not sure why we were seated there because the place had only a few other seated tables.
I also had to keep asking for the basics like water or a dish for soy sauce.
I get that it’s a buffet so I have lower expectations of the food, but even this was sub par to other buffets. And it makes me sad when people think this is what good Japanese or Asian food is.

I’m from out of town and was delighted to eat here. They have a variety of sushi to choose from and the hibachi order comes out pretty quickly. It’s not too expensive $ 14.99 per person for what you get.
The dessert was not the greatest but the main courses and the food overall was fresh. Also the restaurant was clean and the staff were friendly. You should definitely come here hungry.

Definitely worth the money. Not the best place ever, but the sushi and hibachi are surprisingly awesome. I went with two friends on a girls night idea. We had a good experience and left stuffed. I would definitely do it again!

Great for the money you pay!
Sushi was pretty good (don’t expect the same as in Amura’s or Wassabi). Great selection at the buffet and hibachi grill. Staff is very friendly. I’ve been there 4 times now and will go back again :))

Having moved to the area, my husband and I were missing an Asian buffet. We had one we frequented in Boynton Beach which was excellent. Driving around, we came across Ichiban and made a note to ourselves to go one day.
We ended up going after their grand opening. They still had the banner up. We were so excited thinking it was going to be delicious and just like the one restaurant we left behind.
Sadly, we were very disappointed in pretty much everything. The service was slow when you requested rice or water. The buffet in itself looked impressive when you walked in, but that’s it. It had the typical fare of random items. As for taste? Meh.
The food was bland, the sushi was warm. My husband could only manage one bite of his sushi.
If you are starving and just want something to eat and in the area, you can stop here, but don’t expect the world. I honestly don’t think it was worth the money. We won’t be back.

Tried this for lunch last week. For a buffet, it was actually really really good! I do think they could beef up the usual selections of Chinese fair. However, they do have the Hibachi part of the buffet and I did try that with Beef and Shrimp. It was really good! And, their sushi was pretty good too! I mean for $ 8.50 and I can eat all the sushi and hibachi I want! Sign me up baby! Eveything was very clean and the servers were really friendly and came by several times to make sure we didn’t need anything else or to bring more drinks.
I will definitely be going back to try some more stuff soon!

Nothing great, but not bad. The only real issue I had was the first waitress we had was absolutely lousy. As we were brought to our table, she didn’t bother to mention a word to us about knowing our table number, or anything worthwhile. I sat without a drink for 10 minutes, and she even walked by with a dead stare into my eyes and didn’t bother to stop yet approached her other tables around us. I got the attention of someone else, and got a new waitress and she was wonderful. The sake was good, and the green tea ice cream is just amazing!
I know what waitress to avoid now (it is sad that they let people like this work for them, when other employees are so wonderful) so my next visit should hopefully be better!

On the hunt for Mexican and instead Roman Choirs sing as a solitary ray of light beams onto the grand opening sign of the Ichiban Buffet. Ok, like just about everyone else I am not a huge fan of buffets, particularly Asian ones. They are usually packed with hordes of rude people shoving their way to the fried rice. I thought to myself as I entered to three white girls in kimonos, this trip is doomed and nearly walked right back out. To my surprise the restaurant was clean as mentioned by everyone else. It was not packed with starving refugees, in fact the clientele was ultimately human. As for the food, it was decent for buffet dinning at $ 14.50 a plate. My wife and I having not seen a menu or any reference to price were a little apprehensive and expecting an Earth shattering bill. With our mean and some sake it came up to less than $ 40. The hibachi part was actually much better than the buffet. You can choose between beef, chicken, and salmon with or without stir fry vegies. Pile it on your plate and tell them your table number and in a few minutes your meal is at your table. The cuts are not the best, but for $ 14, I do not expect Kobe.
Overall, not a bad deal. If you have many hungry friends and are going dutch, drop in and say hi. If you are a pack of refugees, there are several other buffets in the area, check them out.

I’ve been a few asian buffets and this one is probably one of the better ones. Most importantly its CLEAN and they have the option of adding salmon or scallops on their hibachi bar!
Also, their sushi rolls aren’t bad for a buffet! They had the more expensive rolls you find at sushi restaurants at their buffet! Spider roll, mango roll, rainbow roll, etc! It was pretty cool, of course its not the «best» but it’s a buffet what do you expect? They also had a seaweed salad with sashimi, pretty good!
I also enjoyed their ice cream selection. whcih I usually hate ice cream at buffets because its always the generic kind, but they had green tea, red bean and strawberry (with strawberry pieces inside)
Overall, not a bad buffet! It’s a good place to get your fix.

It’s a buffet… What do you expect? All in all the food quality is good here. They have many different choices, and switch out fresh items pretty regularly. The cool part is the ability to «create» your own hibachi. While this is nice, you can not add sauces during cook time, only after… The other not so great thing is the layout. It just does not seem to flow. You have to walk in circles to get soup and find the hibachi area.

Wow, these places are really popping up fast! Just along Alafaya between 50 and University, THREE all-​you-​can-​eat, diabetes-​riddled, this-​is-​why-​the-​rest-​of-​the-​world-​makes-​fun-​of-​us buffets have opened in just the last few months.
Well, I’ll try anything once.
Let’s get one thing straight right off the bat — no. The sushi is not good. I’m sorry, but it’s just not. Well — let me rephrase. If you are the kind of person that thinks Publix sushi is exquisite, then you might find it passable here. And I’m not blaming them for this, it’s just the way it is with these buffets. They can’t make really good sushi and then charge you $ 8.50 to eat as much as you want. If that were possible it would drive down the price of REALLY good sushi to the point where you could eat it every day without going broke. If you want good sushi, take a look at the top portion of my sushi list (generally ordered by goodness) here:
This place is going to earn a position somewhere towards the bottom.
Everything else? Meh. Typical fare, heavily breaded and sauced chicken nugget-​type things and semi-​stale lo mein. Chicken wings were decent. We didn’t try the hibachi, maybe it’s better?
There’s not much more to talk about. If you’re determined to stuff yourself silly, check out the other Asian buffet in the area (which I reviewed on 5÷24÷2012), it’s slightly better in my opinion.

I have to caveat this review with saying that I have a bias against buffets, but this one is pretty good. I guess it is only fair to rate it for what it is.
Ichiban Hibachi Buffet is definitely a buffet with good quality food and a clean environment. The dinner deal is $ 14.50 (week night) for all you can eat sushi, sashimi, pick-​your-​own-​ingredients Hibachi grill, assorted Asian entrees, dessert and even some conventional American palate food. Your server will efficiently escort you to your seat, bring you drinks, bring you your Hibachi grill and whisk away your empty plates. For the rest, you are pretty much on your own.
The Hibachi grill area has an assortment of vegetables (onions, bean sprouts, summer squashes) and meats (salmon, scallops, shrimp, chicken, beef). You pick as much of these in whatever combination you want, and a server queues it up to be cooked by a chef. You are paired to your selection with a number, and they bring it out to you when it is done. Mine was cooked to perfection (mostly seafood) in a slightly spicy sauce.
They must have about a dozen sushi rolls laid out on a cold plate — some familiar, some not. They also have a light and a dark fish sashimi. Everything I had was good and the sashimi didn’t have a fishy taste. They have big bowls of ginger and wasabi to go with it.
Other buffet items were neatly presented and the area well-​kept. I had a few of these items, but the family had more. Everything was reportedly good. My one complaint is that everything was not labeled (one of my gripes about buffets). The people are good about telling you what everything is, but it just the fact that you have to flag someone down. I didn’t eat from the American food bar, but I saw french fries and chicken fingers amongst other items. They also have a fresh salad. (Good for that unadventurous diner in you party that you convinced to go.)
I am not a real big fan of Asian desserts (and they had a few cake-​like things), but I did have some ice cream. I recommend the red bean. (I know it doesn’t sound great, but just give it a try.) The green tea was good but a little too mild for my taste. They also had vanilla, chocolate and a few other kinds. For the unadventurous diner, they have pudding, jello and fresh fruit.
I can’t say much about the drinks. They had the typical Asian beers, tea and a wine list. I pretty much skipped all of it.
Ichiban Hibachi Buffet is a pretty good overall. The place is clean and the food nicely presented. The service is great. Some might not like that this is not a mega-​buffet like seems to be rage these days, but there is a enough variety that you can try most things and not walk away too stuffed. (Well, relatively speaking — it is a buffet, right?)

I’m not a big buffet fan so I was a bit apprehensive about coming here but I have got to say; I was impressed.
The place looked clean, which is something I always look for in an eating establishment
The service was stellar. Our waitress was friendly and our glasses were always refilled. The manger came around later and asked how we had enjoyed everything; I hope it stays that way.
There are still a lot of things that aren’t labeled like the sushi so I was just randomly grabbing sushi but oh… was it good. I mean for a buffet to have good sushi is unheard of for me; no longer. I would gladly come here to eat sushi alone, that’s how good it was. The hibachi was stellar and I was surprised to see they had large, plump shrimp available as part of their options. They offer the white sauce and others if you wish it. They have desserts like ice cream and cut up brownie pieces, cookies, normal stuff you’d see in an oriental buffet.
Lunch is 8.50 per person and once you see what your options are; you’ll quickly understand that you’r getting one heck of a deal.
All I’m saying is; I’ll most definitely be back.

Food was okay at this buffet. There aren’t that many varieties of food. I was hoping there were more sushi selections. The sushi area is kinda dark. There weren’t labels on all their food so I had no idea what they were. They definitely need to put labels soon. My head almost hit the glass at the sushi area too. the table and the glass have a weird gap that’s not so great for a five-​foot person. Hibachi service is kinda slow, but they were very apologetic for the wait.
I definitely like the service. My water was always filled up. Waitress, hostess and the chefs are all very nice and attentive.
Price is cheap too. $ 8.50 per person for a weekday lunch time. It’s close to UCF. It’s a cheap place to hang out with your friends. You should try it for yourself.