I love Ichiban Sushi. It’s 2 blocks from my house and I go at least once a week. It might be the cheapest restaurant in PB. The waitstaff are super friendly. The food is copious. My favorite is whatever special they ‘re having –Katsura-don, stamina noodles, any of the rolls. It’s not high-end or snooty. Just a good, neighborhood Informal low cost place to meet local PB residents and eat a cheap, tasty meal.
Danielle D.
Place rating: 3 El Cajon, CA
I don’t think it’s as cheap as it says. Not my favorite but it was still good. Sushi deli and Sochi diner are comparable in price. Maybe cheaper.
Toni B.
Place rating: 2 San Diego, CA
I’ve been coming to Ichiban for so long. It’s my favorite place to have sushi, I come with my family all the time. My recent visit was New Year’s Eve. I ordered the Chicken Teriyaki Plate. Later that night I experienced pain. turns out I got food poisoning from the food and have never experience the pain I went through. My aunt who also came along that night got food poisoning too. I don’t see myself stepping into this place again. WHATEVERYOUDODON’T TOUCHTHESALAD!!! YOU’VEBEENWARNED!!!
Carina M.
Place rating: 5 San Diego, CA
I’ve been coming to this restaurant for the last few years and I couldn’t love it more. They have GREAT prices, the fish is fresh and fast service. The reason I’m writing this review is because I had the sweetest ladies serving me today and the cashier gave me a $ 2 coupon for my next visit. I love it!
John H.
Place rating: 5 Santa Rosa, CA
Best sushi in Pacific Beach! Reasonable prices and really great quality sushi! I always get the San Diego roll or the shrimp tempura roll. Yumm!
Roman B.
Place rating: 1 Poway, CA
First off, this is the cheapest sushi place I have seen in all of San Diego. Second off, there is a reason to the low price. Aside from the unhelpful staff who are not only lazy but rude. The sushi stinks, literally. What I ordered was pretty basic when it comes to complexity. I ordered a crunchy roll which is one of the easiest rolls to make. The only request was that they put no avocado in it. When it came, ofcourse it had avocado. The waitress was unfriendly so I was hesitant to ask her to take it back. Secondly the roll was soggy and gross. I couldn’t finish more than 3 pieces and gave the rest to my friend who was starving after his unsatisfying sushi roll. With a grimace on his face I watched in horror as he finished the roll. We left this place in worse shape than when we came. Ichiban sushi, you suck! I will not be returning, ever!!!
Katrina C.
Place rating: 4 Dillon, CO
I am updating this review and giving it 4 stars due to the fact that I am consistently please at the consistency and quality of the food. I am becoming s regular. I always try something new thanks to their awesome specials! Previous review below. I am so tossed up on how many stars to give this little hole in the wall gem. I give 4 stars on the food. It is excellent and fresh and good rice! Prices are very reasonable for the quality of the food. Good specials too. 3 stars for service. Is there service if you order and pay(and they as for tip) before you even sit down to enjoy your meal? I found that awkward. Love how much ginger is presented on each plate. I guess they are kind of known for their grilled fried cooked rolls. I like my sushi raw, so passed this time. Spicy tuna: chunks of tuna! And masago on top! Yay! I found the chunks very original compared to your usual chopped spicy tuna. Excellent roll. Salmon roll: wow! More salmon than I expected, lots more! Fresh and delicious. Orange blossom: yummy! A little on the spicy side. Tuna inside salmon on top with sauce and masago again. Yay! I thought they were a little heavy on the sauce. I would order it without or on the side next time. Rainbow Roll: not the best I’ve ever had, but pretty good. Would only order it if it’s on special. I’ll definitely come back to try something else! And would recommend. Only gave 3 stars due to the experience, the food is a high 4!
Anna A.
Place rating: 5 Sacramento, CA
I’m rating this place 5 stars because for a super casual, hole in the wall, inexpensive, and great food this place IS a 5 star joint. It does not have a trendy, romantic, hipster, or upscale feel to the décor or food. Just a simple hidden Japanese go-to that satisfied our whole group and a 5 year old! If you’re coming home from Beach day or just want to grab some yummy grubb at a casual place — go, go, go! Super inexpensive so you wouldn’t be taking too much of a risk and if you love sushi then you absolutely give it a try. They have vegan & vegetarian options as well, cold beer, good soup, delicious sushi.
Meredith B.
Place rating: 5 San Diego, CA
Loved this place. We were with a larger group, and we all got something different and loved it all! Friendly staff and really good food. I’ve ordered and picked up a few times since then and always really liked it! Their miso soups are total winners in my book.
Emy M.
Place rating: 4 San Diego, CA
Date of visit: 7÷31÷2015 Ichiban is the sister restaurant of Niban, which holds a special place in my heart from my college days. Since we were about to leave on a trip and I didn’t feel like buying fresh food that would go to waste, Cam and I opted to grab a quick bite to eat at Ichiban before going home to pack. As will most other PB restaurants, the only parking available is street parking. If you’re not good at parallel parking, I suggest you seek parking on the side streets or take a chance on getting one of the diagonal spots on the north side of Garnet. Garnet is one of the main roads of PB, so there is a lot of traffic. Before sitting down, you have to order at the counter. Since it can get fairly busy, be polite and don’t send someone from your party to grab a table. The food comes out fairly quickly, so turnaround on tables is pretty quick as well. Drinks and miso soup are served right when you get to your table. The remainder of your order is brought out as ready. This means that you may or may not get all of your food at the same time. Also, keep an eye out for the deal of the month. For July, it was free drinks with a meal purchase of $ 5.95 or more, so Cam and I were able to get a couple of soft drinks for free. Miso Soup. The miso soup is prepared from one of those dehydrated packets, so it’s nothing special. However, it is a nice warm start to a meal for me, albeit a bit salty. Salmon Roll. This was my first time having raw salmon, so I was ready to not like it, but I found this roll to be really refreshing. We usually get one of the deep fried rolls, which fill you up quickly, but the raw fish was definitely lighter and allowed us some room for the curry. This dish also came out really quickly as it’s one of the easier rolls to make. Chicken Katsu Curry. This is a comfort dish for me and gigantic one at that. It’s served with a salad that has a nice ginger based dressing. Although Cam wasn’t a fan of the salad, I really enjoyed it. The curry is beef based and has big chunks of beef, potatoes, and carrots throughout. It is served on top of a bed of rice and chicken katsu. Because of the curry, the katsu gets soggy, but it’s not too bad. Overall, I’m definitely a fan of Ichiban as it’s definitely comfort food from my college days. I’m also now a fan of their salmon rolls, so when we come back, I’ll have to try some other rolls out. Definitely worth a try if you haven’t been to either restaurant.
Christina M.
Place rating: 2 San Diego, CA
My boyfriend & I had their chicken katsu(spelling?) for lunch last week, and we both had headaches after. I thought that maybe we were both a little off, but I ate the leftovers today and got a headache again. Not sure what’s in the ingredients, but if it’s giving 2 people headaches, that can’t be good. Their sushi is good and I’ve never had any problems, but I’ll never order the chicken katsu lunch special again.
Phoenix H.
Place rating: 5 Chula Vista, CA
I was pleasantly surprised by this place. Tried this place because we just finished a tattoo appointment that took longer than expected. We were starving! Prices were good. I had this baked roll with scallops. I don’t remember the name. It was the best baked roll I’ve ever had. Most rolls like that are slathered with spicy mayo and imitation crab but this had real sea food. Delicious.
Marissa M.
Place rating: 3 San Diego, CA
Eh. Nothing incredibly special about this place. My favorite part was the garlic edamame. You order before you sit down. Prices are competitive. Service was a little slow. The rolls were nothing to come back for :/
Grace Z.
Place rating: 3 San Diego, CA
The great thing about this place is that the portion sizes of the food are so big. I recommend coming on an empty stomach. The quality of the food was decent. I think that because the portions are so big– it lacked a bit in the flavor/freshness of the food in general. The one down side is that they make you order before you sit — this caused some confusion with food since it came out at different times. When we wanted to order another item, we had to wait in line again. The atmosphere of the restaurant was chill since they have comfy sofas and you get to pick where you sit. The actual location is perfect for PB hangouts.
Jennifer C.
Place rating: 5 Rowland Heights, CA
Small hole in the wall joint the gang and I found to eat our last dinner before we headed back home. Glad we found this place… by this time in our trip we were all running low on funds and were looking for a yummy, yet affordable spot to eat. I saw this place on Unilocal.they had great reviews and noticed they have happy hour too so I had to check it out! I was pleasantly surprised. Thanks for being reliable Unilocal squad! They had such reasonable prices and food tasted so good. I got a huge udon bowl for $ 5.95 only! Couldn’t even finish it all. I wasn’t feeling well so I stuck with a hot soup. The rest of the gang ordered some sushi but no one paid more than $ 10 – 12 and we were all happy and full :) The staff was super friendly, too. I think we were a minute past the happy hour time but she still gave us the HH price :) Thank you for that! Street parking. Highly recommend!!!
Rachel C.
Place rating: 3 San Diego, CA
Have come in a couple times on the weekend. We didn’t hit the happy hours so the rolls were about $ 6.50-$ 10. The rolls weren’t made well and we’re falling apart, but the fish seemed fresh and the sashimi was ok. Bummer that you have to order and pay before you sit down, when you are meeting friends this causes food to come out differently. Also getting back in line for another pitcher or drink was lame. Not my favorite in PB, but not bad either. They have tables that can accommodate large groups if you get there at the right time.
Katie W.
Place rating: 3 San Diego, CA
Been here twice with co-workers. Always very pleased with the food(although last time, one of my dining companions had plastic wrap on a piece of his roll — not acceptable), but the service leaves a lot to be desired, especially on our last visit. We sat with empty glasses for almost the entire meal; not a single refill. The girl at the counter may have been having a bad day, but she seemed frustrated when I asked a couple questions about the combo. I adore the food and the price is right, but service needs to step it up to keep us coming back.
Deniz A.
Place rating: 5 San Diego, CA
This place rocks! Great portions that fill you up. The Bento teriyaki is always good served with stir fried zucchini and mushrooms mixed with the chicken. Special thanks to Isabella, who made my visit extra enjoyable and satisfied. I’ll keep on coming back again, again, and again…
Evan L.
Place rating: 4 San Diego, CA
Came here for lunch on a random weekday and was pleasantly surprised by the lunch specials they had. When I was looking over the menu the lady at the counter seemed like she was getting annoyed with me not ordering right away. I ended up ordering the bento box which was hot, good, and a lot of food. Totally worth the 8 dollars.
Nette B.
Place rating: 4 San Diego, CA
Walk up to the counter, place your order then have a seat. There’s a large menu right by the counter. Service: The servers were really nice and kept coming by our table to see if we were fine. Food: Chicken Katsu Curry Bento Box B(Baked Salmon, Shrimp Tempura, Octopus and Tuna Sashimi, California Roll, Fish Tempura, Salad and Miso Soup. Both dishes were yummy and delicious. The chicken katsu was perfectly battered and freshly cooked. The beef curry was satisfying to my tummy. Happy Hour(forgot the hours) Lunch and Dinner Specials available(look at the white board on the wall. Overall, a really good sushi restaurant. Reasonably priced and delicious flavors. I will definitely return to try other menu items.