Ichiban is currently my favorite place to eat lunch. And it is certinally the best lunch-time sushi restaurant (my favorite for dinner being Musashino). What won me over was its close proximity to work (an hour lunch including drive time is easily doable), their sushi combination lunch, and their friendly sushi chefs. The restaurant has changed management during this year. And because of that, the experience has suffered. But let me describe what you used to get.

You would be greeted with a very excellent smoked eel salad made with cucumbers, daikon, seeweed, and other green vegtables. I have yet to find a close match in grocery stores so I could make my own. I order the Sushi combo “C”. It comes with miso soup and a salad. The salad is basic, but the carrot-based dressing is divine. I should try and replicate that recipe sometime.

The sushi “C” combo has a salmon roll and six pieces of nigiri sushi (salmon, two tuna, snapper?, krab, and shrimp). Also accompanying the combo is some tsukemono which is pickled vegtables. The japanese sure know how to pickle things. I don’t like pickles but I love this.

And after the meal, you would be given something for dessert like a piece of fruit (orange or watermellon) or the tasty mochi ice cream.

Of course the occasional treat from the chefs were good tasty surprises.