Ichiban-ya

Was thinking of going to Guu two blocks down Thurlow St., but the wait was approximately 40 minutes and people were hungry!

So we stumbled down the street and my friend suggested this place which has a rather interesting "hole-in-the-street" entrance. The restaurant is underground. Nowadays, I do not really care what I eat so I did not mind trying new restaurants.


Inside, we were greeted by the enthusiastic manager in a multitude of languages including Korean and Japanese, my friends and I thought this was quite funny.


I don't know why, but I've been having a sashimi craving these days, so I decided to get something I don't usually get: Salmon and Tuna Sashimi $11.95 and a Chopped Scallop Roll $4.95. I felt these prices were okay because the place looked pretty run down, but it felt comfortable.

I ended up liking both items that I ordered. The sashimi was fresh in my opinion. I know that some people don't like the sashimi were it feels like it's just taken out of the freezer, but honestly I could not tell, and I love when sashimi is ice cold.


The chopped scallop roll was the standard fare, nothing special, nothing bad.


Something to note, when paying the bill, they charged me extra $2 for "wild salmon" when I did not ask for it at all. Thankfully they returned the money after I asked about it, otherwise I would have gotten extremely annoyed.


Overall: Decent restaurant.