I is for Ichiban

http://www.ichiban-sushi.com/

Type of restaurant: Chinese and Sushi

He had: Shrimp fried rice
I had: Shrimp lo mein
We shared: Hollywood Roll, Ichiban Roll

Thoughts: Okay we went to Ichiban over the weekend with the full intention of NOT eating sushi. As some have pointed out, we have several reviews of sushi restaurants, and not much else. True. Hey, we have a preference, but we're trying to work on it. After consulting the Chinese portion we decided on our dishes and decided just to get a little sushi as an appetizer. There was NOTHING little about the two rolls we ordered. I'm kicking myself for not taking a picture of these two rolls. They were huge! And super yummy. The hollywood roll was made with soybean seaweed which meant, much to my delight, that the rolls were pink! It was one of the special rolls of the day and it was amazing. The Ichiban roll was awesome too because it had shitake mushrooms, and we are both huge mushroom fans. I told myself when we ordered the sushi that I would not write about it, only the Chinese food. But after tasting each roll Allister said, "you have to write about these!" I will just leave it at both of the rolls were up there with some of the best sushi I've ever had and the presentation was beautiful. Now on to the Chinese portion... Seems lame that we ordered such basic dishes, huh? Allister swears this place has the best Chinese food, and even the simple things are so good. Shrimp lo mein is pretty simple so I went for it. Awesome decision. The noodles weren't super thick like typical carry out lo mein and the flavor was great. The shrimp were abundant and not overpowering. The whole dish had a really nice, subtle, smokey flavor to it. Allister's fried rice was just as good. There were a lot of different vegetables throughout, as well as a lot of shrimp. After eating our huge rolls (which we didn't even finish) we were only able to eat a little of our entrees. On the bright side, they made fabulous leftovers the next day.

Overall opinion: This isn't the first time we've gone to Ichiban and I'm just as pleased this time as I was the last. Its a small place (though they will be expanding) but its nice. There are a lot of little touches that make it more than just a strip mall sushi place, for instance, they have really pretty stainless steel chopsticks with intricate designs. The food, both Chinese and sushi is very good. Since we spend most of our time on my side of town, we don't go often, but if I lived closer, I'd definitely go here all the time. The staff is also nice and very attentive. If you ever find yourself out in Bowie, definitely check this place out. Allister says it can get pretty packed on weekend nights, but even so, I'd say its totally worth the wait!