Ichiban Asian All You Can Eat is located at 5095 Yonge in north-central Toronto’s Empress Walk indoor mall. (It used to be at Kennedy and Steeles and we did not know when the location closed that it had moved to here.) Ichiban has an elegant darker modern interior. Reusable chopsticks are included. AYCD pop is $4, but at least there is Coke Zero. Ichiban is a hybrid buffet and table service as is 168 Sushi where soups, desserts and salads are self-serve. iPad menus are used and there is even a serving robot. Ginger is not dyed pink. Mishy loved the cute little soy sauce pot with the downturn spout and little indents in the side to hold it which poured very smoothly. The sauce itself had a wonderful flavor and was quite fresh.
Mishy liked the seaweed aka wakame salad. Chicken wonton soup had the wontons separately from the broth in self-serve, so the diner can add as many as wanted which is nice; it was quite good. Hot and sour soup was delicious and had just the right amount of heat, and it was also very fresh which is important for self-serve where it gets burnt and old quickly. Miso soup was indicated as shiitake, but had enoki mushrooms in it instead, although it was still quite good and clumped well. Ichiban has Mishy's favourite salmon rose (which I love as well) and it was very good and fresh and we were very glad that as there is no sashimi. Salmon, butterfish AKA escolar and red snapper AKA tilapia nigiri were all super fresh and had no odor at all.
Shrimp tempura was very good, not oily, and the sauce was good as well. Chicken teriyaki we both agreed with among the best we have ever had as it was very moist and the sauce was absolutely delicious. Szechuan chicken is very hot, so beware, but it was delicious. Mishy wouldn't have any of it being so hot, but she did help me with the Kung Pao chicken and enjoyed it. I also enjoyed the curry chicken it is more Thai style. Steamed dim sum Shrimp and pork dumplings were both very good but beware they indicate 10 minutes on the menu to be steamed and arrive, however it took more like 15 to 20 minutes.
For dessert, there are a selection of puddings in shot glass cups in the buffet area and four ice creams. Green tea ice cream was very fresh which is a welcome change as usually self-serve can be a bit stale. Chocolate ice cream was good and fresh. Mango ice cream was delicious. Mango pomelo shot glass had a wonderful warm flavour which was probably cloves. Mango yogurt was also very good and enjoyable. The so-called “mixed fruits jelly” was really just orange Jello but I didn't mind. Weekend lunch $28.99. This is somewhat expensive given the offerings; there was no sashimi or beef teriyaki, and pop is also expensive at $4. This is somewhat offset by the salmon rose and the quality of the offerings, which was quite good. We certainly enjoyed our lunch there.
Rating: 8 – 8.5 / 10
