The service is great, the staff is quick, friendly, and accommodating! The food is fresh and everything is so clean. The variety on the menu is unbeatable. We loveee the tom yum soup base, it's the best. Huge dining space. Great location right near Malden center and there's ample parking. Hours are unreal, open til midnight! Amazing all around. read more

Great spot for some hot pot, great customer service. Everyone was fast and friendly. Accommodated my large group. Full bar read more

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Visited Ibasaw multiple times for their AYCE hot pot. I think they have a decent selection, but the sauce options could be better. All the times I went, there was no wait and we were seated immediately when we arrived. Not a lot of complaints since it's AYCE and I don't like driving into Boston. Not bad for the price too. read more

Ibasaw - Sushi Bars Near Me - Malden, Massachusetts

One of the all you can eat hot pot spots that I don't see advertised very often online. They are located in Malden and offer all you can hot pot. You can also order sushi on the side as well. For the price and the variety of food you can get for hot pot, I think this is average. They have a wide variety and they have blue a whole blue crab you can order one at a time. However I think the meat quality is not as great as other places. They kind of just throw random pieces of meat on a plate and each time they bring out a plate its different portions. The cuts of meats are thin, short, always on the fattier side. I couldn't find a leaner meat option. Service is okay. They always forget something. Overall, this is an average hot pot spot. Not one of the best but it will satisfy your hot pot cravings. Ambience is very chill, very relaxed. They have plenty of seating. read more

Ibasaw - Sushi Bars Near Me - Malden, Massachusetts

Came here on a Friday evening with a group of five. We were seated promptly and put our orders in shortly thereafter. The most popular thing here appears to be the all-you-can-eat hot pot, however I had a hankering for the sushi. I ordered a few different rolls and they were good, nothing to write home about, but hit the spot for me nonetheless. Worth trying if you're looking to get some sushi at a reasonable price. read more

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Theres a very cozy vibe about this restaurant! I think this place is great for group dinners, they have long tables and the restaurant is very spacious as well. I think they have a great AYCE hotpot price and their service is very quick! read more

My flight got in around 10:30 PM and not much is open, so I thought I'd have to eat fast food, but luckily I found this place. We did the AYCE hot pot, got the spicy broth and tom khun broth. They bring you everything, and there's a sauce bar with scallions, sesame sauce, soy sauce, garlic, and others. You can even get a whole crab. I wish they had fish balls, but overall, not a bad selection. This was definitely needed after a long flight. The service is also really great and they leave water at the table for you. Great music too (90's R&B) read more

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Firstly, service was good, the ladies clear empty plates and refill your water pitcher pretty quickly. So kudos to the ladies working i appreciate you! This to me reminds me of one the local spots to just hit up casually. As many others have said it would be bomb if the price included some sushi dishes as well but anywho, we did the AYCE hot pot. Things worth getting are the first 3 beefs on the menu and white fish quail eggs etc. the broth was definitely lacking (the house) chicken stock basically salted water wasn't very tasty as we usually drink a bowl of broth before starting the cooking process. Probably get tomatoes/ Tom yum broth next time. Tong ho for veggies, we got scallops but that's the mini scallops and i passed on the second round. We stuck to mainly beef protein's. The sauce bar has your basic sauces for traditional hotpot. They also have a freezer with them hood style iced creams you eat with a wooden spoon. A lot of space for groups, super casual and open fairly late. Serviceable spot. For two of us with tip came to about $94. They don't try to be something super high end or anything. As you would expect, but there are better food spots around this price point. We are full tho so cheers. read more

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Ibasaw is an AYCE hotpot and sushi a la carte restaurant. I came here with a big group on a Friday night and we didn't have to wait. They have a huge parking lot with lots of space. Every table shares a communal pot. For broth, we got the half Chengdu hot and spicy and half Chinese herbal. Their menu has a pretty big meat and seafood selection. The best things to order are the prime rib ribeye, rock crab (whole), lamb, clams, muscles, shrimp, and scallop. If you're into the exotic foods, they have beef tongue, aorta, frog leg, gizzard, and blood. Everybody gets 2 hours to eat. For vegetables their daikon, enoki mushrooms, winter melon, wood ear fungus, bok choy, napa cabbage, and watercrest were good. If you waste too much food, they have a policy that they can charge $10 per person. Their sauce station was simple and includes about 15 different things in it. They serve pretty affordable alcohol here as their cocktails here are $9, beer is between $5 to $7, and wine is $9 a glass. They also have wine by the bottle, sake, and soju. The service here was decent and the food came out quickly. The ambiance is that of a very typical plain Chinese restaurant with no decorations. The price is $35 for the all I can eat but they charge an extra $3 for the broth so it's more like $38 a person. read more

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For $35 AYCE hotpot, don't mind if I do! IBASAW has become one of my favorite places to go for AYCE hotpot. I love the service and they have great quality food. The meat is fresh and finely cut. A plus about this place, they offer AYCE rock crabs and green mussels. Along with other popular items like shrimp, squid, shrimp paste, and tong ho (vegetables). A lot of hotpot places don't service this. They even have their own sauce bar! Highly recommend coming here! read more

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I've been on the search for some tasty, fresh AYCE Hotpot + sushi spots in MA, & have been interested in trying Ibasaw for a while. Initially, I thought this place offered both AYCE hotpot AND sushi, but turns out it's just AYCE Hotpot! Sushi here is a la carte. For $35/pp, it is all right. We got the white broth which is apparently chicken broth. Normally we always drink a bowl of the broth before putting stuff in to cook & when we tasted it, it tasted like salty water, no flavor. Broths are $2-3 depending on which one you get. I think the meats + seafood that are worth getting include: prime rib, beef tongue, choice rib eye, crab (rock crab), and clams. For vegetables, we stuck with tong ho. I usually get tong ho or napa cabbage. The tong ho was quite bitter, and yes I know it is supposed to be slightly bitter & slightly tangy, but it was VERY bitter. I guess I was a bit disappointed that they don't offer AYCE hotpot AND sushi, of course that's my bad for not getting the details right. I think $35/pp would be very worth it, for me, if AYCE sushi was included but I mean, $35/pp is the average price nowadays for AYCE. It's been a while since I've had AYCE hotpot & the quality doesn't beat a la carte style, honestly. Overall, not bad. I can see this place being a good spot to go if you're just trying to get full, hence AYCE (quantity over quality) BUT AYCE can also be very delicious, fresh, & enjoyable... Ibasaw is edible but not great. AYCE spots are hit or miss and unfortunately this was a miss for us. Total for 2 people here came up to ~$94, including tip. Eh. Rating: 3/5 read more

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I came to this place when they initially opened and had self-serve stations for their all you can eat sushi, veggies, and sauce options. Now they do table ordered but a smaller sauce table. Between the four of us, we did half a broth of the kimchi and sour tomato. At first, we liked the kimchi but the tomato both became our favorite by the end. For the initial order, the portions were smaller which made it very difficult to finish the second round. We tried their pork, prime rib, shrimp, fish balls, shrimp paste, and more for protein. Vegetables we ordered included Napa cabbage, corn, bok choy, watercress, and more. Quality of produce was decent. Overall, we had a good experience and am planning on coming again. Service was moderate in that we mostly had to ask for things like water, napkins, etc, as opposed to them asking. It's a casual place to fill your stomach for about $45. read more

It was a dinner of two mommy with their kids. My friend paid for us so I'm not sure the price of their AYCE hot pot. I didn't do the hot pot, I ordered two sushi rolls. They have a decent selection of hot pot items. This is the first AYCE hotpot place that I've been to that charges for the broth. I didn't eat hotpot but I did sip some broth at the end, the broth was pretty good. My sushi took a long time to make and it was nearing closing time and not that busy, so I assume people don't order sushi much here. The sushi tasted good. My friend also told me, if you buy one of their shirt and wear that shirt every time you come, you'll get a free drink, even alcoholic drinks. I thought that's pretty cool. read more

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Spider handroll - comes with lots of filling and if you like hand rolls, this would be definitely worth getting and something we would reorder again. Eel and spicy crabmeat handrolls were also decent. Volcano maki - this was a little spicy but really good with the torched crab meat topping. Would get again. Crispy Spicy Tuna Maki - this one has cream cheese so if you like cream cheese in your sushi, get it! We also got assorted other sashimi and sushi and those were pretty decent. This place is more known for their AYCE hotpot. But you can still do a la carte sushi! The sushi also came out pretty quick after ordering. read more

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This restaurant was pretty good. They had a lot of variety of Hotpot ingredients. Ordering is very easy and you just order from a checklist. The ingredients are pretty fresh but not the freshest. The broth was pretty tasty as well. The interior is simple and it appears to be pretty clean. The sauce bar is very minimal, but you don't really need it because the broth is salty enough. Service was good and it was a good place to be on a very cold day. read more

Ibasaw - Sushi Bars Near Me - Malden, Massachusetts

Really good for what it is. Ambiance is pretty typical and service was quite fast. I do enjoy the variety they carry. All in all it's a pretty good affordable/accessible option for hot pot if you live north of Boston and don't want to travel. read more

Ibasaw - Hot pot - Sushi Bars Near Me - Malden, Massachusetts

We recently tried this place. Your reviews posted here made me want to try it. We made a reservation, on a Saturday, at 7 PM. We really didn't need to. The place wasn't packed. There were three of us. Now we've never tried hot pot before so we didn't need guidance. A waitress brought us a menu that had pictures. Because a lot of the descriptions on what the food was did not translate super well into English. Our waiter was very nice attentive and pretty funny. He suggested that we order small portions of everything and then go back and try what we like to get. He reminded us that being all you can eat, we didn't wanna leave much waste. We got a spicy broth and a broth they called the white broth. Which, I felt really didn't have any flavor. I felt more like it was like a warm water with vegetables. I definitely try a different broth next time. We got the spiciest broth. Our waiter didn't tell us that, but we were OK with it because we do like spicy. By trial and error we figured out what needed to be cooked how long and when. It was really fun. They told us about the sauces table that was it another ad of the restaurant and we went and got sausages. That was weird. There are pictures on the wall to talk about mixing them all together, but I follow the directions of one of them, and found it to taste nothing much but salt and spice. It really didn't have a lot of flavor. So I would try again, with different combinations, or maybe just one sauce at a time. Things I found out in the restaurant. There's a whole section of the restaurant that looks like it one time it might've been a sushi bar or a Buffay. I think they had one at one time. Now? It's just filled with overflow of stock for things that they use. Out in the open. It was a little odd. All in all? We would definitely be back. The only thing I did also find odd? They didn't mention the price. I had read online here that it was one price, but it was a little more expensive when we got there. Still go back though. It was definitely a fun time read more

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So we ended up here by accident because the place we were planning on going to turned out to be closed on that day of the week. We were so pissed!! LOL. Ibasaw always intrigued me because the building was built as an Applebees. BTW it still looks and feels like an Applebees. Plenty of free parking since its a building in a strip mall parking lot. Its not the greatest hotpot shabu experience however its pretty good. The kimchi broth is bomb. The selection of meats and veggies is pretty good. The sauce station has the basics. Service was fine. Drinks were served in plastic cups. It was AYCE for about $35 I believe. There is the ominous threat of $10 per person charge for uneaten food however the table behind us left a bunch of uneaten seafood and meats and they didn't seem to get charged. Bottom line, I would go again. This is especially true if I did not want to contend with traffic and parking in Boston, Cambridge and Allston/Brighton where I normally go for hotpot. read more

Ibasaw - a hot pot of soup on a table - Sushi Bars Near Me - Malden, Massachusetts

5th time coming here. There's nothing that is major that stands out about this location except for the price! For all you can eat hot pot at $35, that's a decent price considering inflation. All food is brought out with haste and with ample of room, clean tables, and quick service, I always find myself coming back in the morning. Although the quality isn't what you would call out of this world, the taste still satiates the buds and the cravings. Alcohol is decently priced and the table set up is close enough to where you can still have a intimate conversation but not too close where you spit on each other. Highly recommend! read more

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Order... eat... enjoy! Repeat :) Quiet staff but they are quite responsive. The ambiance isn't anything spectacular but for a AYCE place, can't complain. read more

The rating of this restaurant depends on what you order! We loved the sushi rolls, they were fresh and delicious. Regular hand rolls are ~8 and specialty rolls ~15. None of them disappointed. However, the cooked entrees were inedible for us. Paid $60 for Sichuan crawfish, and they gave baby crawfish heads only. It was really odd, there were no bodies in the bowls. The heads were so small and underdeveloped that you couldn't slurp the meat out either. I've had enough crawfish in NoLa and the south to know these were cheaply caught, but highly charged. Same with the cumin meat entrees. Very unproportional and lack of quality. Overall, stick to the sushi! Don't stray towards entrees. read more

Ibasaw - Sushi Bars Near Me - Malden, Massachusetts

Went here with two friends about a week ago on a Sunday night. We opt for the AYCE hotpot with the tom yum broth. Not going to lie, it was a bit tad spicy for me but it was all good! There is a sauce bar so you can make your own concoction of sauces. We ordered a bunch of meats, seafood, and veggies. I have no complaints with any of food that we had. My personal favorite was the prime beef and the malay beef! The quality of the food is as expected for what you pay. The service is very typical for an asian restaurant -- they take your order and they leave, no conversing at all, only coming back to clear out dishes and the occasional water refill. Would come back if I was in the area and with friends. Ambience - 5/5 Quality - 5/5 Service - 5/5 read more

Ibasaw - feastin, boiii - Sushi Bars Near Me - Malden, Massachusetts

Conveniently located near the Malden T stop, Ibasaw fulfills every hotpot lovers dream with AYCE options. It's not bad when you're in a pinch for AYCE hotpot and don't want to wait for Spring Shabu. SPACE: Space is decent and large enough to hold many big groups. SERVICE: The hostess that brought us to our table had an attitude but everyone else was nice and checked in on us. They were quick to pick up the empty dishes when we were finished. SELECTIONS: There was a wide variety to choose from. If you're a fan of crabs, they do have a whole crab as an option. Other seafood options included squid, octopus, shrimp, fish fillet, fish paste and shrimp paste. Plenty of meat and veggie options. I don't find beef tongue as an option often so it was nice to see it - we ordered 3 plates of it! The quality of the meat was just okay. SAUCE: Sauce bar is standard but would have been nice to go have more options! SOUP: There were limited soup options. We chose the mushroom broth and the popular spicy broth. Both were okay but we've had better elsewhere. The spicy broth was very oily! Overall it was just a mediocre experience. I think the space needs some upgrades - the vibe was very dreary. read more

I have been here several times and not once have they let me down. They are quick at seating and serving, and they are always on the lookout to clear any empty plates from your table. The staff are friendly and I haven't had any issues with them. I always order the spicy Chengdu style broth and it tastes amazing with the sauce that I like to make at the sauce bar they have. This place is all you can eat, so when I'm really hungry, it's really worth it to come here and order like 10 plates of meat. The portion of the meat plates aren't stingy either. I love coming here on a weekday afternoon or night when they aren't so busy because we can enjoy our food. During holidays they are super busy but the wait time is definitely better than Spring Shabu so... Love this place and one of my go-to's for AYCE hotpot! read more

Ibasaw - Chengdu and clear broth - Sushi Bars Near Me - Malden, Massachusetts

This is my family's go to place for hotpot because of its location. It hits the spot if you're looking for hotpot. Definitely not my favorite spot, but satisfies me and my family. Lots of options and it's AYCE. They seem to be understaffed recently so it might take some time to reorder. The area is large and there is plenty of space! read more

Ibasaw - Sushi Bars Near Me - Malden, Massachusetts

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This place is pretty close to where we live and it is quite convenient as well. They also open pretty late so if you dont want to go there on rush hour it is fine. There is alot of selections for food, broth and sauces, they got booze as well so for drinkers out there, you can still be happy at this place. Been here for a few times already but they are getting busier. Food comes in a reasonable time but sometimes when they are super busy it can get delayed, the place can also get loud but nothing intolerable for my preference. Would definitely come back next time especially on cold days read more

I've been to Ibasaw a few times and it honestly never disappoints - really solid place for AYCE hotpot with decent service and good ingredients for yummy food! They used to do AYCE sushi, but it seems they stopped that a few years ago - a little disappointing, but understandable. The space is huge so a reservation honestly probably isn't necessary. The last time I came here, we had a party of 13, and even for that we just called 2 hours before. They had space though upon walking in so it was more to feel safer about coming in than actually needing it. They had a table set up for us upon walking in and service was quick & efficient. They were ready to take our orders almost immediately and were also quick with getting our food to us. Their sauce station was pretty extensive and it was easy to find everything we needed ( besides the sa cha sauce which was labeled as 'bbq sauce' ) so that made the experience pretty smooth. They give great portions for all ingredients and the broth was super full and rich as well. We got their white creamy taste and the ma la/szechuan one as a spicy option, both perfect in my opinion. Overall, reallysl solid experience. It came out to ~$45 per person for a large party which was a little pricy, but for the convenience and service, it was pretty solid. Thanks, Ibasaw! Can't wait to come again! read more

This is a pre-pandemic review. We haven't come back post-pandemic as we haven't been in the mood for hot pot over the summer, and they haven't brought back their AYCE sushi. Overall, we do enjoy this place even while we acknowledge it isn't perfect. The hot pot is tasty, and there is a wide variety of ingredients to choose from. I especially loved the little quail eggs, and they gave me so many! The meat and seafood quality is not the greatest, but for an AYCE price, I wouldn't expect it to be either. That didn't stop us from finishing multiple plates of meat. We did enjoy the variety of vegetables, which were very fresh. On other occasions, we've gotten AYCE sushi and enjoyed it. It's pretty on par with other AYCE sushi restaurants, in that the sushi is decent, not great. The draw is being able to order as much as you want. I do wish they would have less special rolls involving mango on their menu, as the mango makes the rolls overly sweet. We tend to avoid those, but it does limit the amount of special rolls available as quite a few involve mango. Overall, we will be back in the fall/winter. Hopefully COVID-19 hasn't changed what is a go-to restaurant for us in Malden. read more

The AYCE includes actually ALL you can eat, including proteins. It's a great bang for your buck. The space is cozy and lovely. Varying table sizes for 1-2 pots per group from what I've experienced. They're quick to get you refills on your foods to cook and the soup bases are delicious. Everyone I bring here loves it. My only mistake everytime is doing fresh rather than frozen tofu which gets too warm waiting to be cooked but that's a me issue, will I ever learn? No. Will I find a way to enjoy said tofu everytime anyway even if it's too soft by my own fault? Yes. Fresh veg and fresh meat, what's not to love read more

my favorite hotpot atm better parking than everywhere else and never any lines to wait in. broth could be spicier imo but it's the trade off for making everything else convenient. more sauce selection than others and average price since it's expensive at every spot anyway read more

Love hot pot. This place is good. Def can add some more vegetables to the menu cause the small selection isn't it.

This place blew us away. Such a comprehensive menu with plenty of meats and seafood. You definitely get bang for your buck. The place is clean, neat, no frills. Service could have been a little more attentive. I wish their refill soups were made to match the soup you ordered but it's a stock refill to top off each one. We got the mushroom broth and kimchi. Our friends got the herbal one. All were slightly bland but the sauce bar makes up for it with a make your own dip area complete with Vietnamese fish sauce and hoisin too. read more

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The food was alright, but the service was not great and the servers were very rude. The server didn't even wait until we got to our table before walking away and they were basically kicking people out. The food was not worth the atmosphere and attitude that was given. Unfortunately won't be coming back here read more

Super quick service like really quick. (Me likey) They do both sushi & ayce hot pot here and to me, that's a match made in heaven. The menu is extensive and the sauce bar is clean and full of options. I picked this place to celebrate my birthday and was not disappointed! I think this place & spring shabu shabu are my two favorites as of right now when it comes to getting hotpot during the colder season :) read more

Ibasaw - Sushi Bars Near Me - Malden, Massachusetts

I needed a break from Christmas leftovers so ordered from DoorDash for Ibasaw on a whim just because it was closeby and decent prices. I have to say that I was pretty impressed with what I got. It's definitely not top notch sushi but it was pretty good! I got the Irashai Maki roll which was good. I don't love when places mix in the tempura flakes into their sushi rolls so I didn't love that, but the sauces were good, it wasn't too much rice, and the torched fish on top was really smoky. The Maguro was a pleasant surprise. It was avocado and tuna mixed into seaweed salad with spicy mayo. Again though, too much of the tempura flakes on top. Lastly I got the ika sushi just because I like ika. It was good, simple. Not too chewy, which it can sometimes be. Overall, would order again. read more

Ibasaw - Ika Squid Sushi Maguro Awase Irashai Roll - Sushi Bars Near Me - Malden, Massachusetts

I've always wanted to come here as a friend of mine suggested to me a while back! I've also wondered why it's called ibasaw....because it's wasabi backwards! (Note: I went before covid happened, so the regulations might be different now compared to my review.) I love any place with AYCE hotpot AND sushi! You get a slip, check off what you want, and hand it to a staff. What's different at Ibasaw is that you can choose your own sauce and appetizer at the front bar. I didn't have to worry about how much sauce or appetizer I had, as I could just go back numerous times if I need to. The soup came first, then hotpot ingredients, and lastly the sushi. The tip is to ask for another slip of paper to order more when your get your sushi, so the next batch of food will come once you're done eating! The place is spacious and bathroom is clean, which is always a good thing! I'd love to come back for more hotpot and sushi eating sesh! Totally recommend others to come! read more

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I'd been to Ibasaw a few years ago back when it was still Five Spices Kitchen (or something like that) and was excited to go back this past weekend when I was up in the Medford area. My friend and I did the all you can eat hot pot and were thrilled with the whole meal. We chose two broths, a spicy one and a mild one and a variety of meats, veggies, seafood and carbs (ie. noodles, dumplings, etc.). Everything came out super fast and I was impressed with the quality. They also have a self serve sauce area (masks required of course) where you have a variety of options to mix up your personal concoction of a tasty dipping sauce. The rib eye, lamb, white fish, bok choy, gyoza, shumai, and pumpkin were stand outs for me. Portions for "one serving" of each ingredient are generous so start small, you can always order more! The AYCE hot pot is also only $31pp, even on a Saturday night. Price can't be beat in the Boston-area market, especially as a la carte hot pot places get expensive fast. I haven't done their AYCE sushi but I'm sure that's great too. Temperature check at the door, masks required when you're not seated at your table, and all the staff were wearing masks. read more

Ibasaw - All your hot pot dreams come true - Sushi Bars Near Me - Malden, Massachusetts

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Great place for AYCE hot pot - for $35, includes everything like veggies, balls, noodles, meats (e.g. lamb, rib eye, etc), seafood (e.g. shrimp, squid, octopus, fish, muscles, etc). $3 for upgraded broths. Even though we initially went to get AYCE sushi/sashimi, it is NO longer AYCE - it's ala carte sushi/sashimi now. Good and quick service, plus love how they leave a whole pitcher of water, which is awesome for us thirty people ;) NOTE: portion are large, so plan accordingly. read more

Ibasaw - Huge portions! - Sushi Bars Near Me - Malden, Massachusetts

Food is the best for hot pot! AYCE here and they're service is pretty quick! You can make your own dipping sauce which is great in itself, cause everyone like's different things. read more

Ibasaw - Always great food here!!! - Sushi Bars Near Me - Malden, Massachusetts

....Wow!!!! Great sushi. Bare bones sushi but the best I've had in a very long times. I've been ordering takeout from here for several months. Every order has been perfect and amazing. Salmon is fresh and buttery, the rolls well done and all the fish tastes fresh. I haven't gotten anything here yet that I'm not loving. Will have to eat here in person some time...but still hanging at home a lot....will update once I've dined in person...but until then they are my go to take out sushi place. read more