This is the place my cousin and I used to always go for a good meal and good company. The sushi bar is great and their food is always good. We had one sushi chef that we always had serve us, and he often made stuff not on the menu. He wasn't very talkative but always friendly and watching him work was always fun. I recommend if you are in the area that you stop by. read more

The waitresses have little knowledge of the food served here. Had the tempura soba (buck wheat noodle with tempuras). Tempuras were soaked in oil. Broth was way too sweet. Obviously not Japanese owned. Not really worth the hype or live up to the reviews posted here. Should have gone for the rolls. No beer on tap. The cost-to-performance ratio is great though. Won't go back. read more

halloween roll and sunset maki rolls are my go-to. this place is affordable, quick (i've only gotten take-out), and the staff is very friendly. read more

It is not uncommon in Bangor to find that "ethnic" restaurants don't really try to produce quality or creative food because of the assumption that the audience will not know the difference. I have found this sentiment no more obvious than at Ichiban. The freshness of the fish is highly questionable, the fish:rice ratio is ridiculous (I'm paying to eat fish!), and the service is lackluster at best. I have actually had to send back maki rolls because some of the fish had begun to cook from being stored with lemon juice. That said, good sushi is near impossible to find in Maine. If you do have the hankering though, and you are in Bangor, Yoshi and Green Tea are much better options. read more

I love sushi, but I think Green Tea near the Bangor Mall is better. You get more bang for your buck with WAY better atmosphere. Green Tea is decorated nicely, and you can reserve rooms for bigger parties. read more

Ichiban is unlike any Japanese restaurant in the area. The wait staff is very knowledgeable of the rolls and the chef is so intricate in presenting rolls it is amazing! The quality is excellent too, fish is always fresh and sauces are phenomenal! Their house ginger dressing is what I crave in between visits! They have keen ability to focus on my likings too, they let me alter rolls and even create new ones! They even named one after me! It is called the Kristin! I think they are awesome, I rave about it! I highly recommend Ichiban, as a regular they give special treats and salads to show appreciation, it doesn't get much better than this place in Bangor, ME. read more

This place has the best Japanese food ever! The owners Walter and Beth are so nice. And Walter make really good alligator maki and delicious cucumber and crab meat salad. Recommend read more

Had a great meal here! The ambiance is nice and there is an extensive menu. The service for us was good and the food was yummy!

I thought I knew sushi. Then I found Ichiban. I now live in NYC, and have yet to find a sushi place that is as consistently amazing. Their spicy tuna avocado and mango salads are the best I've ever had, and their special rolls are so creative and full of flavor and texture. The dragon roll, with the contrast of warm, crunchy shrimp tempura and creamy avocado, is absolutely perfect - the ultimate comfort food. read more

I love Ichiban. I try sushi everywhere I go and this is the best I've had anywhere. The prices are extremely reasonable for a japanese restaurant, in fact they are the best prices I've evern seen. The rolls are much bigger then at other places and the ingrediants are extremely fresh. Ichiban is always trying new and inovative rolls as well, but they keep all the classics on the menu as well. There is also a broad selection for those that want to avoid or can't consume raw food. If you look back far enough you'll see some negative reviews on the service and you can ignore those completely. Part of the ownership split off and started up again at a different locations and took all of those service and quailty issues with them. read more

While I haven't been to many Japanese restaurants, I can say that Ichiban is best, hands down! My husband has said that it's a close second to sushi he had once when in San Francisco. The prices are great, we can have appetizers, dinner, and dessert for two for under $50, which in Bangor is becoming a rare occasion. I usually get a la carte maki, I love all the choices! My go to favorites are the Honolulu Maki, Irish Maki, and Spicy Tuna roll. We always start with pan fried Gyoza which is so good! I even like the décor, yes it's a bit bland, and could be seen as sterile, but it's what I interpret as authentic. I might be wrong, but it feels right to me! The only complaint I have about this restaurant is the service. In the years we've been coming here we've managed to have one good waiter. Otherwise, the service is slow, you don't get checked on, your drinks won't be refilled unless you flag someone down, questions can't really be answered, and all this is happening with just one other table in the restaurant. I could understand this if there was a language or cultural barrier, but this is all experience with servers that speak English as their first language. So if you've got a decent chunk of time, and bad service doesn't drive you insane, try Ichiban! read more

My favorite sushi place in Bangor! I get the same order every week: Alaska roll, dragon roll, and Halloween roll (which sounds funny but is delicious!). read more

The food at Ichiban was good. I enjoyed the sushi, the ginger pork, and the miso. The tables are arranged a little strange; it makes you feel like you are in a chess tournament. The waitress, while very friendly, did a horrible job of keeping my glass full and totally disappeared until the very end of the meal. She did do a good job of staggering the courses so that everything did not come at one time. read more

I can't believe how long I lived in the area and didn't know about this place. The food is always amazing. Really good Japanese cuisine!

Very cozy mom and pop family owned sushi joint. Walter the head chef and owner is very nice. In order for me to give this a great review I need to go again because what I ordered turned out to be something I dident want after it arrived. My fault not the restaurant. The guys I work with eat here all the time and love it though. read more

My husband and I used to always order from here until recently when customer service has become awful. We placed an order online and when we arrived it hadn't been made and they told us they "hadn't seen our order print out." We had to wait the 20 minutes for them to make the rolls and never apologized or even acknowledge that I had to wait. When we arrived home, half of our order wasn't there. We called them and they consistently said they put in everything in the bag, which they had not. It would be silly to lie about a sushi roll. Again they never apologized and just stated that we were wrong. My husband and I will never visit this place again. read more

Being new to Japanese food, I cannot say enough great things about this place. My friends and I meet for a networking lunch every Friday and the staff and owners here go out of their way for us - we show up at odd times, we dont always know what we want, we seldom order at the same time and they always accommodate and are happy to do it. Because of this new people that we are being introduced are also comfortable in asking questions, going in on their own and every body wins! The food is amazing, fresh and light. Thank you! read more

We go to Ichiban quite often, we like Japanese food. I have eaten Japanese food in a number of states and find them much better than most. I have never gotten anything here that I have not liked. The staff is always friendly to us. The alligator maki is awesome! The spicy tuna salad is yummy as well. I would recommend to any Asian food fan. read more

Not bad, not great. Had the spicy white tuna (OK), spicy salmon (OK) and Kamakazi (pretty good). Staff was friendly read more

Always pleased with Ichiban! The atmosphere is simple however the food is always fresh. With my dietary restrictions, I find that they are always able to accommodate me. The price is great as well. This is always our go to sushi spot! read more

5 stars given the options, 3.5 stars in the rest of the world. That said, 9 times out of 10 if we are going to Bangor/Brewer, say for a movie, we will eat at Ichiban. The vegetarian options are good which is all I can address. I covered my ears when the waitress said the miso was fish broth based read more

The dining scene in Bangor is pretty grim and very bland, but Ichiban bucks the trend. Is it the best sushi I've ever had? No, but it's among the most consistently pleasing sushi I've had. This place is reliably tasty. For sushi, it's pretty affordable. Nothing is going to knock your socks off but it all works. I will say the service could use a serious upgrade. I'd recommend getting there about an hour before you're going to be hungry: this place can be slow as molasses. read more

I've tried sushi places all over and Ichiban is still my favorite by far. As other reviewers have detailed, in the past there were some issues with very slow service. Since the management changes however, things have drastically improved and any of the issues seem to have followed those that moved on to another establishment. The quality of the fish has always been great, but the rolls have been even better lately, and I think they have been bigger. Ichiban is always experimenting with new rolls, so keep your eye on the specials board for new creations to add to your classic favorites. read more

My sushi order has been excellent each time I have been there Menu is extensive Wait staff is very nice If you like sushi, this place is a must. read more

Really disappointing! Just ate my crab and cucumber salad (takeout) and am really let down. We order from Ichiban quite often and I ALWAYS get the salad spicy. Tonights was horrible! For some reason they felt the need to mix the siracha with Japanese mayo? And then add it to rice vinegar. Not good!!! And there was ginger in it this time. It feels like a lack of caring. Also, no or almost no wasabi. Haven't even tried my Boston Maki yet, hope it's better than the salad...even without wasabi. read more

Best sushi place I have ever been to. It's small and quiet. We had no problems walking right in and getting a table. The menu has an incredible variety. I highly recommend the Halloween roll. The pricing is very reasonable. Saw it was listed online as one of the best sushi places in Maine and they did not lie. I highly recommend Ichiban if you are looking for quality sushi. read more

Ichiban serves the best sushi I've ever had. I've introduced MANY people to this place and most of them fell in love with sushi after their introductory experience here. All those same people have gone on to try sushi around the rest of Maine and the USA and they all come back saying the same thing: "Nothing beats Ichiban!!!" That goes for me too, I've eaten sushi all around the country, and many times in places you'd expect very good sushi, but I've always found that you cannot beat the quality of Ichiban. We all do miss one of the original owners, Ting, though. He left for unknown reasons and always put a special "touch" into the sushi that seemed to make all the difference in the world. He also used to make special "treats" for regulars that weren't on the menu. He was great! Walter is out front most of the time now and does a good job though. It's best to sit at the bar to get the full experience. If you drink then you should partake in some saki bombs with your friends! read more

I did not like my experience at Ichiban at all. The food was bland and unappealing, the atmosphere was stiff and generic, and the service was among the worst I have ever had. Not one person could be found when we were waiting 45 minutes for food and the place was basically empty. All the employees hide in the back unless it's check time, which for them is 5 minutes after you get your food. Pretty rude in my opinion. read more

We've eaten at Ichiban many times before but think this will be the last. We placed a take-out order of $50 worth of sushi and made sure to specify "extra spicy mayo". When we arrived to pick it up, there was only one cup in the bag. We asked for more and the cashier said she would have to charge us for it. $50 worth and 5 rolls, and she wouldn't give us anymore dipping sauce (what, $0.25 a cup???)! We are very disappointed in the lack of customer service and will not be ordering from here anymore. read more

I had the worst experience ever here. I got very sick from their food which I had delivered to my home. A majority of the food was inedible. I tried reaching out to the restaurant for a refund and was put on hold the day after it happened. So I tried to take it up with my credit card company and MasterCard said that they could not issue the refund because the uneaten food needed to be returned to the restaurant. We have pets That we did not want to get into the food and get sick and or die so we had thrown it away. When I found the energy and the drive to go into the actual restaurant and ask for a refund after calling several times and getting nowhere with the owner on the phone. I gathered every bit of energy that I had within myself and walked down the mile from my house to the establishment to appeal to the restaurant and ask for a refund for the inedible food that I got incredibly sick from and they had an excuse on every level to avoid refunding me the $53.00 that I pleaded with them to return to me. And as if it was not embarrassing enough to have to go out in public and beseech these people for a refund to patrons who were seated on a bench waiting for the rest of their party to arrive decided to involve themselves and for their lambaste and ridicule me for allegedly harassing the owners. I wasn't aware that asking for a refund for in edible food that I became incredibly ill from consuming was harassment. And to add insult to injury I slipped in there incredibly icy parking lot and hurt my back and had to walk home in the rain, soaking wet depressed and no further in the direction of receiving a refund from the contaminated food they sold me and delivered to my home After waiting two hours for it to be prepared and delivered. This is the same restaurant to back in either the late 90s or early millennium was involved in some sort of physical assault or something involving the owner and one or more members of the staff I can't recall exactly what happens but I do know that you made local headlines. I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone I had the worst experience here I would say there are a number of Japanese restaurants that have amazing sushi this is not one of them it's not a place I want to patronized on a regular basis while in college and prior to that as well the sushi is subpar and not safe for consumption. read more

We were passing through Bangor one night, and jonesing for sushi, so we tried Ichiban. So glad we did. It was a Friday night, and the place was pretty empty-- I totally get why one reviewer felt like they were at a chess tournament, since the layout of the tables is a little odd, but it's not uncomfortable, and the waitstaff are friendly and prompt. The sushi *was* really good. I've had an awful lot of sushi, so while this place was not the best I've ever eaten, that is a hard level to achieve in my book. :) I tried a spicy salmon roll, which was tasty, and a volcano roll (deep fried spicy tuna), which was one of the best fried rolls I've had. Not too much coating, but crisp and so good... I'm starting to salivate just thinking about it... My husband tried a vegetable plate (avocado, cucumber, and salad rolls), and all were great. I liked that the rolls weren't overloaded with rice. Delicious and reasonably-priced-- definitely worth a visit. read more

I was going to Acadia mtn near Bangor, Maine. I pass by this sushi place call Ichiban. it is mean # 1. I was hungry and decide to check it out. The sushi was okay , not really fresh. The service was very bad. I was sitting at the sushi bar and try to talk to the sushi chef. he doesn't say anything much. I will never go this place again. read more

Ordered takeout sushi, service was fine. Restaurant seemed clean enough. Price was ok. The problem was that when I got back to my hotel I realized that I did not get what I ordered. What I got was fresh and tasted good, but it was not what I ordered. read more

I have had many meals at Ichiban, eat in and take out, and have never had a bad one. I am from the area originally and find myself craving their Spicy Tuna Avocado salad (the best thing on the menu) so much, that Ichiban is often one of my first stops on a visit to Bangor. The Shumai and Sashimi appetizers are both delicious choices for starters. They have quite an extensive list of Maki choices, more so than most other Sushi restaurants, and all I have tried have been very good.The Hokkaiyaki here is also another awesome item on the menu. If you were to focus on the negative, the dining room, while very clean, could use some investment from the owners as there is not much to seperate your table from the other diners. Also, food can take a long time(there is usually only the owner preparing the fresh sushi), but those who are wise will prepare themselves for the wait when deciding upon eating at Ichiban. Luckily, the wonderful waitstaff are prompt with the miso soup and excellent ginger dressing salad to tide you over while you wait. Overall, a wonderful choice for Japanese fare in the Bangor area. read more

They are very affordable and I've never had a bad meal there. I recently ordered a meal online and I requested brown rice which is an additional $.50. They didn't have the brown rice, so even though I had already paid for it, they made sure to adjust my balance so that I was reimbursed. I was actually quite impressed that they follow through with adjusting my account. read more

Ichiban has the best sushi in the Bangor area because until recently it was the only sushi in the Bangor area. It does have pretty decent sushi, to be fair. It's hard to recommend much else on the menu, though, as most of it is far from being authentic. There are a few good appetizers (edamame and hamachikama spring to mind). Actually, I can definitely recommend the hamachikama, if you ask them to replace the sauce they normally use with just salt. And make sure it's entirely cooked. Hamachi is yellowtail, and it's as delicious properly grilled as it is raw. Kama refers to the area just behind the fish's gills, the "collar" as it were. Another good item that isn't on the menu and may not always be available is the "saba no shioyaki," or grilled mackerel seasoned with salt. It's just fish though, so you'll want to order rice and/or something to round out the meal. read more

LOVE YOU ICHIBAN! this is my absolute favorite place anywhere! i love coming here,and its always 'the best' sushi! i have eaten sushi in the boston metro area,chinatown,and beyond,and my husband and i compare them all to this awsome place! i think i will make a trip soon! dont ever change!!! the miso soup,spicy salmon,and moonchis are to die for!!! read more

I come in and eat all the time I recommend the teriyaki dishes,it's world class! The food is very good and the atmosphere is quiet and relaxing. The homemade ginger dressing is nothing short of gourmet. The only thing I've tried and don't like is the miso soup but I've never been a fan anyways. read more

If you really are having a sushi craving I would hit this spot but if you have experience eating sushi around the world you might want to spit a roll out from time to time. I wouldn't recommend going here but understand why you would since there isn't too many options around. read more