Growing up in Houston has me become a semi-buffet expert. I've eaten a ton of chinese buffets so I know what to expect - copious amounts of food of varying quality/seasoning. After a long day at Universal we were craving a meal of unhealthiness and this place fit the bill. Overall, the experience was decent, but it started off terribly. The restaurant was fairly busy when we got there (with quite a bit of people waiting). However, after putting our name down, we realized what was driving the hold-up - there was one hostess that was fairly inefficient at getting people seated. We would see at least 4 or 5 empty tables, but the hostess just wasn't able to get people seated in a timely manner, and the line to get in quickly went out the door. Once we did get seated however (waited 20 min or so for a table that was free for at least 15 minutes) we started feasting. I got a variety of food, and it was all fairly edible - nothing to write home about but nothing to complain about for a chinese buffet. The pork ribs were actually more edible than other places, and the Hibachi wasn't too bad either. The sushi area was decent as well, I always appreciate seaweed salad at a chinese buffet. The waiters were quick at filling our waters and removing our plates so that's a plus. Also, self-serve ice cream was good as well. For $13 a person, you can't really complain. Just be prepared for unnecessary waits and calories. read more

The food is consistent and the value is still there it's really what you would expect of a Chinese buffet

Super bad food was very cold and horrible service and don't come here and waste your money everyone was super rude and it was the worst experience I have ever had read more

the Food was hit or miss, very soggy noodles and dry rice best thing was the hand made quick sushi other than that nothing else was decently good, very forcing with TIPS i had to pay for me and my best friend and the lady only came by ONCE to refill our drink and did not even have any type of social skills or customer service barely knows how to speak english but will harass with "Tip" "Tip" but yet only seen her once going around it was not that busy at all super slow and soon as i let her know i could not tip i apologize she got an attitude and walked off mumbling about us and then GOSSIPED to the rest of the waiters mind you she made us pay wayy before we had even got our second round of platter, forcing the whole transaction and then forcing tip. Tip is earned not begged for. humble them if you go. then again i did not mention name in specific but it is all of them. Food nor service is that great to forcing tips on people especially when your culture doesnt even accept tip to begin with (China) read more

Delicious food and great service. They have better variety than any China buffet near us in Chicago. The food is cooked great and seasoned great! We've eaten here twice on our vacation already! Also the prices are great!! read more

See all

Everything was going well until a melted button was found in our soup. Can't imagine what other things are hidden in the food without their own knowledge. read more

See all

Nice place! very cheap only 13$ per person during dinner time! I went with my family to eat, everything was delicious, they have sushi too but they are too dry, everything else is good. If you are in Orlando you should try it. read more

Ichiban Buffet - Ichiban! - Japanese Near Me - Orlando, Florida

when we walked in and they asked me how old my children were I said 11 and 7 like I said she is over 5 foot I said no sir she's not at that point he proceeded to tell me she was going to pay an adult price on so well she has shoes on that makes her a little taller so my daughter took off her shoe and the guy behind the counter said okay I looked over and I said I'm sorry if my money is no good here from you don't want my business and the man behind the counter two proceeded to tell me that I could leave now. My kids love the food here and we have come many times with no question or issue but it's a shame that the man running the register is so rude and disrespectful not just to me but to my children they were shook up and they wanted to leave at that point they didn't want to eat. I would take your family somewhere else.. read more

3 stars is a fair, however what happened at the end was not acceptable. But let's break this down. First of all this is a first buffet I saw time limitation. 90 minutes. We never spend more than 60 minutes usually at the buffet but I thought that was strange. But what ever. Food quality is equal to 14 dollar price tag for dinner. You get what you pay for. Everything was smooth until we asked for the bill. Our waitress gave us the bill but asked for the card right away. We didn't see that the tip was included. When I saw the split bill I thought the amount was high and requested our original check and our waitress did not want to provide. I saw the tip was included and mentioned that and the waitress stood over us and told us how little she got paid and we should give her more. I agree that serving is a tough job and it should be rewarded. I tip 20 percent and more on outstanding service. But the waitress made it so uncomfortable. And the situation with not bringing the original check is sketchy. Do yourself a favor and skip this place. Hope after eating there everyone survives . fingers crossed. read more

Great cheap way to fill up after a crazy long day at the theme parks. Great customer service, food was replenished quickly and there was a great variety. read more

One of my favorite local spots. My BF loves a buffet and I love sushi. It's a great combination. What is great about this establishment is that they have a few options, you can do the buffet which has a variety of food choices not just sushi there are other meats, rice, noodles, veggies, sweets and salads. They have someone making the sushi there so you can ask questions and customize your order which is nice. They also offer a hibachi version of the dining experience which is really great! The chefs there are talented and really entertaining! The hibachi meals are huuuuuge you can totally share! Drinks are a little pricey but they might try to make up costs there since it's a buffet. read more

I would leave a minor star rating but can't! Some food was tasty but Oysters and crab worst I've ever had! Sushi was rough! Staff were vacuuming whilst we were eating!!!! Tables were all wet when arriving so wiped them down with tissues. When paying for bill because we questioned the overcharge of one beer staff got aggressive and rude. will never go back!!! read more

Had everyone going to the bathroom or puking. I would not recommend one item from their menu.

There are many problems with this location. The most important is that the food was simply not fresh. Notably, the General Tso's chicken tasted reheated from the day before. The fried food was soggy, and in an overzealous food warmer that continuously steamed it all. I managed to avoid a lot of the food that looked horrible by carefully selecting safer sushis (avoiding the raw ones). Finally I decided to go for the fresh hibachi grill. Unfortunately, about halfway through my plate I could taste that the garlic was old... It had that "sprouted" flavor garlic tends to develop if it sits for too long in your cupboard. Originally I was going to Sweet Tomatoes, which is right next door. Against my better judgement, and on a coin flip, we went to Ichiban. At first I was a bit confident because I saw a few Teslas in the parking lot with local tags. As soon as I walked in, my nose told me to turn around. Should have followed my instincts. read more

Food was ok, flavors are not great but lots of variety and does the job for a decent price if you're trying to feed and please the whole family. $13.99 (does not include drink) for lunch on a Saturday. read more

See all

Chose to go to this buffet because it was right next to universal and we were starving. the location and ambiance of the restaurant was nice, however the food was absolutely disgusting. the sushi bar had limited selection. I'm talking about 5-6 rolls at most. None of it fresh. The hibachi ingredients looked like they have been sitting out all day, and the steak once cooked looked just like the meat I make for my dogs. The hot foods were lacking in flavor and counters needed a good wipe down. The only good thing there was the fountain soda and icecream. it looks like they spend all their money on disposable utensils and styrofoam plates/bowls, instead of the quality of their food. THE WORST BUFFET I HAVE EVER BEEN TO. read more

Typical AYCE sushi buffet. The food is ok, the protein content is about what you would expect for this type of setup. The overall price isn't bad for the offerings, the only downside I can really say it that they used ALOT of shrimp tempura as a filler on the offered sushi rolls. Overall it's a good place if you want sushi in a hurry. read more

Food is amazing! Hibachi and sushi is available and tastes fresh. Seating is fast! Perfect place for an impromptu Saturday night dinner with big group! read more

Food is disgusting... never saw these kind of sushi in any buffet and nobody touch them. Food looks the way I didn't want to touch. My 10yo kid didn't eat a single sushi saying rice is sticky. All I had was bottle of beer. Stay away if want to eat. You get here whatever you pay... read more

Ichiban Buffet - Don't even try... - Japanese Near Me - Orlando, Florida

It's really bad! This is the worst buffet I have ever eaten in the United States. none of them!

A nice atmosphere, but I was thoroughly disappointed by the lack of fresh options. Obviously buffets aren't the place to find "fresh options" but I have been to some that I have really enjoyed. My friend picked this one out and I have to say, I won't be back. Most of what I had was not hot or had hardened from sitting out. It's hard to keep up when there are so many options. Smaller buffets like Kim Wu really work. read more

1) They basically have false advertising about having crab legs. It says on their website they have them, but I've been twice, two weeks apart, and the same sign which looks like it's been up their for months says "OUT OF CRABLEGS". Maybe they keep the crab legs on their website to draw people in? 2) Despite that, I think the buffet is still a good deal. The options are decent, and you can't do much better on the price. 3) I had one of the worst 'server' experiences here. Some people may disagree with this, but personally, when I go to a self-serve buffet I tip the 'server' as a busser not as a server. I left a $1 tip. Regardless, it's a 'tip', which is optional. Apparently our 'server' Lucy didn't like this as she said: Server: Tip not included. Me: I left you a tip. Server: You leave more tip. Me: Is a tip required? Server: You leave three-dollar, four-dollar. Me: Is that required? Server: When you go restaurant you leave 15%. A tip wasn't required. I could go on but you get the point. We basically repeated this conversation for about two minutes until she finally relented. First time in my life I've ever had a server/busser try to demand a larger tip. read more

great variety of food, many different dishes, seafood, and oriental food, chicken, meat, potatoes it has some desserts included, I like this place, but the food could be hotter. read more

See all

Very nice place, excellent for the money. This is not 5 Star dining, if you want 5 Star dining don't go to a buffet. I can't help but laugh at some of these stupid reviews. Your at family budget place and you want everything to be perfect. This place is a 4 stars . Don't pass it up you will love it for the price and food selection. read more

6/4/19 Usually have no issues with this place but this time, man i am noticing things are headed for bad times. 1) the whole time i was there, they did not refill the california sushi rolls. The whole time. Are you kidding me? I asked one of the workers but apparently language is an issue. Made no sense as they had other rolls 2) waitress was a bit creepy. Always looking to see if we were taking dinner items. She cleared plates away but she really seemed to be spying. In fact a table across from us seemed to have an issue with price or something. Again. Never experienced before. 3) They did have more labels which is good but some items were dreadful-- pizza unedible. My kids wings- gross. 4) gonna wait a few months and hopefully things will get better. Staff looks miserable and it shows in the food. Sorry. You are capable of better. read more

I wouldn't recommend this place to you if you are a picky eater. The food was just so so. For this price, you can't complain.

The rudest, most dismissive , uncaring wait staff I've ever experienced in my life. Their answer to almost any question was , " I don't know!" with zero eye contact and dismissive waves. I thought I was in an episode of Punked. you never have to worry about my money again. read more

FOOD POISONING! BEWARE.This food was disgusting. The sushi was extremely cheap. The food was not hot enough. There were no dumplings. The fried rice did not have any taste. The shrimp is not peeled.Very little selection of dishes. Orange chicken was nasty. A soggy mess. Nothing had any flavor. WASTE OF MONEY. EAT ELSEWHERE! read more

The first thing I noticed when entering the restaurant is that there was a broken chair at the front entrance. The other thing I noticed is that on the hot food bars not all the sushi was labeled there was some sushi without labels. The labels also don't include ingredients such as an indication if they have soy, wheat, or any other concerns such as Vegetarian or allergy information. The other thing was that the food was not replaced often or combined with other foods. For example the egg rolls were dry invading that they were left out for a while. I noticed not all the dishes were clean, so I had to filter through them. The employees were not all wearing uniforms. Some were wearing UCF affair while cooking. Really unprofessional. I also noticed a lot of dust above the sushi bar and old fake vines with dust collected on them over the food. In conclusion I will not be going back to this buffet, for the health concerns. The positives were that the service was decent. The servers came to collect plates from time to time. The theming was authentic, and they had a lot to offer. read more

Ichiban Buffet - Japanese Near Me - Orlando, Florida

Horrible. Negative stars if possible. Extremely greasy from old grease and fried food was stale. Panda Express taste better. Deserts were horrendous. read more

4 minutes agoNEW This is the worst experience ever since we got Orlando.Sea food there was not fresh, smells wierd.The taste could not be worse than their food, I guess they didn't get paid enough to do their job. The chow mien there was the worst taste one in my 53 years life. if you like to throw your money into a fire pit just go there. If there is one thing I can guarantee you on this world i am not going there anymore, never again. read more

Horrible not enough selection of sushi only 3 diferent rolls and they were really bad or not enough selrction of food . Will nit be back there read more

Not bad if you're desperate or just want unlimited food. Entrees weren't bad, sushi was terrible and the styrofoam bowls for soup was actually dangerous. It was odd there was no white rice. read more

if i could give this place ZERO stars i would. the food is old and greasy, staff is goofing off and not paying attention to any tables, and kids are EATING FROM THE TONGS and staff does not care. the sushi was warm the shrimp were cold and it was $47 FOR TWO PEOPLE!!!! after i left this so called "restaurant" i got sick FIVE minutes after leaving!!! DO NOT GO HERE IF YOU LIKE BEING HEALTHY!!!! This place should be shut down. Disgusting. read more

Great buffet with sushi. Tons of seafood. Most varied dessert too. We were recommended by Chinese friend. Today they were packed. Thanks Amanda for serving us read more

Ichiban Buffet - Light effects above buffet. I'm a local. Recommend this place to tourists. International Drive Chinese buffet v - Japanese Near Me - Orlando, Florida

Sushi is good, but definitely some concerns about how long raw fish stays out there. The price in unbeatable, quality matches the prices that you pay. read more

I was VERY disappointed in this. When you walk in the layout looks impressive and you think you hit the jackpot! I came around 5 pm. on a Wed night when it was not tourist season..so the food was cold and mediocre. I think the buffet was $13.99 and an extra $4.99 if you like crab lags. My friend and I nibbled on various things but nothing tasted good. Okay and edible but not good including even the fried rice we ordered on the hibachi which was rice and egg and no vegetables!! The waitress was stalking us..I don't know if she thought we weren't going to pay or what..but anyway---I would have rather had a HOT big mac...I won't go back and would not recommend...oh and no full bar either! The restaurant is located right off of IDrive and Kirkman in the shopping center right before Fun Spot. Save your money- you are better off going to a Chinese Restaurant and getting hot food!!!! read more

If you are seeking vegetables then this is NOT the place for you. There is a lot of choices and a lot of food but if quality is what you seek, then again this might not be the choice for you. They have volumes of food around 12 food bars and a large choice of sushi and sashimi around at least 20 selections. They have a lot of fresh seafood choices including craw fish, mussels, clams, shrimp, regular fish and crab legs (4.99 extra for crab). I saw octopus kimchee on the night I was dined there. Like similar type restaurants, a lot of fried food. First I am a vegetable lover and I don't count the vegetables in sushi or french fries. I am talking fresh vegetables. I wandered amongst the buffets and saw cucumber and tomato salad, iceberg lettuce, tomatoes and cesaer salad. They had the fried green beans that every buffet has and edaname by the sushi. Seriously even the prepared salads were like two kinds of seafood salad and marinated chicken salad. The entrees with vegetables were minimal although I did see a dish of mushrooms in sauce. If you are looking to eat healthy with your family then your choices are limited here. The hibachi is a grill on the opposite side of the sushi bar. Think Steak and Shake burger flipper rather than traditional japanese grill. You approach the counter and order. It does not matter what temperature you order your food, it is cut in tiny pieces and well done. You can choose entrees like you would at a sit down restaurant, steak and shrimp, chicken and shrimp etc. The portion is smaller so that individually prepared selections complement the buffet offerings. If you walk away the guy hits a little bell (like a diner) when your food is ready and you can go and retrieve it. He was not busy when we were there so I am not sure how this works when they have a lot of people looking for hibachi. Ding Ding Ding! Like I said above there are a lot of seafood choices from a raw bar to craw fish to fried prawns. I think you really don't need the crab legs but if you even take one, the server warned us he would place the additional charge on our bill. The rest of the restaurant is very similar to your typical asian buffet. Including the self serve ice cream which I always pass on because I don't want anything were people stick their hands and arms in all day to scoop out their own. As mentioned by other Yelpers the decor is upscale with a large fountain near the entrance and a beautiful room with a chandelier where all he buffets are located. There was a large amount of attentive staff that quickly cleared he plates and filled drinks. You would not guess the beautiful interior from the rather plain exterior in the newly renovated strip mall. This used to be some type of flea market. I filled up on the sushi which was a higher grade than most buffets but not as good as my local japanese place. They had two guys working to make rolls and keep the many choices stocked and fresh. For me this was the best benefit along with the edaname. This made the price of the buffet a great deal for me. My husband enjoyed the traditional appetizers and entrees he normlly gets at asian buffets. I have to admit we are kind of picky because there are many asian buffets that either have great food and poor decor or good decor and not so tasty food. Ichibahn seems to land on the higher end of the choices in the area given the price (11.99) and the amount of sushi and fresh seafood. Just don't take any vegans or vegetarians as they may just end up eating rice. We used a 25% off coupon so dinner for two and drinks was $21 plus tip. I have not decided if we will return because this is close to one of my favorite restaurants, Sweet Tomatoes, which has plenty o' veggies. read more

I been to the other location a few years ago. I decided to try this new location out. Horrible mistake. The service was awful as the waitress failed to refill my drink for approximately 1 hour. I finally had to ask for one. The fruit bar was not fresh and the temperature was not cold. The fruit was rotten and seemed to be warm as it's been sitting out for a long time. The salad bar was depleted. The hibachi steak was very tough as it's low quality meet. I guess I just had a Brazilian steak buffet and still miss that from the night before. . The other foods seemed alittle unfresh. I had the sushi bar and it was a small selection but decent. Most likely I will never come back. read more

Ichiban Buffet - Japanese Near Me - Orlando, Florida

The food was really good. We really enjoyed the sushi and habachi! The waitress was on point with refills and plates. The only reason it's not a 5 star is because some of the items at the buffet were not full and weren't filled for awhile. Other than that it was amazing. read more