Ichiban Buffet

The place was clean to start with so that is always a good sign. The bathroom is also clean.
The service was very good, they really paid attention to us and ask if we needed anything. They also took the plates very quickly, so the table doesn’t fill up.
The food all in all is good. I loved the frog legs, sushi, and so much more. Really nice place and a good price for a buffet

UPDATE – (Again) Ichiban’s quality has definitely been a roller coaster of ups and downs recently. I see that they really take food safety much more seriously after the health inspection scandal in May. The past few times I visited I did not see any unknown items in my food, which was commonplace before the inspection. The food was very fresh the last time I went, probably because of the large amount of people there. The staff told me that there are sometimes a lot of people but also very few on some days. I was impressed by the improved quality of the lo mein noodles.
To boost business they made some new coupons on their website. You can print as many as you want, and there is no listed expiration date although they might stop accepting them and take them off the website.
There is a new to go «lunch special» for $ 4.50. You can find the lunch special menu here
They are also running various other promotions to try to get their reputation up where it was. If you look for them you can find flyers around the restaurant with promotions like free beverage for sharing a photo of the flyer on social media, etc.
There are not many real complaints considering the cheap price, you can read my previous reviews if you want to see the little nit picking complaints I have about Ichiban. Solid 4 star, one star off for using fake meat in dumplings (see my picture) and the scandal back in May. They have definitely earned (most of) their reputation back now.

I’m an Illinois native. I grew up in Missouri and lived close to Springfield, MO which is the cashew chicken capital of the United States basically. With that being said Springfield also has some great Chinese food eateries. I thoroughly enjoy a good Chinese Buffet so I was hoping for the best. They only had the pancake batter type of chicken and not the nice crispy nreading that usually also on a buffet. Lacked cashew chicken which was surprising. The food was decently fresh but they didn’t have a lot of main dish items suited to my liking. They did have some seafood options if you like the way Chinese seafood is prepared. They also had some fresh sliced meats on the buffet. Those were better than I expected to find at a Chinese place. The desserts were bland but what can you expect from store bought desserts. The sugar cookie and vanilla ice cream were a nice option though. Staff was friendly and the place looked clean. Went for dinner on a Monday night. The buffet price was $ 10.99. Not bad considering all the items they have on the buffet.

I wouldn’t eat here, what with the mold and cockroaches and all.
«Ichiban Buffet was found to have 12 other critical violations, receiving citations for moldy vegetables and a live cockroach that crawled onto the wall during the inspection.»
More here:

Great place! If you want sushi at a good price this is your place. Clean surroundings and restrooms. Friendly staff.

(Was a) nice little sushi bar and buffet selection for the price. Nothing fantastic but I feel it’s nicer than Chinatown. My family eats here 5 – 6 times a year. Staff is always friendly, really no complaints.
Update… this place has closed. It was shut down in Spring by the Health Dept. We never returned after it reopened; the offenses were pretty gross. I’m assuming most people felt the same way since they went out of business this fall.

I re-​name this place Ickybad! There is nothing here that I found good. Granted, Chinese food is not one of my favorites but usually when I have to endure one of these places there is something I can at least say was edible or even good. Not so here. Sorry. I just did not find anything to my liking.
I hate food you have to question. When I look at something I feel more comfortable when I can identify what it is. But when you look at something and go «what the heck is that? I have never seen anything like that before» then I hesitate. Nope! Not going in my mouth!
Even the most common dishes were questionable. The fried rice was sticky, the lo mein was sticky, the egg rolls were soggy. I just can’t recommend this place to anyone.

I have come to the conclusion that Chinese buffets are either horrible or extremely horrible. This one is just regular horrible.

Restaurant review:
In Chamabana, you donj’t have a lot of options for buffet so I was hoping that this would be a solid 3 – 4 star experience, but alas due to rising food cost it just does not meet those expectations. I would say a couple of positive things is that the servers are friendly and there is ample parking. For the price of 6.99 for lunch I am not complaining, but if you want good food then this is not the best choice. The sushi station is well stocked, but for lunch you won’t see any slices of salmon and many of the sushi contain odd components that I have never seen on sushi before. There was a thinly slice white fish nigri, shrimp, and a bunch of other sushi I can’t describe what they are made of. At least the size of the sushi pieces was good, not too much rice. The stir-​fry station is a stir fry station, it is the only place to get actual red meat at least during lunch time; although the cut of the meat was rough for stir fry. On to the hot food station. You are very limited by choices, lots of variety of chicken dishes from general tsao chicken, sweet and sour chicken, honey chicken, etc. There are dumplings, pork egg roll, crab rangoon, fries, cheese pizza, green beans, and 4 types of soup. There was stir fried clams which were good, but it made me nervous because you can get sick if these are not fresh or prepared well. Lots of random carb items like diced potato, fries, etc. Finally there was two types of fish, tilapia and some other unknown variety. You can end your meal with ice cream in a cup and many different standard chinese buffet pastries. Also a small salad bar with fruit is in the back. For the price you can’t complain, but I found myself trying to find things that I would like to eat with no avail. I have not made up my mind whether I want to pay the mark up of 10.99 on Sunday or dinner buffet. There maybe crab legs is what I read on the sign.
Pro: AYCE buffet, friendly servers
Cons: limited food options, sushi is? quality, no red meat entrees except for the meat on the stir fry station
Hidden gem:
At least there is no line and the sushi section is always stocked. Kids free under 3. Lunch price 6.99 and dinner price 10.99

The quality of this place has gone way down. If you’re looking for a buffet for same price, definitely go to Chinatown buffet!!!

Yes. It’s a buffet and the food is average. Yes, they also have a sushi bar but it isn’t that great.

Meh.
There was a lot of sushi, but I don’t know what kind of fish it was made out of.
The steam table food was kind of cold.
I’d still eat there again though, because I’m poor-​ish and I like sushi.

Like this place. Don’t have to wait and the manager there is nice. The clam is my favorite! Other Chinese entries are authentic too. But the sushi is not that good though. If you want to find a clean and quiet place for dinner, this place worth try.

You had me at $ 6.99 all you can eat lunch. Love the price but of course you get what you pay for. I recommend going during peak times since the hot food and sushi is fresher. Sushi can be dried out, but there is a big variety.
Best advice I have is: find a few things you really like and don’t worry about the rest. I like their noodle dishes, mushroom beef, egg and spring rolls, coconut shrimp. Didn’t like the sweet and sour chicken and of course not the desserts (don’t know why they bother with that!) However, you can make it a pretty tasty lunch for less than many of the fast food combo meals cost. How can you complain about that?
Also, some people said they only saw fat Americans in here. Each time I’ve been there (which has been probably 5 times now) there are lots of Asian folks eating.
Last, why do people expect this to be super authentic Japanese/​Chinese fare? This is the Midwest… and it is a strip mall buffet… I didn’t come here to be awed by the food.

Ok, so the bar hasn’t been set very high for all-​you-​can-​eat Chinese buffets in Chambana but this is absolutely the worst Chinese buffet I’ve ever been to! Just about every item in their small buffet was gross, and even worse, I left the place wondering if I’m going to get sick in the near future… Not a good feeling when eating at a restaurant. I left feeling cheated out of my hard-​earned money, not a mistake I’m likely to repeat again!

This is, as others have said, really a Chinese Buffet with a Sushi bar. It is very clean, and has «real» sushi, not just an assortment of rolls. The other selections are modest, but the real criticism is that everything is so bland even the «flat top grill» station when you ask the chef to put every sauce on the items.

Normally I would say that, if you’re eating at a place like this, you probably aren’t checking Unilocal reviews first. But my wife and I got the coupon in the mail, and were intrigued. We checked the reviews, they seemed okay. The pictures looked okay.
It was not very good. The décor was nice enough but the mood in the place was. subdued. No one was talking, really, no one was happy to be there. Not the staff and not the other customers. It was a bit grim overall.
The food itself did not inspire happiness. I don’t have high expectations for buffet sushi — you get what you pay for — but this was just weird. The rice was almost doughy and the fish was cut in weird ways. It was the strangest sushi I’ve ever had. Not in a good way.
Okay, well, what about the Chinese buffet staples? Most of them were there — crab legs, fried chicken in a variety of sauces, egg drop soup. They were okay but not inspiring. The sauces all tasted the same and everything had a weird aftertaste. Some of the fried chicken pieces had little bone fragments in them, which is not very appetizing.
Did not get the teppan bar.
The sweet and sour soup was pretty good and — since I had a sour throat at the time — helped with that. However, the gloomy atmosphere and greasy, heavy food mean that I won’t be coming back.

I had been there twice since the opening. It’s a Chinese buffet with sushi bar, not a Japanese buffet! The quality of the sushi was as I expected, but it’s ok with the price they charged. Chinese dishes were subpar. My wait staff were quick to clean the plates at both occasions.
It’s good for cheap lunch, and I plan to go back once in a while, but it’s not my favorite.

Like a textbook takeoff and you forgot to bring enough fuel to cross the pond.
$ 6.99 all you can eat. That’s a good deal. The food is hot and fresh, albeit overly sweet and Americanized. But that’s what you expect from a strip mall buffet.
I was impressed by the cook-​to-​order tappan table line. That might have been good.
But they just about lost me in other places. For all the good they’ve done (remodeling, competitive price, hot, fresh food), you get no ice in your water, no knives on your table, and when you leave you feel the same way you did when you walked out the county fair. Just too much sugar and oil.
There’s a reason the help doesn’t look anything like the customers. They don’t eat this shit.

This place was supposed to be a Japanese Buffet! In fact it was billed on a sign as a «Japanese Buffet»
I had visions of trays of yakitori, udon, soba, hayashi, etc etc. but all the hot dishes are americanized Chinese dishes.
The only thing Japanese about this place is the Sushi, but you can actually get better sushi next door in the seafood section of Schnucks.
Nice people, the price is certainly right. I don’t see this place lasting any longer than the place the was there before it. I would be happy to eat my words though.