Ichiban Buffet and Grill

Friday night, quiet. Barely 25% full
Water tastes nasty. Better to get a fountain drink or nothing at all.
Chocolate fondue stopped running early in the evening.
Calamari is too tough and old.
Crab legs not fresh.
Fruit is not particularly ripe but cut in large pieces.
Oranges are sweet.
Entrée dishes are alright.
But it’s cheap.

This place is pretty big for a restaurant in El Monte. Place was less than half filled when we came on a Tuesday afternoon.
ive tried many buffets in 626 and they all taste the same to me. the only good thing about ichiban is that they had more vegetarian options for me than the other buffets. i enjoyed their fried rice, vermicelli noodles, egg rolls, and their mapo tofu. forsure, their mapo tofu is the best thing here, it tastes even better than the actual chinese restaurants.
i really like their noodle station where you pick your ingredients and the chef cooks it right in front of you. they give you two options for noodles, vermicelli or yellow noodles. i personally always like vermicelli better. they have vegetables to choose from as well: mushrooms, onions, broccoli, etc etc. you can also choose the level of how spicy you want it by adding in your own hot sauce, chili oil etc. you can even get as many eggs as you want! i got two of them hehe.
not reallly a fan of their dessert bar, nothing really caught my eye, nor did anything look good. wish they had more fresh fruits and fresh desserts.

I wish I could complain more but it’s cheap… What can you expect…
To start you are welcomed by a hostes that wears a neon blue windbreaker… Not very professional when everyone else is in uniform…
The smell of fish is pretty strong inside but becomes neutral after a moment…
I don’t eat seafood, but they had a de