Server didn't speak English. Finally got someone else who did, a little. The Beef 'N Broccoli was very good, but I can't use chopsticks due to disabilities. I had to use a huge serving spoon to eat with! $15.73 for a lunch sized serving & small soda! IT ISN'T ANYTHING LIKE HAPPY WOK! Nobody asked to refil my soda & I had to ask for my bill! I won't be back!!!
Karen Swenson
My adult daughter and I have always wanted to eat authentic Sichuan food, and were so happy with the taste, portion size, and packaging of our two to-go meals. The heat level was true to the menu's description, and the spicing was heavenly!Pictured is cumin lamb and mapo tofu. These dishes are very, very rich, not for those following a low-fat diet. I will gladly return.
Raleigh S.
Ordered spicy green beans, pork dumplings and General Tso's. Green beans were fair. Pork dumplings were gross and the sauce they were in was blah. General Tso's was crispy but the chicken was so dark it made me think the meat was bad and the sauce was brown in color. Would not eat here again.
Erin R.
Ichiban makes authentic tasty Sichuan and Chinese dishes! We recently got takeout again and the bag and text on the receipt was such a neat touch. We ordered Walnut Sauce with Shrimp, Spicy Crispy Chicken, Braised Bok Choi with Shiitake Mushroom. The walnut shrimp is like candy and comes with fresh broccoli. I can't stop ordering it! We loved the flavorful crispy chicken too, but this dish has a lot of dried Thai chili peppers that feel weird to eat as they are thick almost like paper, so we picked some out. Still an amazing dish. The bok choi was super saucy with really strong flavorful mushrooms, which we loved. We will definitely keep ordering and trying new things from Ichiban.
Ying G.
Great Chinese restaurant! High quality authentic chinese food with very reasonable price! Highly recommended!
Sara Smiles
My daughter had the brilliant idea to have dumplings so we tried this place and we were not disappointed! I tried the pickled veggies and squid and it was cooked to perfection, my youngest is a bit pickier but devoured the streamed broccoli. The staff is so kind as well! I will make it a mission to come back.
Steve K.
We came here because the place next door only had carryout and no seating. The things I liked were the availability of real Chinese cuisine. Especially they had Taiwanese beef noodle and spicy won ton and Dan Dan noodle. The complaints would be the fat cap on the sirloin in the soup. (I know in Taiwan you may see a bone) the broth was top notch. I was disappointed that they used spaghetti noodles over fresh noodles. Overall it's a legit Chinese place (no orange chicken). The serving sizes are very large. I would come back and try their hot pot.
Liling Chang
The food is very tasty. It's not americanized Chinese dishes. The service is very nice too. If u pay cash u can get discount.
Nisakorn Yodsanit
We went there for the hotpot. The food was OK, although the soup was very plain.However, the service was AWFUL!! We got the dirty bowls (with some rice on it ?) and asked to replace twice which it took forever....so we eventually used the rice bowl instead. They only came 1 time during 1 h...I guess since we were party of 5 and they charged the tips from us directly, so they didn't really need to take care of us. Very disappointed. If I had chances to tips them, I would tip $0..... such a HORRIBLE SERVICE!Finally, we were waiting like 20 min or longer that that... to check after we let them know. They didn't even come to get our cards, so we decided to walk to the cashier and leave. I won't come back again....until that waitress is gone.
avory gazdecki
My boyfriend and I came here for lunch excited to try something new. Right away the server brought us water and did not offer anything else to drink. We got spring rolls as an appetizer and those were yummy. We got the hotpot to share, I think this had the potential to be very good, however they did not explain how to cook any of it or how long to leave the meat in. The beef was very slimy. The bathroom had cleaning supplies laying all over but were dirty. Nobody ever came back to check on us or get us refills. It was an expensive meal and we didn’t even eat it, we left and went somewhere else. Overall it was awful service and not a good experience.
This is by far the tastiest Chinese restaurant in Madison. I always get the Mapo Tofu and Mei fun - they are so consistently delicious.
Sophie Y.
Several non-Chinese colleagues suggested ichiban is the best Chinese restaurant in town. I was so confused since Ichiban is Japanese yet Sichuan is Chinese. We ordered a few dishes and had to disagree. The stir-fried noodles were swimming in oil; the beef in Taiwanese beef noodles soup were super chewy and couldn't even eat them. We ordered dumplings as appetizers yet it came the last. The skins were so doughy and overcooked. Still very puzzled why this is called the best Chinese restaurant in Madison. Food is edible and service is ok. It's very sad to hear that this quality is the best that Madison has to offer.
Lenny R.
Excellent szechuan food! We order dry hot pot probably once a week. The meat dumplings are also delicious: gooey and rubbery, but not sticky, and melt in your mouth. We have picked up food from Ichiban Sichuan at least twice a month since October 2020, and every dish we have tried was delicious. I have to say that the sizes have considerably decreased, but it seems to depend on the week of the month. Sometimes we get bet bigger dishes, then much smaller the week after that. Also, although I love every noodle type they serve, it has been a bit inconsistent: I have ordered the exact same shrimp and noodle dish several times in a row, and they come with different types of noodle, even sometimes a different sauce. (They can be a bit stingy with how many shrimps are in the dish, so I now order chicken, and it's always full). I haven't solved that mystery, but if you don't mind a little surprise here and there, you have to try this place!
Pascal Bleam
I recently had a less than enjoyable delivery order. The staff at Ichiban was very nice and promised to make it right.Please be aware that some dishes aren't meant to be delivered. I would highly recommend visiting this restaurant in person or getting take-out as this will be a more enjoyable experience.Thank you to Ichiban Sichuan for being so understanding.
Server didn't speak English. Finally got someone else who did, a little. The Beef 'N Broccoli was very good, but I can't use chopsticks due to disabilities. I had to use a huge serving spoon to eat with! $15.73 for a lunch sized serving & small soda! IT ISN'T ANYTHING LIKE HAPPY WOK! Nobody asked to refil my soda & I had to ask for my bill! I won't be back!!!
My adult daughter and I have always wanted to eat authentic Sichuan food, and were so happy with the taste, portion size, and packaging of our two to-go meals. The heat level was true to the menu's description, and the spicing was heavenly!Pictured is cumin lamb and mapo tofu. These dishes are very, very rich, not for those following a low-fat diet. I will gladly return.
Ordered spicy green beans, pork dumplings and General Tso's. Green beans were fair. Pork dumplings were gross and the sauce they were in was blah. General Tso's was crispy but the chicken was so dark it made me think the meat was bad and the sauce was brown in color. Would not eat here again.
Ichiban makes authentic tasty Sichuan and Chinese dishes! We recently got takeout again and the bag and text on the receipt was such a neat touch. We ordered Walnut Sauce with Shrimp, Spicy Crispy Chicken, Braised Bok Choi with Shiitake Mushroom. The walnut shrimp is like candy and comes with fresh broccoli. I can't stop ordering it! We loved the flavorful crispy chicken too, but this dish has a lot of dried Thai chili peppers that feel weird to eat as they are thick almost like paper, so we picked some out. Still an amazing dish. The bok choi was super saucy with really strong flavorful mushrooms, which we loved. We will definitely keep ordering and trying new things from Ichiban.
Great Chinese restaurant! High quality authentic chinese food with very reasonable price! Highly recommended!
My daughter had the brilliant idea to have dumplings so we tried this place and we were not disappointed! I tried the pickled veggies and squid and it was cooked to perfection, my youngest is a bit pickier but devoured the streamed broccoli. The staff is so kind as well! I will make it a mission to come back.
We came here because the place next door only had carryout and no seating. The things I liked were the availability of real Chinese cuisine. Especially they had Taiwanese beef noodle and spicy won ton and Dan Dan noodle. The complaints would be the fat cap on the sirloin in the soup. (I know in Taiwan you may see a bone) the broth was top notch. I was disappointed that they used spaghetti noodles over fresh noodles. Overall it's a legit Chinese place (no orange chicken). The serving sizes are very large. I would come back and try their hot pot.
The food is very tasty. It's not americanized Chinese dishes. The service is very nice too. If u pay cash u can get discount.
We went there for the hotpot. The food was OK, although the soup was very plain.However, the service was AWFUL!! We got the dirty bowls (with some rice on it ?) and asked to replace twice which it took forever....so we eventually used the rice bowl instead. They only came 1 time during 1 h...I guess since we were party of 5 and they charged the tips from us directly, so they didn't really need to take care of us. Very disappointed. If I had chances to tips them, I would tip $0..... such a HORRIBLE SERVICE!Finally, we were waiting like 20 min or longer that that... to check after we let them know. They didn't even come to get our cards, so we decided to walk to the cashier and leave. I won't come back again....until that waitress is gone.
My boyfriend and I came here for lunch excited to try something new. Right away the server brought us water and did not offer anything else to drink. We got spring rolls as an appetizer and those were yummy. We got the hotpot to share, I think this had the potential to be very good, however they did not explain how to cook any of it or how long to leave the meat in. The beef was very slimy. The bathroom had cleaning supplies laying all over but were dirty. Nobody ever came back to check on us or get us refills. It was an expensive meal and we didn’t even eat it, we left and went somewhere else. Overall it was awful service and not a good experience.
Restaurantji Recommends
Everything!!!
This is by far the tastiest Chinese restaurant in Madison. I always get the Mapo Tofu and Mei fun - they are so consistently delicious.
Several non-Chinese colleagues suggested ichiban is the best Chinese restaurant in town. I was so confused since Ichiban is Japanese yet Sichuan is Chinese. We ordered a few dishes and had to disagree. The stir-fried noodles were swimming in oil; the beef in Taiwanese beef noodles soup were super chewy and couldn't even eat them. We ordered dumplings as appetizers yet it came the last. The skins were so doughy and overcooked. Still very puzzled why this is called the best Chinese restaurant in Madison. Food is edible and service is ok. It's very sad to hear that this quality is the best that Madison has to offer.
Excellent szechuan food! We order dry hot pot probably once a week. The meat dumplings are also delicious: gooey and rubbery, but not sticky, and melt in your mouth. We have picked up food from Ichiban Sichuan at least twice a month since October 2020, and every dish we have tried was delicious. I have to say that the sizes have considerably decreased, but it seems to depend on the week of the month. Sometimes we get bet bigger dishes, then much smaller the week after that. Also, although I love every noodle type they serve, it has been a bit inconsistent: I have ordered the exact same shrimp and noodle dish several times in a row, and they come with different types of noodle, even sometimes a different sauce. (They can be a bit stingy with how many shrimps are in the dish, so I now order chicken, and it's always full). I haven't solved that mystery, but if you don't mind a little surprise here and there, you have to try this place!
I recently had a less than enjoyable delivery order. The staff at Ichiban was very nice and promised to make it right.Please be aware that some dishes aren't meant to be delivered. I would highly recommend visiting this restaurant in person or getting take-out as this will be a more enjoyable experience.Thank you to Ichiban Sichuan for being so understanding.