Ichiban Sushi Restaurant in Courtenay

I recommend

Always awesome sushi.

Some of the best quality sushi Ive ever had. The tako is the best I have ever had.

Fantastic! Wonderful service, spot-on food! Clean, comfortable atmosphere

Very good sushi.

Quality of fish not so great compared to other nearby sushi restaurants

Best serving staff! So friendly and helpful. Great patio. Great fresh food at a good price. Super clean dining area and bathrooms. A local favourite!

Best sushi Best service Best atmosphere love this place!

We went as a large group and the woman that served us was awesome. Most people had pre-ordered but she still had to figure out who ordered what and deliver multiple dishes. We were all so impressed how she managed to take care of us and was really friendly the whole time. Food was good too!

Part of dining out is the atmosphere and service. The lack of attentiveness and gaf factor by the young servers did not impress me. I appreciate good service and will tip well, but certain servers at this location need to check their attitudes. Its not cheap to eat out. Servers need to respect this

Great food, service, nice atmosphere. 10/10

If you re used to decent sushi, go elsewhere. Staff were lovely and the space is ok, but the food was pretty atrocious

The only downside of our experience was how hot it was in the restaurant. The food and service were great. They are so polite and attentive. Everything tastes amazing. The temperature inside was very warm and we left with flush cheeks and carrying our hoodies and coats. Vegetarian options: Lots of vegetarian options. The veggie lover platter was perfect for a full meal or to share for a lighter meal. Kid-friendliness: Our kids really enjoyed it and felt welcome.

Ill be honest that I have not tried anywhere else in the valley but with the friendly staff and exceptional food Ill not be going anywhere else.

Our go to sushi place for the last almost 15 years. Best in courtenay, when I try other places it never hits the same as ichiban. Very sweet staff, never had a bad experience with them.

Good sushi

Amazing sushi, amazing teriyaki, just amazing food and perfect service from the wonderful staff. We came in admittedly close to close for my birthday and they rocked it

Food never disappoints

Pretty good prices, and the workers were really sweet. Its not too crowdy and just a really nice atmosphere as well as really good food and the best green tea Ive had. Dietary restrictions: Free for gluten allergy alternative

Excellent service, fast and efficient whilst being kind and welcoming. Food was fantastic, well priced and came out hot and fresh in a very reasonable time frame. Would recommend for anyone craving some good Japanese food! Will definitely be coming back again

Disappointed dont know how this place gets 4-5 star reviews. Tempera was loaded with grease the batter was not tempera batter. The rice was cold the BBQ duck sucked was also only warm. The meal sucked especially those stringy peas along with the cold boiled 1 piece of broccoli and the limp cold one sliced of boiled carrot. My wife said her terriaki chicken was flat tasting very bland. Waste of our money for a terrible meal. The tea (cha) and mizo were the only thing that was good. One of the worse meals Ive had. Refuse to ever step foot in that establishment again.

Great food. Fish is fresh. Fish to rice ratio is good. Family owned atmosphere, small amd cozy dining area. My go-to for sushi in the valley.

Husband and I ate here for our Valentines Day lunch and were pleasantly surprised! It may not look like much from its humble exterior but this place is wonderful. Prompt service, tasty food, and best of all big portions! The only complaint I have is that the tempura crab was a tad overdone. Everything else was delicious! Parking: Parking mainly in rear

Wonderful friendly staff and great food :)

Visited Courtney for the weekend best sushi in town hands down fresh takoyaki super kind and happy staff and over amazing food and service will be going again when back in town

I enjoyed my time there

Ichiban Sushi is an excellent Japanese restaurant that I highly recommend. The sushi rolls are fresh and delicious, and the sashimi is of the high quality. The service is always friendly and attentive, and the atmosphere is welcoming and cozy. The restaurant is also very clean and well-maintained.

Leaving a 5 for atmosphere even though I only got take out but the patio is awesome! I called in realized I needed to be ay an appointment sooner than expected and called back to cancel she then rushed my order and had it ready in 5MINUTES so that I could still eat! I appreciate that level of customers service you dont see it everywhere...

Wonderful food and service! We shall return. :)

Think this is my new favourite sushi place! Got takeaway and was delicious and ready when they said it would be!

Family owned and operated, legit home style.

Its a hit or miss lately

Amazing 10/10 every time!!!

A regular place for us, we love the selection, quality and tastes created at Ichiban

Very busy and food took forever to arrive, perhaps just an understaffed evening but we were ready to leave before all our food trickled out. Food however was good, more stars would be given if service was better.

Good service and I enjoyed my Dynamite rolls however the beef udon my gf ordered seemed very Chinese as the beef was velveted like you d find in beef chop suey. Not even close to Sushi Wara s version which is amazing.

I will be back!

Lovely patio and cozy indoors. Ive been here many times for their combo for lunch and its a great value.

A nice little spot with some excellent food. Would definitely come back again.

Some of the worst sushi Ive had in a long time. Rice was overcooked. Ebi Sunomono salad was dry and fishy. Tuna tataki presentation was not good ...overall a bad experience sorry to say.

First time checking out a sushi restaurant in Courtney & Ichiban did not disappoint! Ordered during dinner time and was ready for pickup within 25 minutes (ordering 5+ rolls along with appetizers). Would recommend!

Visiting from Ontario - my girlfriend and I decided to stop in Courtney on our way up island to see some relatives and came across this cute little sushi restaurant! It was quiet and homey and our server was so sweet and bubbly! We had great conversation with her. The food was EXCELLENT. Large portions plus some unique rolls made our meal super enjoyable. I highly recommend Ichiban Sushi Restaurant if you find your way to Vancouver island!

Good prices for takeout. I enjoy sushi nights with them!

Always delicious food and good customer service, had a bad experience this time though. But this bad visit is rare with them. Some music there sure would make the atmosphere a little more comfortable. Food

Quaint and appears to be family run. Fair pricing. Our fare was perfect!

Great sushi . Staff is friendly and clean . Made fresh to order and quick service

This is one of the best places I have ever been to! Everyone is incredibly welcoming and kind and the food is absolutely fantastic. I constantly recommend this restaurant to anyone and everyone who asks me where to get sushi in town. They always go above and beyond to make sure I m welcome and comfortable.

best little patio for a sunny lunch. warm and welcoming people and atmosphere. Food

Fast affordable my kid would live off sushi everyday if possible Delicious always

Stopped in there Dec1/23 for dinner first time. It was not very busy in the dinning room for a Friday. Seems more like a take-out place. Bottom line is the food was very good. The service also good. Prices reasonable. I would eat there again. Parking: We parked out front on the street. 2 hour parking.

Exceptional sushi, my takeout was amazing. The staff is so friendly and nice!

10/10, came on Christmas eve as last customers and still got perfect service and such a wonderful warm welcome. Food was so good I didnt have a chance to get a picture ty so much ichiban

Nice place

Amazing food and service!

Amazing quality and price! Definitely would go back any time.

Best sushi in Courtenay! And reasonable prices, with quick and friendly service

Good Sushi and good prices. On the left is spicy yam and on the right is BC roll

Out of towner staying in Courtney for the weekend. Just got a quick take-away bite to eat from here and it was excellent. Sashimi was especially good. Would go again.

Excellent food, amazing service

The people working there were really nice, a solid 4 stars. The food however a solid 2 stars. Tempura batter was terrible, sushi rolls not so good. I guess considering the location is ok...

Our favourite sushi restaurant on the island by a very long shot. Well drive 45 minutes each way on any excuse just to be forced to go to Ichiban for lunch. Try the Takoyaki and the Ichiban Roll to really treat yourself.

Fast service and lots of selection. For sure I would like to visit again.

I really like this restaurant and people were polite and food was delicious

Fast friendly service, great sushi, great deck.

I tried this again for lunch. I liked it this time and would go back. Kept to basic dishes like yam rolls and lunch specials. Maybe its because its been so long since Ive had Vancouver sushi, but I enjoyed my lunch experience. Kind service, better rice than last review by a lot and hot fresh tempura. Yam tempura huge and great value. I took leftover tempura yam home to add to my own sushi rolls. Old review: The rice was gewy and terrible. The rolls were barely etable and the baked scallop was swimming in mayonnaise. I would not go back and would not recommend. Service was kind and friendly, the only good thing here was the cute building and friendly staff. Wish I could have rated this higher. Ive heard other people speak highly of this place, so I will eventually try it again.

I absolutely love this place! Gluten free options! Friendly service! Great atmosphere And the food is delicious!!

So delicious

Deliciousn Sushi, they were short staffed, so service was slow and intermittent. Better for take out

Take out sushi was awesome, would definitely buy again.

The food is so good. And the service even better. I was planning my return before I even left.

I know service and staff have suffered since the beginning of the pandemic, and I am trying to be forgiving if things arent perfect, however the food had a lot to be desired. The service was not an issue, our server was quick and attentive considering the amount of tables he was dealing with. The issue was with the lack of quality of food. We sat on the patio and could smell burning oil. Indeed, we realized our tempura was overcooked in this burnt oil. It was very greasy and dark,almost burnt. Unfortunately, the sushi rice was tasteless. My tuna roll had a small, mushy smear of tuna in it. We were here a year ago and really enjoyed the food. Perhaps there has been a change of ownership. Perhaps my standards are too high and others may enjoy the food.

Been coming here for years, always great sushi at an affordable price.

Our favourite sushi restaurant in the Comox Valley. Friendly staff and excellent food. We order take out and it s always ready at pick up time.

Delicious food, good price and the server was so friendly!

Great, sushi, the best Ive found in Courtenay. About 1.5x the price of Sushi Center or similar, but much better.

Went in to order. The order was taken and the food was ready in a matter of few minutes. The duck bento box was great. The mixed combo sushi tasted delicious.

Nice quiet lunch. Food is always delicious

Great for folks with celiac disease! Always reliably tasty.

Place was clean, Staff were friendly and attentive. Lunch Bento Boxes were really Teriyaki Boxes @ $18.95 + tax, no nigiri sushi or sashimi option on bento boxes. Had to order fish separately, thus upping the price. Disappointing. Not great value here, in my opinion.

The house roll is awesome. Love the place. Highly recommended.

The big Sashimi was amazing! I really enjoyed the miso soup which was a generous portion, too.

Great little restaurant. Super cute. All of the staff are super nice. Definitely will go again. Food is good.

Always make me feel welcomed! Ordered here many times and have never been disappointed. Quality and freshness shows the chefs skills and care. Racheal is a ray of sunshine! Very focused on customer service. A rare treat and very much appreciated! Keep up the great work

Lovely service from entrance to leaving. Very friendly workers and owners. Food was great, prices were reasonable and the variety was superb. Highly recommend for the Courtenay area.

Good prices, taste great!

Ordered dynamite roll and tempura, it was delishious as usual. Take out only right now.

Food is always top notch. Great food and fast service.

While visiting Courtenay our family ordered take-out here. It was fresh, made to order very quickly, and reasonably priced. Well done. My wife and daughter said miso soup was best they have had in a long while.

Our favourite local sushi spot

Very reasonable prices, friendly service plus they adapt for food allergies ...

Great service & awesome food. I had the Sunomono crab salad, sooooo good! Highly recommend.

Great spot for sushi and gyoza!

When I am trying out a new Japanese restaurant, I usually order something that I am hoping is easy to make and pretty consistent from restaurant to restaurant. Ichiban sorely disappointed me. Gomae - more spinach than I could have ever imagined and less sauce than was useful. There was maybe enough sauce for a single bit. The rest was just piles and piles of plain boiled spinach. Spicy Tuna Roll - clearly not spicy and while the fish tasted fresh, it seemed to be wrapped in old stale rice. Rainbow Roll - once again, fresh fish with stale rice that made the entire experience bad. Sashimi - this was slightly better, but should not be that frozen when served, especially with such thin pieces. Teriyaki Chicken Bento Box - the soggy tempura was terrible. The only redeeming part of this box and actually the entire meal was the chicken. I will not be back. I will gladly take my money across town to Sushi Wara.

Great quality and very reasonable prices wholeheartedly recommend

Sashimi seems like an afterthought...not pleasant to look at (especially for 30 bucks) and the number one no no for sashimi is fish smell. This place seems too busy not to have the freshest fish but alas. Tempura is greasy and...dynamite roll had zero flavor. A modest step above grocery store sushi. I know this place fits a niche in the community and the woman standing in line behind me said its her favorite and eats there regularly. So this is more a cautionary tale for those people who have dined on sushi in international settings and have expectations for a 70 dollar take out meal for 2. On a positive note, the lady (I assume the owner) behind the counter was really quite lovely.

Wish it had deck seating, loved the food.

Great sushi!

Consistently the best sushi in the Comox Valley, hands down!

Our server was great and provided our table with amazing service and the sushi were delicious.

Excellent!!! Great staff!

Used to the cooks interacting with customers and being friendly. Not the case here. Food was tasteful. Customer service was average.

Terrible service and food

The food is always excellent and the staff friendly and courteous. Its our favorite sushi restaurant in the Valley.

Basically Chinese food. Aside from the sushi, the food is really Chinese food presented as Japanese. I wouldnt have minded as much if it were advertised as Chinese Japanese fusion. The waitress was very polite though.

We are from Campbell river and the drive to this restaurant is always worth it. Best sushi! Great service to top it off. Highly recommend.

Not sure how this place gets 4.5 stars. Visiting from vancouver so we have higher standards. Would personally rate 2.5-3 stars. Giving it a 2 to help lower the ratings a bit as time inflated. Was surprised at the menu and everything is extremely expensive. $8-9 for a dynamite, tuna roll, but have to comment there was a decent amount of tuna. That s almost double the price of what we pay in vancouver. Sashimi was $15 for 5 piece which works out to be $3/piece. Sushi rice was a bit mushy and it was also slightly warm. A bit odd eating that when the fish was cold. Our party ordered a beef and a chicken teriyaki combo. Surprisingly beef was tender. Ordered tempura udon but server only heard udon. Not a big deal. The tempura wasn t bad but it didn t come with the standard sauce that is usually served with tempura. Combo was decent deal comparatively if you ordered then individually. 8 pieces nigiri and a yam, dynamite and California roll. $170 for only ok sushi.

Very accommodating, quick, very yummy! Definitely my go to sushi restaurant. So far so good, they made one small mistake, but after calling in to let them know they were super quick to offer me a new dish to make up for it, if I was able to make it back into the restaurant, or add credit to the equal amount as to what my dish costed. Very appreciated Friendly service, good prices, clean restaurant Will definitely refer anyone who asks where to go for a good quick meal. Thanks icbiban!keep up the good work

Sushi was good, Miso was OK, Sunomono was awesome, the Chicken Teriyaki was disgusting

First time I ordered I was very happy, would have been five star, but second time, the rice was overcooked making the sushi sub par. Hopefully it was just a one time issue.

Went for dinner on a Monday night and it was very busy. There were many people waiting for take out so we decided to dine in. Ordered quite a few items to share, mixed tempura was really good. As busy as the server was there was still decent service. Would definitely go again.

Favourite spot for sushi in the Valley. Always delicious and the service is great

Food wasn t good at all. We only went there because our usual sushi place is closed on Mondays. Will never go back.

DELICIOUS!

The BBQ duck roll was delicious. Very nice lunch, we will return!

Absolutely fantastic sushi, will return next time Im in the Comox valley

Delicious food! We asked Ichiban to have 80 bentos ready for pickup alongside multiple platters of sushi; they knocked it out of the park. Tempura was still crispy, and all the bento boxes were terrific. Great job!

Usually really good but they need to have a system in place to manage their takeout and the people who want to dine in. After nobody acknowledging us for awhile, we ultimately left because of the chaos that was at the front door.

Delicious, nice area for dining in.

Amazing Sushi & Nigiri! Had lunch there today, excellent customer service, friendly with warm smiles. Definitely the top sushi restaurant in the Comox Valley.

I forgot how large and tasty the food is. Ordering a bit less with no disrespect.

Fresh and wonderful

Good service and good food.

Very cozy, great food. Nice service. Perfect for small groups and families.

My favorite sushi place! Its quite small but the food is delicious! They have the best rolls

Excellent service!! I had the soup which was ok. Will try sushi next time

Good food, and super friendly staff!

It s tricky to find whats wrong with this place. Every time I ve gone there s always been an open space, and even when it has been busy, food always came out in a timely fashion. Great small atmosphere, staff is always kind. And no duh the food is rockin!

Excellent sushi!!!

Great food

Amazingly delicious sushi! Will be back!

Great sushi

The best in town!!

Great veggie options, lovely miso soup and great service!

Sooo good!!!

Not that good.

I ordered a BC roll and it was warm which wasnt what i expected or wanted. Raw salmon shouldnt be warm. I had one bite and just couldnt get myself to eat the rest. The spring roll was good, nothing extraordinary but good.

Great Sushi lots of choices enjoy amazing take out

good quality

Loved the Patio seating. The food was great and the server was exceptional.

Service is fine and location is really cute, the food is just so remarkably bland. Tried it a few times over the years and the rolls are poorly made and... Boring. There is no seasoning on the rice, there is no sauce. Its not plain in the way that traditional maki are simple but tasty, its plain in the sense that there is no seasoning whatsoever.

Just an ok for me. We have so many in the Valley, this was just average. But the patio out front is a nice bonus. I just come once a year.

The service was friendly and excellent. The food, sublime enough that more.than once I closed my eyes to savour. Cant wait to go back.

This sushi changed my life, definitely the best sushi Ive had to day the yam tempura was perfect on every way i still talk about it with my friend and its been a little over 6 months. I dont know what to say other than just go here you will not be disappointed the environment is cute and welcoming and the food speaks for itself.

We were out to try a different sushi place than our regular and we stopped here, really regretted it, wasnt very fresh, the California roll was dry inside plus the tempura was greasy. The service was good though

Save your money go else where. The sushi is heavily westernised and flavourless. The teriyaki chicken is more akin to orange chicken , drown it anymore in sauce and you will have soup!! The Real crab in the maki is minced not whole pieces so get ready to crunch on crab shell mmmm yummy. Slow service and you need to get your own chopsticks from the corner. They are friendly waiters though.

Fantastic service, food and location! Ichiban is one of my familys favourite spots to eat.

5 stars for courtenay. Avocado was the perfect ripeness and the because rolls a great balance of salty and warm. Would eat again!

Phenomenal Sushi! I would definitely recommend anyone to try this place out, staff is very friendly & service is always great.

Absolutely the most delicious spot on the island for sushi. We ve known the owner Keo for many many years.

Salmon was bland, and did not taste fresh. The toro and Dynamite roll were tasty.

Delicious!

Cute place. Nice hard-working ladies. Much nicer than the unassuming exterior. Good sushi

Yumminess and friendliness

Food was ok, service was slow but outside patio seating was very nice and comfy

Some of the best sushi I have ever had and cant stop coming back, service is a little slow but worth the wait

Would recommend, very nice staff!

Delicious food!

Komox Roll was excellent.

Excellent sushi! Best place in the Comox Valley. Make sure to order the Red Dragon Roll; its their specialty!

I tell people I fly four hours to visit my parents every year. I lied.. I go for ichiban.

Not wheel chair accessibility. But great food.