Went for Ichiban Japanese Buffet Restaurant at Wisma MPL last night with CY and Seong. We orignally planned for Shogun at 1U but it was already fully booked by noon, so had to go KL instead.
I am pretty satisfied with the food at Ichiban, although I would still prefer Shogun aka Saisaki.. the price at Ichiban is however cheaper, including taxes just less than RM45 for a weekend dinner.
The food option was fair enough, they offered Sashimi, Sushi, Tempura, BBQ, Teppanyaki, Shabu-Shabu, desserts and some Malaysian style cooking.
We went there a bit early and got in when it was opened at 645pm. Well.. early birds get the worms, early customers get the oysters.
Their raw oysters were pretty fresh, and Ichiban only provided 20 pieces maybe, and still no refill by the time we left at 830. So we were lucky to go there earlier.
Sashimi.. they only got salmon, tuna and cod fish.. the salmon was fresh, the tuna and cod were fresh enough to be edible, could be better.
Sushi was ok, I didn’t tasted much of it.. probably not too wise to eat bunch of rice balls in a buffet. The rice was a bit too soft, maybe too much of vinegar.
I love their tempura, just nice, not overly done and because the restaurant was quite full, the foods flow pretty fast and the tempura was hot and crunchy.
The Unagi (eel) was great, somehow the things that taste the best were constantly out of supply.. aiyo.
The teppanyaki was rather mild, 3 of us finished a plate of meat and that’s it, no more teppanyaki for the night.
Their shabu-shabu was also funny, 2 large pot of soup at the food counter and everyone had to dumbed in their raw food into the pot and wait for it to be cooked and served it to their own plate.. then go back to their table and eat it.. too troublesome for me, but seems like a lot of people were enjoying it.
I didn’t try much of the Malaysian flavours, consuming grilled salmon and unagi most of the time. Seong did however tried most of the local foods and happy with it, and CY love their curry.
The only disappointment was the absent of a bowl of Udon or Ramen, or whatever Japanese noodles.
Ichiban is probably the cheapest Japanese buffet available around Kuala Lumpur.. so it’s probably unfair to compare them with other Japanese buffet restaurant.
For the price we paid, I think we are pretty much happy with Ichiban.
.. someone requested for Ichiban’s phone # for reservation, here it is.. 03-2148 8988, 2148 1033, 2145 1033
.. map added per request, not that clear, so provided some simple direction as well.
April 23rd, 2006 at 4:30 pm
ermm….. sounds tasty.
‘ ichiban’ the name reminds me of d episode in Friends where joey acted in d japanese commercial, ‘ ichiban,lipstick for men’ . it was totally hilarious.
April 24th, 2006 at 9:09 am
agree that ichiban is quite ok.. i went there last year at wisma HLA..
April 24th, 2006 at 11:59 am
Tracy.. Ichiban is indeed a common Japanese word, I remember a fried chicken shop back in my hometown, also named Ichiban.
alicia.. yupe it’s quite ok. HLA is where it is, just that the building changed its name to Wisma MPL.
May 24th, 2006 at 8:53 pm
I saw ur blog about the ichiban japanese buffet restaurant, ur description is so fantastic..make me would like to try also…I’m a super sushi maniac!
may I know where is this restaurant located? wisma MPL is where..thx alot
May 25th, 2006 at 11:32 am
Thanks for the compliment Jin.
Wisma MPL is formerly known as Wisma HLA, located at Jalan Raja Chulan, opposite The Weld and beside Ambank.
It’s just after the T-cross section between Jalan Raja Chulan and Jalan P Ramlee, when Jalan Raja Chulan’s traffic started to move in one way only.. MPL will be at your right.
I’ve added a map above, you can use as reference.
November 29th, 2006 at 8:39 pm
may i know the way to contact ichiban purchase department?
November 29th, 2006 at 8:41 pm
Hey hey…. where is the ICHIBAN KL located?
And how much does it cost for one person??
Let me know fast fast lar…. hope can celebrate birthday at there : )
November 29th, 2006 at 11:31 pm
chloe… call their booking # and ask for reference.
CHooL… RM39 if not mistaken, map is already provided. Happy birthday in advance.
December 30th, 2006 at 1:17 pm
hello…my friend and i plan to go there …but when we reach there..the people over there told us that the ichiban had moved.if someone know whre the new locateion do please tell me.thank you
December 30th, 2006 at 2:27 pm
Sorry Andrea… no idea that it’s moved. I hope some others can provide you the answer.
February 28th, 2007 at 4:40 pm
where their moved? I oso 1 2 know..
February 28th, 2007 at 4:46 pm
I was check the ichiban restaurant were totally CLOSED!!! not moved….ok!
March 7th, 2007 at 9:45 pm
can any1 tell me where they moved to or no more this restaurant..?
need the answer asap.
thx..
March 7th, 2007 at 11:10 pm
Sorry guys, I personally have no idea if it’s moved or closed. It’s been more than 2 months since I heard the news here, seemed unlikely that anyone can provide a clue here.
April 19th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
can anybody let me know whreabout the new location of this I-chi-ban?
May 8th, 2007 at 3:51 am
Hello…everyone who like ichiban restaurant buffet ..i already found out frm one of my friend who uncle used to be a manager over there.it totally wind up the company due to something that we don know.so frm now on …no need to look for the restaurant …have to find other place to eat //…enjoy
May 8th, 2007 at 9:22 am
Thanks for the note Andrea.
May 17th, 2007 at 5:56 am
you’re welcome..
so ..any nice suggestion for dining ..:P
May 17th, 2007 at 10:36 am
I wish I can give you some nice suggestions, but I am not that expert actually… ermm what kind of cuisine are you looking for? I can share a few of my favorite restaurants if it’s around PJ.
May 22nd, 2007 at 5:05 pm
:P..anything that is nice but first lof all affordable !!
thanks
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:35 pm
Funny thing… I always dine in PJ SS2 area (the old Chow Yang)… and I can’t remember the name of those restaurants. There is a Bak Kut Teh, got one Chinese seafood, and another sell herbal soup one… I just can’t recall their names lol.
July 11th, 2007 at 4:21 am
Hello
Very interesting information! Thanks!
Bye
December 5th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
[...] spread is a steal when you compare it with other Japanese buffets in the general vicinity such as Ichiban, Saisaki and Shin-NiChi. If Jogoya wasn’t already overbooked, the other Japanese buffet [...]
June 19th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
I saw a fly on the sushi and the fly seems to just stick there. So unhealthy but i didn’t say anything until my sister and I saw a rat running in he store around 8.40p.m.. When i call the captain in charge name Lydia(sunway pyramid) to confront about it. She said the rat was from upstairs and she didn’t take any further action like wash all the plates where the rat ran over or nearby. I don’t think i’ll go back to your store anymore but i will tell everyone i know what i’ve seen. This is not a threat, just a comment.
June 20th, 2008 at 12:10 am
Vain… a few things…
This is a blog and not related to Ichiban… complained whatever and wherever you like, it’s not my store to begin with.
The Ichiban in Sunway is Ichiban Ramen I assumed? The last I heard from this Ichiban buffet was that they were out of business.
Regardless, don’t eat at that restaurant again.
September 26th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
My God .. At last only know that the restaurant is closed… -.-”
No wonder i call they say not ichiban … swt .. well ..
October 23rd, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Hi Mr Jee,
Do you have the Ichiban’s contact No?
I would like to go and try it out…
October 23rd, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Oops. Got the no! Thks!