Talk about night and day.
I was really excited. I heard terrible word of mouth about Kobe on 44th St. I thought about it, and decided to discard the information and form my own opinion. I saddled up the Bug, and hit the road for a 25-minute drive on a Sunday evening to investigate. I planned to order exactly the same food I reviewed at Wild Chef.
Eager to compare, I was first hit with ridiculous Michigan lefts after passing the entrance, which is unmarked. I think I wasted a quarter tank of gas just trying to get there. And I'm only referring to 44th St and their parking lot.
Upon entering, the hostess told me I couldn't sit at the bar. They weren't serving drinks. Only, I really could sit at the bar, I just couldn't order sushi. Unless I wanted to talk to "the three girls." I was so confused. There's a sushi bar. There's another room with a bar/bar (which says "sushi bar" over the outside door). Both were visibly unmanned. Both were covered in plastic/paper. Extremely uninviting. I finally did clarify the "drinks" and "beer/wine" on Sunday thing for her. Blue laws. Seriously? Yes. Still, both environments screamed "WHY IS THIS RESTAURANT EVEN OPEN?!" Even though the hibachi tables had customers.
I chose the sushi bar. When the waitress came, I was informed that I couldn't get hibachi rice unless I sat at a hibachi table. I clarified that I wanted sushi and rice to go, and again, was told I could not where I was seated. That was IT. This was the worst service with the most rules and ridiculously unwelcoming situation I had ever encountered in attempting to spend my hard-earned money. I walked out, "This is seriously the weirdest restaurant experience I have ever had." I partially blame the under-exposed high-school staff. I never got to the point to try the food.
Frustrated yet hungry and obsessed, I took off for Shang-Hai Ichiban on Broadmoor, another 25 minutes away.
Fearfully, I opened the humongous, fore-boding door, and walked into... an oasis.
Despite being empty, both the sushi bar and bar-bar were open. The gorgeous flowered fountain was burbling clear running water, flowing smoothly over a rock-fall. It sounded as pretty as it looked. Note: their hibachi tables were also patronized.
The bartender, while busy, treated me as if I were his only customer. He artfully made suggestions to up-sell the menu. I went for it, with substitutions, which he skillfully cleared with the kitchen. This place was starting to feet like heaven. He was so smooth, I'm not even sure what I ordered. Except that it was 8 pieces of select sushi, plus a roll, for $20.
The yellowtail melted in my mouth. As did the salmon. And the eel. For kicks, I gave the chefs creative license and got squid sushi. The spicy tuna roll was equally delicious. Everything was as it should be, if not better. I couldn't have been happier. The fried rice tasted more like Chinese fried rice.
Like many sushi restaurants in Michiagn, Ichiban was originally established by Koreans. Not surprisingly, it was purchased and is now run by Chinese.
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