Orlando Ichiban Sushi Blog | Downtown Orlando Sushi and Japanese Restaurant

Fukushima Radiation Causes Japanese Food Quality to Rise!!!

2012-02-09T10:59:00.000-08:00

Over the last two decades the popularity of Japanese cuisine has been on the rise. In most cities it is a well developed main-stream cousine.

When the Fukushima Nuclear Plant had been effected from the earth quake in 2011, food connoisseurs' all over the world were worried for the quality of Japanese exported eats.

Due to the incidents, Kosuge Nogi, the deputy director of hte food Industry Bureau, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan actually RAISED quality standards to ensure that -

Not only is the food exporting from Japan free of radiation, it is also on a higher quality par then in was before the incident.

Kasuge had raised quality assurance methods to make the world feel safe and proud for eating Japanese exported foods

The specially designed self-calibrated machine at the Japanese Pharmaceutical Association’s Inspection Centre can detect even a miniscule amount of a substance, from agrichemical residues to radioactive nuclides.

This is a great example of going BEYOND what is necessary and the benefits that will come with that.

After the numbers for 2011 have been analysed, it is said that the financial collapse "Lehman Bros. Incident" had actually caused more economic harm on Japanese food exports than the Fukushima nuclear incidents!

It feels great to know that the food we have important to serve to our customers is not only safe from the nuclear incident, but even better quality than we received before it ever happened!

Enjoy your sushi, it's safe and healthy!

The Ichiban Team

Book Release Party in Downtown Orlando

2012-02-02T09:15:00.000-08:00

Burrow Press will be holding a book release party for their forthcoming anthology, “15 Views of Orlando,” Tuesday, Jan. 31 at Urban ReThink in Downtown Orlando.

Food and drinks will be available for purchase at the Virgin Olive Market located at the venue.

You can walk over from Ichiban and have that nice, fresh, full feeling sushi gives you!

The book seems interesting, it's featuring 15 loosely linked stories set in more locally known corners such as Oviedo’s Town House Restaurant, South Orlando’s The Parliament House, and even an abandoned, dilapidated former Albertson’s grocery store.

15 Views of Orlando offers a rarely portrayed perspective of Orlando as experienced by those who have called it home.

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The “15 Views of Orlando” release party will begin Tuesday, Jan. 31 at 6 p.m. at Urban Rethink located at 625 E Central Blvd.

For more information about the event, Urban ReThink can be reached at 407-704-6895. To purchase, pre-order, or learn more about “15 Views of Orlando,” visit Burrow Press’ website at www.burrowpress.com .

Have a great weekend Orlando!

The Ichiban Team

It's A Real "Walk of Art" Today!

2012-01-26T08:23:00.000-08:00

This weekend in Orlando, you can check out these valuable "works of art" on your own "walk of art"!

Sanford Art Walk

The monthly Sanford Art Walk is today, 6-9 p.m. More than a dozen venues participate in Sanford's compact downtown, mostly along First Street.

You easily can visit every venue, while having some wine and listening to some music.

Weekend Art Workshop for Japanese Artwork!

Ahlin is a Central Florida-based professional artist known for her Asian-influenced colorful abstract paintings. In this two-day workshop, participants will learn to use/manipulate Japanese masa paper; try sumi-e brushwork; crinkling, staining and "color pouring" on masa; and create abstract notecards and an origami-style journal. The workshop is Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., at the Maitland Art Center (231 W. Packwood Ave.). The $125 cost includes most materials. Call 407-740-5949 to reserve.

Have an art-fulled weekend!

No One Wants "Convenient Sushi"

2012-01-19T08:07:00.000-08:00

The Inconvenient Truth About Sushi

While reading through sushi blogs, looking for sushi news, we came across this interesting article.

Basically, Walgreens tried to sell "conveniently packaged sushi" from their flag ship store in Chicago and the results turned out to be an...

EPIC FAIL

Let's ponder why it was such a failure for a moment, sha'll we?

Who can trust pre-packaged Sushi?

A lot of people complain about getting sick after they eat the sushi made to last all day in a grocery store cooler. You know... The generic package of california rolls or spicy tuna that has an EXPIRATION DATE ON IT!!!!

Sushi doesn't need an expiration date because you don't let it expire. It is meant to be eaten... ASAP! That is why you go to have it made to order!

This way, your eating fresh, 112% of the time, guaranteed!

Sushi is meant to be enjoyed, not rushed!

The real inconvenient truth about sushi is that it is not meant to be convenient at all! What in the world is convenient about having a specific fish flied all the way around the world in time to land on your plate before it is frozen? Nothing...

People want to sit down and enjoy their fresh sushi meals. It isn't something that is meant for "on - the - go," even though it's bite-size might seem to contradict that.

Who is Walgreens to make sushi?

Last we checked, our sushi chefs are seriously trained professionals! I know Walgreens is a pharmacy, but sushi is NOT something they need to be prescribing!

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That is the inconvenient truth about sushi!

It's just not meant to be convenient. So when your not in a rush and you feel like sitting down to enjoy a beautiful, fresh meal made meticulously by professionals...

Stop by Ichiban Orlando at your earliest convenience!

We Love Walgreens!

2012-01-13T21:01:00.001-08:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Walgreens for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

There is no questioning that we love our customers. We try to show it every single day through our many communication outlets and customer service tactics that we employ week in and week out.

It's because of our strong ongoing support effort that we are constantly monitoring and acknowledging fellow brands that genuinely care about their customers.

In this particular instance, the brand we are highlighting happens to be one that we already know and love, so it was easy to glorify their current situation in a blog post such as this.

When we first heard about the issue surrounding Walgreens and Express Script, we deemed it necessary to write about it so that everyone knows what our favorite local pharmacy that offers 24 hour service and convenient locations throughout the nation is doing to combat negativity and fight for their customers' best interest.

One of the many things that Walgreens is doing to improve the current network provider situation is the launch of the new Walgreens Prescription Savings Club. This is a type of membership, that for $10 a year, an entire family gets discounts on prescriptions and any other pharmaceutical service that Walgreens has to offer, including flu shots and supplies. Individuals can sign up to this program for only $5 a year.

So if you are an Express Scripts customer that has unfortunately lost the perk of using Walgreens as your prescription solution, you should strongly consider signing up to this program. More information can be found on the official Walgreens website,. You can also gather information by following Walgreens on Twitter and/or liking Walgreens on Facebook.

Online Sushi Games

2012-01-13T13:25:00.000-08:00

Have you ever played any great online sushi games?

No?

That's because they are hard to find.

Check out the online games that we found recently on BrowserGames. It's a promising website that is sure to suck a lot of the downtime we have at our restaurant.

After you navigate through and find a favorite game, let us know what it is in the comment section - even if it's not one of those rare sushi games.

The Next Sushi 101 is February 6th!!! Come Learn, Laugh, and Eat...

2012-01-12T07:24:00.000-08:00

It is 2012, and the first Sushi 101 class of the year will be on February 6th

Sushi 101 is an evening filled with learning, laughing and eating!

During the Sushi 101 course, you will receive personalized attention from one of our own master sushi chefs who will teach you everything you need to know about rolling your very own sushi.

New Year Couples:

Get your relationship started on the right foot in 2012 with a Sushi 101 Date Night! You can even use it as an early Valentine's Day gift.

A week early... but who doesn't like Valentine's Day Gifts!!!

New Year Diet:

We realize that everyone likes to start the year over with a healthy diet. After attending Sushi 101 you can extend your home menu by being able to create delicious, healthy sushi meals at home!

It's a New Year... Why not use that new budget on a fun filled, learning experience!!!!

Price = $40 per person

Sushi 101 also includes:

- Your Choice of Beer, Wine or Saketini
- Ginger Salad, Soup, Gyoza & Eda Mame
- California Roll and Spicy Tuna Roll
- Green Tea Ice Cream or Chocolate Cake

Call us today and reserve the best gift ever...

Orlando’s Best Sushi Class!

(407) 423-2688

Learn About the Japanese New Year, "Oshagatsu".

2012-01-04T09:43:00.000-08:00

The New Year makes everything feel fresh. The air is fresh, the mood is fresh...

Throughout many cultures there is a general feeling of "starting over" or a "fresh start" around this time of year.

Japan has adopted the solar calendar since 1873 and the New Year celebration starts on January 1 called Oshogatsu.

However, in rural Japan, villagers continue to follow the lunar calendar and Oshogatsu is the Lunar New Year.

The entire New Year celebration lasts for five to six days.

Some Traditions of Oshogatsu:

On New Year's Eve, shortly before midnight, Buddhist temples ring bells 108 times to remember Japan's hardships. The ritual is a way to send out the old year and usher in the new.

People don't go to work on New Year's Day.

The first visit to the temple is called "Hatsu Mohde," which means the first visit. They go to pray for a prosperous and healthy new year.

Families start the New Year with a "mochi" or rice cake breakfast.

Adults give money to children, in a tradition called "otoshi-dama" or the "new year treasure."

A popular game is played called, "Furuwarai" which is the American version of pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey.

There are many "good luck" charms associated with the New Year. Cranes and turtles are symbols of longevity and happiness.

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However you rang in the New Year, it is a fresh slate for us all to fill with positivity and kindness for the year to come!

Happy New Year,

Ichiban

p.s. If eating fresh is apart of your New Year's resolution... then we would love to hep you with that!

Article Info from FamilyCulture.com

See You Next Year!

2011-12-30T13:17:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!

We are so grateful for everything you have brought us in 2011, we can't wait to return the favor times a million in 2012!!!

See you next year!

Merry Christmas from all of us at Ichiban Sushi

2011-12-23T08:00:00.000-08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

We shall give the gift of delicious Japanese Cuisine.

Thank You Everyone, Enjoy Your Holiday!

THE BEST GIFT EVER!!!!!!

2011-12-15T09:38:00.000-08:00

The best gift ever is not some tangible item that gets unwrapped one day and tabled the next...

It is not something that you wear, drive or flaunt...

The best gift ever is something that you can experience AND learn from!

Both are found in giving someone the Gift of "Sushi 101"!

In the Sushi 101 class, you will learn to roll sushi like the pros at Ichiban!

You will receive personalized attention from one of our own master sushi chefs who will teach you everything you need to know about rolling your very own sushi. This fun filled night is a great date for couples, an enjoyable business outing, or... a GREAT HOIDAY GIFT EXPERIENCE!!!

Price = $40 per person

Sushi 101 also includes:

- Your Choice of Beer, Wine or Saketini
- Ginger Salad, Soup, Gyoza & Eda Mame
- California Roll and Spicy Tuna Roll
- Green Tea Ice Cream or Chocolate Cake

Call us today and reserve the best gift ever...

Orlando’s Best Sushi Class!

(407) 423-2688

Shipping Deadlines For Christmas

2011-12-15T08:00:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately for everybody, we don't ship sushi through the mail. However, we do offer gift cards and gift certificates if anyone is interested in giving the gift of Ichiban to a loved one this holiday season. I'll have to digress, however, for this blog post is not meant to be about our gifting options at Ichiban.

Instead, we would like to write about shipping deadlines on the web. It's a tough thing to deal with when merchants don't assure you on a date of reception as you checkout. Do you go ahead and take the risk? But what if you get it late? Doesn't that defeat the purchase of the order altogether?

As an avid and experienced online shopper, I felt the need to help out on this front and review the shipping deadlines for this time of year. That is why I will be expanding on the topic of Christmas Shipping Deadlines 2011 below.

On top of that, I will be sharing with you some of the coupons and discounts that I have found recently.

For some of the Best Online Coupons, click on that link. It will help you not only save money, but also give you some gift ideas for all of you last-minute shoppers. More specifically, I also found a great resource for Apple Store Coupons.

The fact of the matter is - you can't wait much longer if you want your gifts in time for Christmas. The very last day to place an order should be December 21st, but that's in an extremely urgent situation and please know that you will have to pay for rush charges at that point.

Rest assured, however, that you do still have almost a week if you are still struggling with gift ideas.

Have fun shopping!

6 Inspiring Photos of Downtown, Orlando

2011-12-08T07:31:00.000-08:00

These 6 photos should inspire you to visit Downtown, Orlando for an evening in the near future.

The weather is starting to feel at it's best this time of year; the air is crisp, the side-walks are filled with Holiday smiles, and to cap off your evening...

Your belly can be filled with some delicious sushi too!!! (as you should notice the last image is of US!!!)

Enjoy!

This time of year, it truly is...

The City Beautiful.

Natural Inflammation Relief

2011-12-06T05:25:00.000-08:00

We know you eat sushi a lot. In fact, we recognize that you might even eat sushi too often, and on top of that you stuff your face with Japanese deliciousness so much, that you get too full and may get a tummy ache as a result. As great as it tastes, we don't have to tell you that this may not be the healthiest of addictions.

Sushi addiction is not a joke!

Some symptoms that could be directly related or that could have nothing to do with that at all are muscle/joint/body aches and overall body cell inflammation (among some others).

Well, have you heard of Nopalea? It's an all natural formula filled with anti-oxidants that combats the above symptoms and general body cell inflammation.

Another name for Nopalea is Trivita .

So, the next time you stuff yourself to the point of pain, think of the natural way to get back to 100%. Think of Nopalea.

Oh, and you might want to go seek some help for your crazy sushi addiction. We've all been through it and we are here for you if you need us. :)

Disclaimer: This post is written by me via the PayPerPost platform. Pay Per Post is not affiliated with Trivita/Nopalea whatsoever.

Review has us thrilled to be Mentioned as a "Sushi Heaven in Orlando"!!!

2011-12-01T11:21:00.000-08:00

We were so thrilled to see this review done by "The MenView" this week!

This is a segment...

"When it comes to sushi, every restaurant loves to put their own twist on things. Located in downtown Orlando, FL, Ichiban Sushi Restaraunt seems to have that special factor that makes their restaurant better than much of the competition. It is located right downtown, and is a must to visit when in the area.

Mixing a nice ambience, with wonderful decor, Ichiban is a beautiful place to go out alone, with a significant other, or with a group. The service is very fine and they do a wonderful job of treating each guest with amazing care and consideration...."

Check out the full review on:

http://blog.themenview.com/post/13384901318/sushi-heaven-in-orlando

The MenView is FREE and for all food lovers, aka everyone, enjoy!...

Follow and tweet @TheMenView to let them know they rock!

Happy Thanksgiving! Here is how we celebrate in Japan...

2011-11-24T09:00:00.000-08:00

First off, Happy Thanksgiving to every one of our customers and their families!

We are very thankful for having you!

In light of this festive Holiday, we thought we'd take the chance to share how Japan celebrates their version of the Holiday.

On November 23, Japan celebrates "Labor Thanksgiving Day" to express gratitude to one another for work done throughout the year. Labor Thanksgiving Day in Japan is a national holiday.

How it came about?

In ancient times this festival was celebrated as the Rice Harvest Festival or popularly known in local language as Niiname-sai. The ancient festival’s origination dates back hundreds of years. It is believed that the festival was celebrated as early as November of 678. Tradition has it that the emperor would dedicate the season’s fresh harvest to the gods and taste the rice himself for the first time.

It was during the Meiji Era (1868-1912) that the date for this festival was set on November 23rd, and it has been maintained ever since.

The modern version of this festival was started after World War II in the year 1948, but the ancient tradition is still continued behind closed doors by the imperial family while the Labor Thanksgiving Day is celebrated by the public as a national holiday.

Giving Thanks

The Holiday events encourage people to think about the environment, peace, and human rights. School children in Japan create drawings for the holiday and present them as gifts to the local police stations.

From all of us at Ichiban, Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

(When you are sick of Turkey left-overs... we will see you soon!)

IBUKI Magazine

2011-11-22T20:39:00.000-08:00

IBUKI Magazine is a website of bi-monthly print magazine articles celebrating everything relating to Japanese food and culture. The articles are about recipes, restaurant reviews, Japanese travel info, movie reviews, J-pop and more.

It's a great resource that we strongly suggest. Go ahead and download the IBUKI Magazine E-book at the link provided.

The Cuteness Contest

2011-11-17T19:01:00.001-08:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Puppies vs. Babies for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

We've been posting a lot about cuteness lately. It all started with Halloween. We published a few blog posts that contained extremely cute pets dressed as sushi. Then, we even discovered a baby in a sushi Halloween costume.

Most recently, we stumbled on a sushi birthday cake that was not only super cute, but also delicious looking.

Coincidentally, all of the cuteness is now coming to a head in the form of an online competition. It's the Ultimate Showdown of Puppies vs. Babies. Which is cuter?

This contest is exactly as it sounds. You simply vote on a pairing of a baby and a puppy and decide which you think is cuter. For us, we think babies are cuter, but that might be because Asian babies are the cutest thing in the world (no offense puppies!).

We encourage all of our customers and readers to check out and vote in the Puppies vs. Babies online contest. Also, we'd really appreciate it if you left some comments on your thoughts behind your voting decision below in the comments section.

While we might promote a very cool contest like this, you can rest assured that we do not serve either babies or puppies at our restaurant. If you even thought that we might, you should be ashamed of yourself! :)

Thankful for all the recent Twitter Love!!!

2011-11-17T07:41:00.000-08:00

Every once in a while we just have to dedicate a post to thank our followers on twitter for their support.

With thanksgiving a week away, this seems like great timing.

Here are some awesome recent @Mentions we received.

We are thankful for each and every one!

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MonicaJadeHeafy:

@orlandoichiban should be stoping by for some amazing sushi this weekend for sure!!!!!:) and eggrolls;)

AnyshaPanesar:

@orlandoichiban will make a visit very soon!! :) thankyou!

thelovelylyss:

@orlandoichiban I have not had your sushi yet! Looks like we'll need to make a visit and try it out!

JennaBarnes:

@orlandoichiban yep, finally got my fix!

Nusk1nCharley:

Celebrated @hemmepowered birthday at @orlandoichiban Hmmmm GoooD! pic.twitter.com/FPU362oE

Here is that Twitter Pic...

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And much thanks for the promo tweet of the week!

SpecialsORL:

$2 Sushi, $3 Rolls & Select Drinks. 5:30 PM-7:00 PM at Ichiban Sushi. @orlandoichiban #SpecialsORL bit.ly/a2cnSr

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Keep following us @orlandoichiban Thanks!!!

Sushi Vocabulary Cheat Sheet

2011-11-10T09:00:00.000-08:00

If you are ever confused when ordering sushi, this vocabulary cheat sheet should help you out nicely.

Nigiri-zushi is the best-known variety of sushi; it consists of a piece of fish or seafood (or vegetable or even meat) placed on an oblong finger of lightly vinegared rice, often seasoned with a dab of wasabi. Fish is usually raw; shellfish is sometimes cooked.

When fish roe or sea urchin is the topping, the whole ensemble is wrapped in dried seaweed (nori) to keep it intact; this is called gunkan-maki (literally "battleship wrap"). Nigiri-zushi is actually a regional specialty of Tokyo, and it's also known as Edomae-zushi, "Edo" being the pre-1868 name for Tokyo.

Maki-zushi is made with a bamboo mat, which is used to form strips of tuna, cucumber or other ingredients along with a mass of vinegared rice into long, seaweed-covered rolls. The rolls are then cut into slices. Futo-maki is a variation where the roll is much fatter than usual, and traditionally filled with egg custard, pickled gourd and bits of vegetables.

Temaki is similar to maki-zushi, except that it's made by hand and the finished cone-shaped product is eaten by hand, with or without soy sauce.

Sashimi is an assortment of sliced raw fish served on a platter with shredded radish and other garnishes. It's often served as an appetizer with drinks.

Chirashi consists of sashimi and chopped vegetables arranged over a bowl of rice. It usually comes as a set meal, in price levels based on size and quality of ingredients.

Oshi-zushi is a specialty of Osaka, made by pressing a layer of fish (highly vinegared and sometimes lightly steamed) onto a layer of rice in a large wooden mold. Afterwards, the oshi-zushi is removed from the mold and cut into bite-size rectangular pieces.

Inari-zushi is rice and chopped vegetables stuffed into a pouch of fried tofu; it can sometimes be found in outdoor food stalls, grocery stores and department stores.

The first three types of sushi can be ordered individually, or in various set meals. Sashimi and chirashi-zushi are generally ready-made assortments (although if you're at the counter you can order most sushi items as sashimi). Oshi-zushi is generally found in the Kansai region (Osaka and Kyoto).

Your Welcome!

Now we want to see some confident faces when ordering next time your in.

Next Sushi 101 Course is Monday November 7th

2011-11-03T09:09:00.000-07:00

Chef Owen helping Sushi 101 students.

In case you haven't been paying attention to us so far in 2011, we have been offering our popular Sushi 101 class every first Monday night of every month. Last month, we canceled the event due to a holiday, but next week, the 7th, we are back on!

Seats are already filling up and time is running out to partake in the momentous occasion.

If you've never been, you can find our sales pitch for the event below. If you have already been and already know what it's all about, there is no need to read on. All you need to know is that Monday is our next one and you should definitely attend again.

Price = $40 per person

Sushi 101 also includes:

- Your Choice of Beer, Wine or Saketini
- Ginger Salad, Soup, Gyoza & Eda Mame
- California Roll and Spicy Tuna Roll
- Green Tea Ice Cream or Chocolate Cake

Call us at (407) 423-2688 to book your spot.

We hope to see everyone there!

Baby Sushi Costume for Halloween

2011-10-27T08:08:00.000-07:00

Babies can be sushi too!!!

Our last post was pretty fun to look at, so why not keep the Halloween theme going...

As you can see this is an easy enough costume to throw together at home. All you need to do is get down to the sushi details.

Check out the ginger and wasabi on their heads. Perhaps you can take it a step further and add some sesame seeds, or chop sticks?

Let us know how your Halloween turns out, and if you have any sushi costumes, please send us an image :-)

A Halloween Costume Idea

2011-10-21T11:29:00.000-07:00

How awesome is this picture?

If you have a pet and love sushi, this just might be the perfect costume for you. As you can see, you get to sport a Kikkoman soy sauce bottle costume. For most, this would be a good enough costume, but if you want to take it to the max, you can throw the additional props into the scene.

To add the pet portion of the costume, here's what you need:

Planks of wood (to assemble) or an already assembled wood table that can be made to resemble a sushi block plate.
Pink ribbons (for the ginger)
A circular green pillow (for the wasabi)
A 2 x 4 piece of wood with a slice in the center (chopsticks)
A long pillowcase cut diagonally across the top (to house the chopsticks)
For the pieces of sushi, you must either sew your own more sophisticated pieces or purchase a small, but long pillow that can resemble a piece of sashimi. Add a thick strap to each piece to wrap around the stomach of your pets.
Finally, you will need your pet(s) to be tame enough to wear sushi on their back(s).

This list might make it seem like a lot of work, but don't you think this costume is well worth it? With Halloween only 10 days ago, we hope we've given you enough of a lead time to get all of this done to pull this off this year.

If you do go this route, please send us some pictures of the costume. We'd love to see how it turns out in the end.

Heather.... Are You There?

2011-10-14T14:35:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, we posted a blog about a really cool idea we had to give one of our community members an opportunity to enjoy free sushi with some of our local fans.

We received some interest on Twitter from a few individuals that would be honored to take Heather out for a lunch whilst we comp the meal for up to $25. A few days after we posted the blog about Heather, we completely lost touch with her. Where did she go?

So now we're stuck between a rock and a hard place with these wonderful individuals that would love to show Heather a good time over some delicious sushi and an unresponsive participant that was the main reason we were doing this in the first place.

We kindly ask that everybody reach out to Heather on Twitter @heathernuma and find out if she would still like to take us up on this offer. We simply don't understand why she wouldn't.

Here is Heather's Twitter picture.

Thank you in advance for all of your help.

Thank You Diana G.!

2011-10-07T12:48:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, we noticed that a fine young lady by the name of "Diana G" left a 4 star comment on our Trip Advisor page.

Here's a snippet of what Diana had to say about her recent visit:

I was here with a group of about 12 people and the service was excellent...maybe a little slow but nothing extreme. I had the Mango Saketini and it was fantastic :)! Also I had their Ichiban Soup ( for 2 bucks you can't beat that!) and their Rock n' Roll and Spider Roll. Both were really good, I prefer the Rock n' Roll over the Spider...the Spider was a bit bland. Nevertheless I enjoyed both items.

She sounds so lovely, doesn't she?

Diana obviously is surrounded by a lot of great sushi-loving friends and has great taste in restaurants and food. We love that she enjoyed the Rock N' Roll so much. It's one of our most popular rolls!

Our goal is to find Diana G. and thank her personally for this kind review. Does anybody know her? Can you have her email us at ichibansushiorlando@gmail.com? We'll hook you up if you can track her down for us.

Thanks so much, Diana. We really appreciate the positive feedback.

Next Sushi 101: Monday, October 3rd

2011-09-29T13:26:00.000-07:00

Chef Owen helping Sushi 101 students.

Looking for something fun and different to do? Come join us for our monthly Sushi 101 class, and learn to roll sushi like the pros at Ichiban. You will receive personalized attention from one of our own master sushi chefs who will teach you everything you need to know about rolling your very own sushi. This fun filled night is a great date for couples, an enjoyable business outing, or for anyone that wants to learn the skills of the ancient Japanese.

Price = $40 per person

Sushi 101 also includes:

- Your Choice of Beer, Wine or Saketini
- Ginger Salad, Soup, Gyoza & Eda Mame
- California Roll and Spicy Tuna Roll
- Green Tea Ice Cream or Chocolate Cake

Call us at (407) 423-2688 to book your spot.

We hope to see everyone there!

Straight Talk With Everybody

2011-09-24T07:02:00.001-07:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Straight Talk for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

The best way to expand wealth is spending a lot less money than you make every month. There's not much more to it - Hook, line and sinker. With mortgages/rent, insurance, car payments, taxes, and all of the other financial responsibilities we are plagued with, cutting corners anywhere you can is the key to long-term financial success.

For a lot of families, cell phone bills play a large part of the monthly monetary burden. Most of the large cell phone conglomerates charge an arm and a leg for minutes, texts, and data plans. Before you know it, you’re paying over $100 a month per line with these large companies.

With a new mobile solution called Straight Talk, you get Everything you need without the lengthy contracts and large monthly bills. For only $45, you can get unlimited everything on your plan. Compare that to your current $130 plan and you have yourself a first step to your new wealth building formula.

The best part of all of this is that Straight Talk offers refurbished phones for as low as $10 when you start service with them. They are all of the smartphones and PDAs that you would probably beg to have anyway. You can even get an Android on Straight Talk. Straight Talk is available at all Wal-Mart locations.

You should Call a friend and tell them to sign up with you.

I’ll leave you with a Straight Talk commercial, embedded below.

Heather's Sushi Date

2011-09-23T11:48:00.000-07:00

The other day, we stumbled upon this tweet from @heathernuma:

"I need a friend to have sushi with for lunch. :( #depression I hate Orlando."

This tweet got our attention for many reasons. The first reason being that she wants to have sushi. Anyone that is craving sushi in our area ALWAYS gets our attention.

Secondly, isn't it sad that she doesn't have anybody to eat sushi with? All she is looking for is a friend.

Finally, how can she hate Orlando? Doesn't that bother you as much as it does us? Someone needs to show her how amazing Orlando can be.

So, here is our challenge.....

If someone will take Heather out to lunch, we will give you $25 for free to eat together. That will be more than enough to cover your lunch costs.

Whomever is interested, please tweet us @orlandoichiban. We'll bring Heather into the conversation and convince her to have a go at it.

Hopefully this isn't creepy for us to do. Our end goal is to simply show Heather that there are plenty of friends to be made around our community, great sushi to be enjoyed, and most of all, a wonderful city to take advantage of.

We look forward to cheering Heather up in the near future.

The MenView: Visual Menus On Your Phone

2011-09-16T16:13:00.000-07:00

Upon our daily Twitter adventures, we often stumble on new innovations worthy of our attention. Sometimes they are pieces of jewelry, sometimes it's creative culinary creations (alliteration), and other times they're inventive web applications

Today's feature, called The MenView, is a unique iPhone application promoting its upcoming launch into the restaurant space.

Essentially, the goal of the MenView is to have a visual for every item on any menu at your favorite restaurants.

To serve as a little history, here is how the concept behind the MenView came about:

The MenView was started in Pasadena, CA by Marley Lisboa. The point is to present a visual for people to see a menu. The app is for both your hardcore foodies to your everyday customer to enjoy viewing and taking pictures of the items they desire on a menu. We are also encouraging restaurants to get ready, which includes Ichiban, to put pictures that best portray their items to potential customers.

Anytime you go out to eat and see an item you are unsure about, users check The MenView to see what it looks like from someone who may have previously “Had it." Better yet, they can try something new and be the first person to put a picture up for themselves and future guests. Users can share, comment, and keep track of all the items they’ve had, ranging from appetizers to beverages.

As stated for restaurants, now is the time to show exactly what they're made of. Restaurants now have the chance to take quality photos of the items they have and put their menu in the spotlight. For customers who have a hard time deciding what they would like to order, and for those that are just trying to see what looks good, the application will make the decision so much easier.

The MenView is your official app for the restaurant menu.

In addition, here is a direct quote from the Founder of The MenView, Marley Lisboa:

“Restaurant customers are always asking, ‘What is this? What does this look like? How big is it? What does it come with?’ Believe me, just ask any server,” says founder and CEO Marley Lisboa. “The MenView is just the app to answer that question and more.”

The MenView will be available for download on the Apple App Store in November.

The Surf Expo!!!!

2011-09-08T13:32:00.000-07:00

The surf's up this weekend, Orlando. Starting today and going through Saturday, the 10th, at the Orange County Convention Center on International Drive.

While some of you might already be there enjoying the festivities, we know that a lot of the out-of-towners are coming in tomorrow and Saturday to enjoy the event. If so, we would like to propose an offer to you.

For all out-of-towners coming into town for the Surf Expo, all you have to do is come in to our restaurant and show your Expo badge/pass to enjoy 10% off your meal with us. It's as simple as that. Just show the hostess and your waitress prior to receiving your bill.

If you'd like to learn more about the Surf Expo taking place this weekend, head on over to SurfExpo.com.

Surf's Up!

No Sushi 101 Next Week

2011-09-02T07:10:00.000-07:00

In light of Labor Day, there will not be a Sushi 101 taking place at our restaurant on Monday night, September 5th. Ever since we announced that we would be doing Sushi 101's every first Monday of each and every month, we've received such incredible feedback and excitement from our customers. You guys enjoy it so much, and we recognize that.

We hope everyone enjoys the holiday weekend and their unexpected break from learning how to roll sushi.

Don't worry. We'll be back with the best Sushi 101 ever on Monday, October 3rd.

Call us now to book early. This one could fill up quickly.

407.423.2688

Straight Talk For Less

2011-08-29T07:03:00.001-07:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Straight Talk for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

As a restaurant, we have a lot of overhead expenses. There are endless amounts of bills to pay every month. There is water, power, food materials, rent, and even cell phones for our owners and most important employees. That's why it goes without saying that we need to cut corners wherever possible.

Rather than spend over $100 per cell phone line, using a lesser known monthly service is a great way for us to save some money every month.

With a new mobile solution called Straight Talk, our staff members get everything you need without the lengthy contracts and large monthly bills. For an incredible price of $45 a month, they can get unlimited everything on your plan. Compare that to your current $130+ plan per line, multiply it by the number of employees, and we're paying an arm and a leg for cell service every month.

Also, Straight Talk offers refurbished phones for as low as $10 when you start service with them. They have a selection of most of the smart phones you would want with any other mobile service.

Straight Talk is available at most Wal-Mart locations. Feel free to call a friend and tell them to sign up along with you. Or, you can even call your mom and ask her to join with you. I’m sure she’ll love saving money. And as always, you’ll have to do what she says. After all, mom knows best.

To close, I’ve embedded a Straight Talk commercial of customers talking about the service.

Threadless's Sushi T-Shirt

2011-08-25T09:19:00.000-07:00

Who doesn't love t-shirts? More importantly, who doesn't love t-shirts about sushi?

Threadless.com has recently revealed an awesome sushi-related t-shirt for their humorous collection of apparel and creative designs.

While they should have had an Asian modeling the tee, the picture below at least gets the point across.

You can purchase the t-shirt directly from Threadless here.

Let us know if you find any other hilarious sushi t-shirts. They are so much fun!

Sushi Burritos?

2011-08-18T14:27:00.000-07:00

What happens when you mash together the monstrosity of a burrito with the delicacy and freshness of sushi? You get a sushi burrito - the latest craze in the food truck trend. Pioneered by Jogasaki Food Truck in Los Angeles.

Jogasaki has seen immediate success for their new product offering. They have grown so much so quickly, in fact, that they have landed on the Food Network's "The Great Food Truck Race." Voting has started and we suggest you vote for them here.

So, what is a sushi burrito? Allow the Jogasaki website to explain:

A Sushi Burrito basically puts sushi roll ingredients together, and wraps them in a flour tortilla or soy paper. The end result: a jumbo size sushi roll bigger than any sushi roll in a regular sushi restaurant. And on top of that, with a street price.

The next time you're in the Los Angeles area, we suggest giving the sushi burrito a try. Just follow them on Twitter, track where they are, and hunt them down. The experience alone will be well worth it.

Top 10 Sushi Bites

2011-08-11T13:54:00.000-07:00

We just stumbled on a list that was created by Listverse.com. This particular list was called "Top 10 Sushi Bites." Of course, as any sushi lover would do, I had to see what was comprised in this list and in what order they would be.

Some of these rolls will be very unfamiliar to you. The others, however, are household names in the sushi world. After you review all of them, leave your comment telling us which you've tried and what your top 10 sushi roll list would look like.

#10: Unagi (Eel)

Whether it's dancing or stationary, eel has become a staple member of most sushi patrons' plates.

#9: Tako (Octopus)

Octopus, or tako, just might be the most feared piece of sushi in Japanese cuisine. While its rubbery texture leaves displeasure to many, it is also adored by those with more of a tolerating palette.

#8: Basashi (Horse)

This is one of the pieces that you don't see too often. In fact, we have never even heard of it. The oddest thing about this one is that it's not even referring to sea horse - this is actual horse meat. How is it considered sushi then?

#7: Tobiko

Would you like to eat the ovaries of flying fish? Well, that's what tobiko is. And it's become a delicacy in many places around the world.

#6: Toro

Toro is the fattiest part of the Bluefin Tuna, which is the most caught wild fish in the world. It's probable that you've had toro before if you eat a lot of sushi.

#5: Salmon Skin Roll

The thought of eating salmon skin may not sound so pleasant, but it is adored by sushi eaters all over the world. Who would have thought?

#4: Amaebi (Sweet Shrimp)

Most of you have probably never even had sweet shrimp by itself, but amaebi, has a very interesting, yet delightful flavor to it. Shrimp lovers must try this at some point in their lives.

#3: Shime Saba

Shime Saba is the technical term for pickled mackerel. Believe it or not, this made #3 on this list for a reason. It is quite delicious!

#2: Yellowtail with Jalapenos

You already love yellowtail, but have you ever had it with jalapenos on top? The juxtaposition in flavors is quite refreshing, especially if you can tolerate a little extra heat on top of the wasabi you normally consume.

#1: Fugu Sashi

The #1 sushi bite on this list is fugu sashi, or blowfish. It's soft and is known as quite a delicacy in most Eastern countries. Have you ever had blowfish?

The Zacapa Society

2011-07-29T16:00:00.001-07:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Diageo for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Alongside our love for food, our ever-expanding admiration of fine wine and liquors has become a major part of our wellbeing. While we may not have the resources to consume some of the oldest wines and the finest spirits, but you better believe we drink plenty of sake and our special saketinis. :)

Other than sake, my alcohol of choice is probably rum. I'm sure all of you have heard of some of the big common names in the rum industry, but I have something far better and more interesting for you to try.

The brand of rum is Zacapa premium rum. They offer the smoothest rum that has been put into a very complex aging process. The process creates a very unique and bold flavored rum. To be exact, Zacapa is a premium dark rum.

If you'd like to learn more about the Zacapara creation and aging process, please visit www.zacaparum.com.

Even better, you can sign up for the Zacapa Society directly on the site. As a member, you will not only learn more about the phenomenal brand itself, but you will actually have a voice to become a direct influencer inside the society and its members. You may even win rewards along the way as well.

Check out Zacapa and leave your feedback on it in the comments below. Thanks in advance.

More Deals Coming.... On Facebook!

2011-07-14T19:16:00.000-07:00

We hope you're following us on Facebook. If you're not, you might miss out on daily deals and exciting opportunities to enjoy our cuisine.

While we have been active on both Facebook and Twitter before most businesses in the world, we have yet to take full advantage of the power of Facebook. That is why we plan to expand our efforts on FB, be even more engaging, and reward the individuals that support us the most.

We've already started running ads on Facebook to make sure we have all of our customers as fans. So far, it's worked a great deal. In a few weeks time, more than 1,000 of you have "liked" us. Thank you so much!

If you don't currently like us on Facebook, we'd appreciate it if you did so now.

As soon as you see that you can get free lunches, 50% off dinners, and anything else our crazy minds can think of, you'll be very happy you did.

We Won't Harm Your Computer!

2011-07-08T13:42:00.000-07:00

Starting last month, our web team noticed that our web server was compromised. It wasn't long before Google picked up on a malicious script that was installed via the hack, thus our site was stamped with a warning notice ever since.

Over the last few weeks, our web team has been fighting this malicious script feverishly. After having manually removed the script, it was evident that it kept regenerating itself. Needless to say, it has been an uphill battle.

Today, we brought in the experts to finalize this horrible issue we have been facing. After much debate, the solution was clear.

Please allow us to get really web technical for a second. Some of you may not be able to follow this at all.

Because the website sat on the root folder of the server, we analyzed the script and noticed that it ONLY existed on the root. This allowed us to realize that if we moved the entire site into its own folder off of the root and repointed the domain to the new destination on the server, we would be in business.

Joila! We did it and it worked.

A few hours ago, we submitted the harmless version of the site to Google through Webmaster Tools and we are now expecting the notice to be lifted in the coming days.

We want to acknowledge that this issue has probably concerned many of our customers, especially new ones when coming to our site. If you did go into our site through the error message, don't be alarmed. The script was not actually harmful. It was a marketing script that has nothing to do with harming people's computers.

We look forward to having a completely clean site again. Hopefully we will never have to experience something like this ever again.

Thanks for your patience and understanding.

Free Sushi Tycoon Game App for Independence Day!!!

2011-06-30T09:10:00.000-07:00

For celebrating Independence Day, from July 1st through the 5th Ozgnahc is offering their "Go Go Sushi" game, for FREE!!!! (usually $1.99)

It is a fast paced, highly addictive "tycoon" game in which you run your own restaurant and serve sushi to customers. There are 365 different combination and ways to make sushi in the game, one for every day of the year. (except every 4 years :-) )

By the end they say, you will be able to make sushi in real life!!!!

*DISCLAIMER* Even if you can make your own sushi, we still encourage you to drop by Orlando Ichiban for a bite!

*** Clicking the image will bring you to the app in the Apple Store... Have Fun!

The Whales Have Been Saved!!!

2011-06-23T10:21:00.000-07:00

"The Hump restaurant in Santa Monica and chef Kiyoshiro Yamamoto face charges over "the illegal sale of a marine mammal product" after the Oscar-winning documentary makers of The Cove filmed them serving sei whale sushi."
- ABC News

The director of "The Cove" launched a "commando" style mission over a few months to unveil that this restaurant was selling endangered whale meat. Now that it has been proven, the chef and owners are facing hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines, and closed their restaurant by themselves as a method of "self-punishment".

If you haven't seen "The Cove" yet, it is a really great film that will emotionally attach you to dolphins while informing you on "what is really going on..."

Sex, Drugs, and Wok and Roll...

2011-06-16T06:18:00.000-07:00

A neo-Amsterdam Sushi restaurant set an awesome backdrop for a music video. We know there is a real "kickin" music scene here in Orlando, which got us thinking...

Could Ichiban become an excellent backdrop for a music video?

If you are an artist in the area, looking to shoot a video... Please let us know. Sal at Endagon will handle any requests, so please email him at Sal.Greco@endagon.com with your band/artist info, including the song you would like to record. He will review it, offer it to the rest of the Ichiban staff, and hopefully set up a date to shoot your music video.

We are looking forward to hearing what comes our way!

Mobile Apps To Help You Order Sushi

2011-06-09T12:53:00.000-07:00

We understand that ordering sushi can sometimes be a nerve-racking event. Even those that frequent sushi restaurants are often thrown off by the differentiating terminologies and variations from place to place.

Sometimes you may not even know whether you ordered a hand roll or a bottle of sake. That's how confusing it can be, and we recognize that.

To make your life easier, we have compiled a list of all of the sushi-related mobile apps that will help you the next time you're put in an "ordering predicament" at a sushi restaurant. All of these apps will help you comprehend what you're ordering in some way, shape, or form.

iPhone
Free

Guide To Sushi - This app will guide on how to get the most out of the pleasure of sushi. From proper form through to all the different types and polite ways to eat sushi, this app is an essential tool for any lover of food and delicacies.

Sushipedia - Sushipedia opens a whole new dimension to the fascinating world of sushi dining. Whether you are the type who enjoys the occasional sushi experience or an avid sushi aficionado, Sushipedia can greatly enhance your enjoyment and knowledge of sushi culture. Drawing up a wealth of resources directly from Japan and the USA, Sushipedia now boasts the most comprehensive and accurate worldwide reference for sushi facts.

Paid

SushiGuru ($0.99) - With the new SushiGuru for 3.0 OS, you can take SushiGuru with you to sound like a pro when you order sushi. SushiGuru provides you with a searchable database of over 200 entries of Japanese and English names of sushi and sushi rolls—more than any other Sushi Application!

SushiMonger ($1.99) - Never again stare at the list of Japanese names on the menu, not knowing what to get! SushiMonger gives you a large list of sushi with pictures and English translations, so you see and understand what to order. SushiMonger already contains a wealth of tasting notes and information about sushi culture, but you can rate the sushi you eat and write your own tasting notes too.

SushiTime ($1.99) - With SushiTime, you don't have to be a sushi pro to eat like one! SushiTime will demystify many common terms found in sushi restaurant menus as well as fill in gaps for sushi connoisseurs.

Android
Free

Japanese Sushi Guide & Quiz - Learn more 100 Japanese restaurant and sushi terms. Next time when you are out for sushi impress your friends. Play sushi quiz at the restaurant with friends.

SuShi - Design for those sushi lovers and first-timers alike. This sushi app would give you all the necessary knowledge for making educated decisions. It is the perfect tour guide for a night of new and exotic sushi dining. You will enjoy it.

As you might have been able to guess, the iPhone apps are superior to those that are available on the Android market, but we think it won't be too long before one hits the market that blows our mind.

Feel free to do some research, try out the free ones, and choose your favorite so that the next time you dine with us, you won't look like a fool.

After you do pick one, please leave a comment below with your findings.

Fan Reviews: Krae on Citysearch

2011-06-02T08:47:00.000-07:00

Hey Krae,

We would like to take this blog post to thank you for your kind review on City Search this week.

Although your personal City Search page does not reveal much about you, we'd like to think that your review has told us enough. We feel like we know you. And we think we love you.

Your profile picture (shown above) suggests that you're not a human being, but rather some sort of leaf-like entity. According to our customer projections, we have only serviced humans within the last several years, so your anonymity remains strong and mysterious to us.

Regardless of what type of being you are, we'd like to thank you for your positive review of our restaurant.

To claim that we have the BEST sushi in ALL of Orlando is very flattering, and we love that both you and your boyfriend have been coming to see us for close to a decade.

Our sushi will stay fresh as long as you continue spreading the word. Our chefs will remain friendly as long as you reveal your true self. And finally, our Jen Roll will stay delicious as long as you keep visiting us as often as possible.

We appreciate you more than you know. Thank you very much.

To see Krae's review of our restaurant, click here.

Candy Sushi in a Library?

2011-05-26T09:04:00.000-07:00

To celebrate Asian Heritage Month, a Public Library in Canada hosted a special Teen Zone, where teens learned how to make origami and candy sushi. Doesn't that sound like fun?

“We have our program so the kids can have fun, but if possible we also like them to learn,” said Randolph White, one of the leaders of the Teen Zone.

For the candy sushi, they constructed a version of the nori wrap. Seaweed was replaced with fruit roll ups; instead of rice they used rice crispy squares; Swedish fish were used instead of real fish; sour candy strips in place rather than actual wasabi sauce; and nibs as avocados.

Sugar Overload!

There was a variety of origami designs they could make, including a giraffe, a frog and a bird, which the teens learned to make from books borrowed from the library.

This Teen Zone network in Canada does a learning activity for every major heritage month. It's good to see them teaching the young ones about Japanese cuisine and culture.

“We like to do activities about the culture so there aren’t stereotypes,” said White. In the past the teens have learned about Mexican heritage by playing with a piñata and a Mexican trivia game. Also, coming up the teens of Teen Zone will be learning about Jamaican Heritage.

Why don't we have something like this in Orlando?

Free Dessert With Dinner - Tonight Only

2011-05-19T14:55:00.000-07:00

We're currently running Facebook and Twitter campaigns that offer a free dessert if you come in for dinner. This offer is only good for tonight, so you better start asking your friends to stop by with you.

We're posting about this because our plans are to do more things like this every week.

You'll have to fan us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to reap the benefits of these offers.

We hope to see some of you tonight for dinner!

My Cambodia OneNote TripBook

2011-05-15T21:01:00.001-07:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Microsoft for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Next summer, I plan on visiting Cambodia with my wife and her best friend, who happens to be Cambodian. We have always talked about going throughout our college lives together, but now that we are grown adults and can afford to do so, we plan to make it a reality immediately.

Since I enjoy being a planner, I decided to go ahead and start laying out the details of our trip. I wanted to be able to pinpoint the most important cites and establish an itinerary that will be enjoyable and action-packed.

Microsoft's new Office application, OneNote, ended up being the perfect program to allow me to do what I want.

Here's a screenshot of my Cambodia OneNote TripBook.

Since so much research had to be conducted on the web, some of OneNote's functions really saved me time. The Screen Clipping action, for example, allowed me to grab a screenshot and insert it into my OneNote immediately. It was so easy and saved me the time I would have spent screen capturing it and inserting it into the program manually.

Since there are 3 of us going on the trip, the Co-Authoring feature was ideal for our planning. With a touch of a button, I could share the OneNote with the other two parties and even tag items that would link out to the web for even more nuggets of information.

For ultimate note-taking, OneNote allows you to scribble anywhere within the program. Since I really wanted the other two individuals to choose the hotel we were staying at first and foremost, I went ahead and circled my choice hotel before I shared it with them. I told them to do the same thing, but in a different color. Aside from actually talking about it over the phone, this could be the best way to come to a group decision while in remote locations.

Thanks to Microsoft's OneNote program, we are now ready for a trip to Cambodia that I won't need to pack for for another 11 months. It feels good to be so ahead of the game. Yet, I have a feeling we'll have to keep passing the TripBook back and forth as our research leads us to new ideas for our trip.

To see my complete TripBook in full action, please visit onenotetravel.com.

Next Sushi 101: Monday, May 2nd

2011-04-28T10:21:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't been paying attention to us so far in 2011, we have been offering our popular Sushi 101 class every Monday night. We decided to do this due to the class's popularity and our ever-increasing demand to participate in the fun, entertaining and delicious event.

If you've never been, you can find our sales pitch for the event below. If you have already been and already know what it's all about, there is no need to read on. All you need to know is that Monday is our next one and you should attend again.

Chef Owen helping Sushi 101 students.

Fan Reviews: Julianne E on Yelp

2011-04-14T13:26:00.000-07:00

Hey Julianne (aka Julie),

We would like to take this blog post to thank you for your kind review on Yelp this week.

Your personal Yelp page suggests that you love checking-in to numerous venues around Orlando. There are reviews of amazing restaurants and some not-so-great feedback from you for the hole in the wall places around town. Despite its polarizing diversity, we realize your power and influence on Yelp and appreciate that you added our restaurant to your recent list of check-ins.

For the kind words, we send you dozens of kisses. We gladly accept the 4/5 stars and your praise of our Mango Saketinis that you so wisely took advantage of during Yelp's Drinks Week. We're sorry that you're not much of a sushi-eater, but we appreciate your willful attempt to tolerate the kick of our famous Mexican rolls.

We sincerely hope that you enjoyed your recent dining experience with us. While our tempura vegetables may not be "dry" enough for you, we pray that our Saketini was good enough to keep you coming back for more.

Until then, keep leaving Yelp comments on local restaurants.

To see Julianne's review of our restaurant, click here.

An Improved Reservation System

2011-03-31T11:20:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, we mentioned our discontent with OpenTable and our desire to implement our own reservation system. We did so, but there seemed to be a crack in the system we built.

For reasons still unknown to us (known to our team of nerds, however), our owners/hostesses weren't getting the notifications when reservations were being made on the site. We don't know what changed or how the system broke, but it came as quite a surprise to us when customers would come in referencing a reservation that we had no forewarning of.

After a few too many of these debacles, we made sure the nerds looked deeper into the problem. It wasn't too long before they came back to us with a reasoning. Apparently, there was a problem with one of our email accounts and the way the message was forwarding to the important recipient parties. Needless to say, they fixed the issue immediately, and even went the extra mile to upgrade the reservation process for our customers.

So, not only does the system work flawlessly (and has been for the last two weeks), but you no longer have to worry about making the reservations with a unique email address. On top of that, one of the team members from the Marketing firm that we work with will email you to confirm your reservation very shortly after you create it.

We hope you enjoy the new reservation system on our website. If you EVER come across any pains or flat out bugs, please email us at: ichibansushiorlando@gmail.com immediately about it.

No hard feelings anymore if you don't like to call us. :)

Friendseat.com Interviews Us On Social Media

2011-03-24T09:43:00.000-07:00

After being recognized as a top restaurant actively utilizing Twitter by Friendseat.com, we were given a questionnaire to highlight our experience with marketing through tweets.

Below, you will find the entire discussion, which has yet to be published anywhere. Consider this a special sneak peek for all of our dedicated blog readers.

What was your first reaction when you heard of Twitter?

Well, you're asking somebody that was at SXSW when Twitter publicly launched in March of 2007, I knew it was going to be something big. We quickly started reaching out to businesses and helped potential clients, like Ichiban, harness social media before it was able to become popular.

Did you initially think that Twitter was something your restaurant could put to use?

Of course. We knew that being able to personalize the restaurant and create a local community around our personality would inevitably pay off.

When did your restaurant start using Twitter?

Mid-2008.

Can you share with us the first Tweet? Was it hard composing the first Tweet?

It was far too long ago to recall the first tweet. Since Twitter was still new at the time, I'm sure it was something lame like "We're on Twitter!"

How important is Twitter in your restaurant business?

Honestly, it was much more important and valuable to us before it became so mainstream. Early on, we received so much attention for being at the forefront locally, but as other entities joined, the attention of the community became harder to grasp. It's still very important, however. We make sure we reach out to someone and/or tweet something special everyday.

Has Twitter significantly contributed to the restaurant? How?

In 2008, we hosted almost all of the "Tweetups" in Orlando. This was excellent for us. We also became the first restaurant nationally to accept pickup orders via tweets. That was a lot of fun. We still offer it, but it's not as exciting to customers anymore.

Your restaurant is very active on Twitter, how much time do you devote daily to this task?

Strictly to Twitter, I would say anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour a day.

How is the interaction with other people on Twitter?

It's wonderful. One of our favorite things is being able to ask a patron what they are eating immediately after they check-in to our restaurant. They get a kick out of engaging with us while they eat our food.

What advice would you give to a restaurant that is just starting to use Twitter?

Don't overtweet! I see so much of it these days and it both sickens and saddens me. There is so much noise out there - don't add to it just to participate.

Instead, use search.twitter.com effectively and talk with potential customers about what they like. If you are a pizza place, find locals that just talked about eating pizza and ask them about it. Then, try to lure them in by offering them a special at your restaurant.

Was there any memorable Twitter-related incident that will go down with the history of the restaurant?

Both our memorable "Tweetups" and accepting orders via Twitter. Everyone remembers those.

Have you ever experienced anything negative from Twitter? How did you handle it?

Actually, it's hard to believe, but we haven't. We're fortunate enough to receive @ replies from satisfied customers.

We have, however, combatted against negative reviews on local review sites. We tend to reach out to the user on the said network and offer them something for free to redeem ourselves the next time.

What is your opinion on the validity of Twitter as an effective tool in marketing the restaurant?

It's extremely effective if you use it properly.

How do you fit tweeting into a restaurant's already busy schedule?

I am a member of a hired agency that the owners of Ichiban have so wisely outsourced these tactics to. If you can afford to not do it yourself, don't. You need to be running your restaurant. Leave tweeting to the more experienced.

Do you see Twitter as a long-term component in your restaurant’s activities?

It already is. I truly believe we'll also be using it in some way.

What do you find are the most effective tweets?

Two types:

1) Our lunch code words are a lot of fun and effective. This is where we offer up a secret word that you can recite to your waitress to receive a discount that same day.

2) We also like to ask general questions to the public. Something like "What is your favorite sushi roll?" usually gets a lot of responses and conversations started.

Do you see any changes or modifications in the future as to the Tweet content of your restaurant?

We'll continue to play it by ear and move with the changes of the network. The most important thing is to listen on Twitter, so at the very least, we'll always be fielding questions and/or comments from customers as they come in.

What strategies should restaurants utilize when Tweeting?

Listen first. Share second. Never miss out on a conversation that relates to your culture / type of food.

How active do you get in order to increase your number of followers on Twitter? Does it even matter?

Numbers don't matter much. In fact, I think we've had over 1,500 for over a year now. All we do to increase the number of followers is follow anyone that mentions us or that we seek out as part of our searching of Twitter.

Have you studied the profile or demographic of your Twitter followers?

No. That's a waste of time. We just make sure they are in our area. Then again, we have the luxury of being in a very tourist-driven city.

Has there been an unexpected result from using twitter?

Not unexpected. But we have received a great deal of success that gradually increases over time.

Can you share with us the most effective or interesting Tweet of your restaurant?

Our favorite is when we invited our customers to create their own sushi roll. We told them that the best suggestion would make it onto our menus. We received all kinds of crazy concoctions - some of which were delicious. Everyone had a lot of fun coming up with ideas for that.

If your restaurant can get a celebrity to Tweet about it, whom would you choose?

This is such a random question. I don't think it matters. The only thing that matters is that it was someone that actually enjoyed our food. We can always pay for random celebrity tweets through sponsoredtweets.com.

Do you think Twitter is instrumental to the success of the restaurant business in general?

Yes and no. To some, it increases customer loyalty. For others, it's a complete waste of time.

Do you use other social networking sites other than Twitter to promote your restaurant?

Of course. We use almost every social network out there in some way shape or form. Twitter and Facebook, however, are the most aggressive of them.

If your restaurant can contribute to improving Twitter to provide certain features, what would those be?

Nothing I suggest here would be innovative enough to overshadow the thoughts of Twitter's brilliant founders. I wouldn't want to undermine the things that they are working on over there. They are always thinking of everything. Trust me. Twitter is perfect as it is.

What is your name and give us a brief bio so we can write our introduction.

My name is Logan Lenz. My bio is below:

I am a serial entrepreneur that innovates within the music and web industries. My first company is called Endagon Enterprises, which is a full-service web agency that also builds its own web properties. I also own and operate a humor t-shirt website called Iced Tees and have helped to start a handful of other businesses. I hope to start investing in startup companies very soon.

Free Form: let us know something that you would like included in the interview

N/A

What is your Email Address?

logan@endagon.com

What is the name of your restaurant

Orlando Ichiban

Yelp Drinks Week

2011-03-10T10:52:00.000-08:00

We were asked to take part of a neat sounding event that is being put on by our friends at Yelp.

The event is called "Yelp Drinks Week" and features local Orlando restaurants discounting a few of their popular adult beverages for event attendees.

Our famous Mango Saketina will be featured at the event.

The event will be taking place April 4th-10th.

I'm not sure if we're allowed to do so, but we figured we would tease everyone with a list of the drinks that we will be featuring at our restaurant during the event.

1. Mango saketina
2. Hot sake
3. House wine

We are looking forward to the event. We'll be sure to keep everyone afloat on event updates as we receive them from Yelp. Stay tuned to this blog and follow our Twitter account to be sure to stay informed.

Until then...

Fan Reviews: Erin S. on Yelp

2011-03-03T11:04:00.000-08:00

Hey Erin S.

We would like to take this blog post to thank you for your kind review on Yelp this week.

Your personal Yelp page flaunts an avid restauranteur that likes to post reviews as often as you like to eat dinners. Your power and influence on Yelp is recognized and definitely not understated whatsoever.

For that, we bow down to thee. We gladly accept the 4/5 stars and your praise of our sushi. We might not enjoy you and your beau's discontent for our Yakisoba dish, but your subtle critiques are definitely being taken into consideration.

We sincerely hope that you enjoyed your recent Valentine's Day dinner with us. While our entree may not have been good enough for you, we pray that our sushi was magnificent enough to lure you back in sometime soon.

Until then, keep leaving Yelp comments on local restaurants.

To see Erin's review of our restaurant, click here.

We Are Hiring Servers

2011-02-24T09:22:00.000-08:00

We are currently looking to hire more servers for our restaurant. Please come in to apply. We are not accepting phone call applications at this time.

Come join our team!

In order to be considered for a position, you MUST have at least 2 years of experience serving Japanese food.

You can stop by at anytime. For our hours, please visit our website: http://www.orlandoichiban.com

Please do not send a resume either. It will not get opened.

We can't wait to find our new team members!

Motherhood in Japanese Cultures

2011-02-18T07:02:00.001-08:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of CryoCell International. All opinions are 100% mine.

Children are very important to the cultures of Asia. Raising a child is known as the most important profession and being healthy and safe are the most important elements to maintain as a parent.

For a limited time, Cryo-Cell International, which has a website that can be found at www.Cryo-Cell.com, is offering a free bellybag for expecting mothers and fathers.

What exactly is a bellybag? Please allow us to explain the importance this brings to you and your family.

One of the most important things a mother and father can do for their child is preserve umbilical cord blood to fight any potential sicknesses later in life. Cryo-Cell International happens to be the most-established family blood cord bank in the world in which to carry out this action. And yes, they do exist in Japan.

In order to initiate the process, please visit www.Cryo-Cell.net to request an information packet. It only takes a minute to fill out the short form.

After you complete it, you will be sent your free belly bag and will be given a call to discuss the entire process.

As mentioned above, Japanese children are the most important things in Asian cultures. Being given the opportunity to save lives and protect our offspring from any potential diseases in the future is a very special thing to take advantage of. Consider it a form of insurance. It just might be the best investment you can make to ensure your family's future success.

Japanese Culture and Food

2011-02-17T10:30:00.000-08:00

Japanese food has become popular for its emphasis on food quality and flavors, and is now one of the world’s favorite types of cuisine. You can find it in Sydney bars, Toronto clubs and even in Argentinean restaurants. Japanese culture and food have a lot in common, including a long, complex ancestry.

The development of Japanese food culture

Japan’s early history is that of an insular culture, exposed progressively to first regional and then global cultures. The unique thing about Japanese culture, however, is that these influences were absorbed and turned into distinctly Japanese versions.

The original Japanese food grain was actually buckwheat, not rice. Rice was imported from China by waves of migrants 2400 years ago. Soy, the other typical Japanese staple, was introduced about a century later. Prior to that there was no organized agriculture in Japan, and the diet and culture were essentially that of nomadic hunter/gatherers.

In the original Japanese culture, meat was a rarity, a situation caused at least partly by various taboos on eating types of meat (horse, monkey, cattle, dogs and chickens) under the Shinto religion. Livestock weren’t raised for food, but for labour. Buddhism reinforced the taboos, and the fact that there was no systematic breeding of food animals added scarcity to the effect. Most meat was derived from relatively rare sources, like wild boar, deer and birds by hunters. Animal products re-entered the national diet in the 15th century, in the form of meat and eggs.

The food culture

Japanese food culture is derived from a mix of historical necessity, regional diets and a unique philosophy of food. The nearest thing to Japanese food culture is ancient Chinese food philosophy, which ascribes aesthetic, spiritual and health values to types of food.

The original protein source in ancient Japan was fish, and this food source evolved into a highly regarded and artistically stylized delicacy. The Japanese proverb, "Eat it raw first of all, then grill it, and boil it as the last resort," is found in haiku poetry, and refers to the origins of the current Japanese food culture, in which the raw fish is regarded as the highest form of culinary achievement, and the cooked forms the lesser.

That concept has remained a feature of Japanese food to this day. Natural flavors, combined with additional prepared sauces and flavors like garlic and wasabi are the typical “orchestrations” of Japanese food.

Japanese food culture kept evolving on these principles. Modern Teriyaki sauce, wasabi dishes, Kobe beef, and other exclusively Japanese dishes are still essentially based on a culture of flavors, rather than the European emphasis on types of preparation.

The Japanese dining style also relates very much to flavor combinations. The base dish of rice, combined with other elements, allows diners a lot of choice, and the ability to eat according to preference. This style is good food economics, as well as an elegant way of eating. Compare this to the standard European “whatever’s on the plate” approach, and you can see the natural advantages for both palate and dietary choices.

Japanese food is famous for its elegance and revered for its flavors by haute cuisine experts around the world. When you get the chance, try as many flavors and combinations as you can, and you’ll soon discover why.

Owen Rolling Some Sushi (Video)

2011-02-10T13:18:00.000-08:00

Owen is a sushi master. Come see him rollin’ in our restaurant.

Orlando Driver's Insurance

2011-02-07T06:23:00.000-08:00

We're going to go a little off topic today to talk about auto insurance.

Yes, we know that Japanese culture and cuisine have next to nothing to do with talking about finding the cheapest rates on car insurance in Central Florida. In our defense, however, we like to help out our local community and will do whatever we can to heighten the quality of the lives around us.

That said, we have used the website/service that we are going to talk about in this post.

If you are looking for cheap car insurance Orlando, look no further and click the link.

To my knowledge, car insurance is mandatory in the entire state of Florida. Additionally, in my discussions with some of our customers, a lot of people are unhappy with the amount they pay for their insurance.

I know we might sound like a Geico commercial right now, but as I aforementioned, we are simply trying to help out the community here.

We can tell you that when our entire staff went through the motions on this website, we had a handful of employees actually change their insurance provider. It didn’t take long for them to realize that they were paying too much for a less than desirable plan.

So, check out the link and see if you are getting the best rates on your auto insurance. If you aren't, save some money so that you can come in to eat with us more often.

Joe Jonas and Ashley Greene Eat at Ichiban

2011-02-03T09:39:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, Joe Jonas and Ashley Greene stopped by Ichiban.

Unfortunately, since "Ichiban" is such a popular name for Japanese restaurants around the world, it wasn't our restaurant.

They visited the Ichiban in New Orleans and seemingly were gracious enough to entertain the envy of the staff and crew.

Reporting on all of these celebrities going on sushi dates is just a way for us to hint that we often see celebrities in our restaurant. After all, we are in Orlando.

Be on the lookout next time you come in to eat. There might be a celebrity couple quietly eating in the back.

Being Prepared For Everything

2011-01-27T09:42:00.000-08:00

Have you ever thought about what COULD happen if the high-tech ordering system at your restaurant malfunctions while you, the only person that understands how it operates, is off duty?

This would be disastrous. Not only would your employees be in a frenzy, but you wouldn't be able to operate your business, subsequently not taking in any revenue during the downtime.

Knowing that these things can happen with technology, how can you prepare for such a potentially harmful event?

We employ Proxy Networks's remote access through a remote computer for troubleshooting purposes.

The fact that we can utilize this tool at any given time makes our staff assured that any technical problem we experience can be remedied quick enough to combat any potential damage or unprofessionalism on our part.

This is just an example of us wanting to go above and beyond in supplying remarkable customer service and satisfaction.

Another good example of going above and beyond would be a computer technician using Proxy Networks to remotely control and troubleshoot their clients’ computers. After all, being able to fix the problem yourself at any time will make for a quick and painless remedy to a simple computer problem. While most technicians would first make the client call and set up an appointment a week later, the rep offering Remote Access is getting more done, making more people happier, and subsequently making more money along the way.

And of course it doesn’t hurt that he is also offering 256-bit encryption for a secure connection through Proxy Networks. It’s the highest protection in its class.

It's always good to be both prepared and ready to serve your customers the best way possible.

Valentine's Day and Flowers

2011-01-24T14:48:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again. Valentine's Day is right around the corner. As a restaurant, it's one of our favorite holidays of the year. We get to sit back and enjoy all of the couples that come in to enjoy our food and celebrate their love for another year.

All of the gooey and lovey-dovey stuff aside, we really do love Valentine's Day a lot. We don't just love it as a restaurant, but as individual team members as well. For those of us that don't have to work, we thoroughly enjoy spending the night with our soul mate (if we have one).

For all of the men out there, a large part of the success of a Valentine's Day is how well-prepared you are. Not only are you expected to have the dinner plans, but you must be sure to get some chocolates and valentine's day flowers.

For these important things, we recommend our friends at 1-800 Flowers. They offer holiday packages, flower arrangements, and tons of gift bundle options. The fact that they deliver anywhere makes them a no-brainer choice.

Please leave a comment about what you have planned for Valentine's Day this year. Also, if you plan to dine with us, be sure you call and make a reservation at least a week prior to the holiday. We do fill up fast.

TopStiX Makes Pretty Chopsticks

2011-01-20T09:55:00.000-08:00

By now, everyone knows that we love to do write-ups on cool things we discover, companies we work with, and local events happening in the Central Florida community.

Well, last week we stumbled on an interesting concept called TopStiX. If I recall correctly, they tweeted to us. While the tweet was a somewhat spammy way to solicit us, it did get our attention and lead to this blog post (Aggressive Salesmanship = 1, Passiveness = 0).

TopStiX is an extremely simple concept, but for whatever reason, it's a new one to us.

TopStiX specializes in creating custom chopsticks for whomever desires a pair of their one. Customizations can come in the form of beads, jewels, colors, ribbons... you name it. That's the beauty of TopStiX - they can create whatever you want.

Here are some pictures that we grabbed from their Facebook page:

The designer(s) are located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida but can ship to anywhere in the country.

We suggest you check them out at all of the following online locations:

Facebook Page

Twitter

Official Blog

As of right now, it looks like their official website merely directs you back to their Facebook page. So, if you are interested in ordering some, please know that you will have to contact them directly on Facebook.

Avocados From Mexico Sweepstakes

2011-01-15T17:00:00.001-08:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Avocados from Mexico. All opinions are 100% mine.

We know we're sushi chefs. We realize we're a Japanese restaurant. We just wanted to get that out of the way so you know we aren't having an identity crisis.

That said, we love all types of cuisines. From Italian to Indian, American to French - great food and flavors transcends ethnicities and location. That is why we wanted to talk about one of our favorite types of food and talk about a promotion that is being run.

You might be surprised to find out that we absolutely adore Mexican food. We love burritos, enchiladas, chips and salsa... you name it. We especially love avocados and guacamole. Mmmmmm!!

When we heard that Avocados from Mexico were running an online contest, we knew we had to help out.

Please check out the Avocados from Mexico Facebook page.

Once there, you need to take the Guac Star Style quiz. The quiz and Sweepstakes runs from 12/28 and 1/28 and it highlights the type of guacamole and party food that you like to create (as a chef). There are over 80 prizes being offered; the first place being 2 airline tickets.

Along the way, be sure to also follow Avocados From Mexico on Twitter (@guacgrl).

Best of Orlando From AmericasBestOnline.com

2011-01-13T09:54:00.000-08:00

We received a notification about the following webpage recently:

Best of Orlando, FL

We were notified of this because we received an honorable mention.

If you view the listing, you will see that all of the items listed in the top 10 are attractions. As we all know, Orlando is an attraction and tourist hotspot, so this isn't anything noteworthy.

What we are most flattered about is that this list is prefaced and described by saying that our restaurant, Florida Mall, and The Coffee House of Thornton Park "barely" missed the list.

Then, at second glance, we noticed that there is a top 10 restaurant list on the AmericasBestOnline.com site. After reviewing that countdown, our name was nowhere to be found.

So, how does this make sense? How are these listings being made?

If you know someone from this website, we'd love to talk with them. We truly believe that we should be on both of these top 10 lists.

Who's with us????

FriendsEat.com - Top 100 Restaurants on Twitter

2011-01-07T12:31:00.000-08:00

Last week, we were informed that we were mentioned as a part of the Top 100 Restaurants on Twitter. The countdown was put together by FriendsEat.com after what seems to be extensive research throughout the entire Twittersphere.

I'm not sure what they were basing their rankings on, but it's obvious that they didn't take into account Twitter adoption and being a pioneer in the local Twitter space. In that category, I'd like to think that we take the cake (or fried ice cream). We've been tweeting since early 2008 and we have been as innovative with the platform as a business has ever been.

However, we understand that there are a lot of restaurants around now that have the resources to really take advantage of the communication tactics that Twitter lends itself to. Twitter has become mainstream, and if you're not on it, you're missing out on engaging with new customers.

All that said, I don't think we can compete with a lot of these other contenders. Therefore, we are very glad to accept the #59 position on the FriendsEat.com listing.

We have always been proud of our level of engagement and use of online tools to improve customer service and the overall customer experience. We will try to continue to always be on the cusp of what's upcoming and new in order to keep up with some of the big guys that have the resources that we are missing.

Click here to review the Top 100 list.

And thanks to FriendsEat for finding us and including us in the post.

Sushi 101 on January 24th

2010-12-31T12:39:00.000-08:00

At 7:00pm on Monday, January 24th, we will be hosting our next big Sushi 101 event.

As always, the event will be very hands-on. Those that attend will get to roll two of their own rolls. The meal also includes the following goodies:

Beer or Wine
soup and salad
Eda Mame and Gyoza
Two rolls
dessert.

You get all of this for just $40.00.

A group learns how to roll sushi from our chef.

If you've never attended, we strongly suggest you give Sushi 101 a try this time. Since it has been several months since we've hosted one, we're planning on making this one extra special and even more fun than usual.

If you'd like to reserve a spot, you can email us at sushi101@orlandoichiban.com or give us a call directly at 407.423.2688.

Happy Holidays!

2010-12-23T12:31:00.000-08:00

All we wanted to do in this post is wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a happy holiday.

To show how much you mean to us, we have pasted a cheesy clip art image below.

And, if you do not celebrate Christmas, you should skip the Chinese food that you order and order sushi from us instead.

Sushi Christmas Tree Ornaments (PICS)

2010-12-16T11:59:00.000-08:00

In case you were wondering how you and your family can celebrate a more Japanese and sushi-filled Christmas this holiday season, we found you some awesome sushi Christmas ornaments.

Prior to discovering these, it's safe to say that I thought we have seen it all. We've covered sushi flash drives, video games, and even delicious cakes. This one ranks up there as another item that we can call "out of the ordinary." Still, there may be a market for these little guys.

First, we have the basic sushi roll.

Next, we have a traditional hand roll.

It wouldn't be a complete ornament collection without some uramaki (which is what we often refer to as "inside-out rolls).

These neat little ornaments are made out of glass and are the products of a very creative German company. You can purchase any of these from Trendy Tree online.

If you're just looking for the direct link to any of the ones pictured above, a simple click of the image will take you to the correct product page.

Happy Holidays to all you sushi lovers out there!

We'll leave you with another variation of the basic sushi roll.

Doing Away With Open Table

2010-12-09T09:42:00.000-08:00

Hey customers!

In our ongoing effort to improve EVERYTHING about our internal operations and those aspects that transcend out to you guys, we are considering building our own reservation system on our website.

Right now, we leave that responsibility to Open Table. While we love the service that they have been providing, it doesn't make sense to outsource this part of our business when we have such a fine young technical team that can build something similar.

Just a click reserves you a table.

So, once again, we are looking for some feedback.

What do you guys think about Open Table?

Have you ever made a reservation on our website? If so, how was the process?

Are there any features that you'd like to see in an original reservation form on our site?

We thank you in advance for your continued support and assistance to improve our culinary operations. Without you, we wouldn't be nearly as "cool." Haha.

Slideshow vs. Video

2010-12-02T12:12:00.000-08:00

So, we just purchased a television screen that we're wanting to put outside of our restaurant for all of the passersby to see what happens inside our doors. We're looking to run an onslaught of visuals of our chefs, our food, and our atmosphere inside the restaurant.

In an attempt to figure out what type of footage would be best to display on these screens, we took the question to our Twitter followers.

Yesterday, we asked: "We're thinking about putting a screen outside of our restaurant that displays our food. Do you think a slideshow or a video would be best?"

We immediately received replies from some of our most loyal customers. Here's what some of them said:

Horse2169: @orlandoichiban slideshow would be better

thisischico: @orlandoichiban video would be more appealing. Food being prepared, staff waving, people drinking/eating.

Due to the mixed responses, we still need your input. Which should we do to create the most visually appealing sequence for street walkers?

The screen may not be THIS big, but you get the point.

To respond to us, simply leave a comment on this post or tweet us @orlandoichiban.

Thanks, everyone!

Sushi 101 Holiday Parties

2010-11-18T11:35:00.000-08:00

The holidays are fast approaching. In anticipation of a lot of holiday office parties and even the occasional house party, we are offering our Sushi 101 classes at a holiday discount.

What does the Holiday Sushi 101 package include?

Your Choice of Beer, Wine or Saketini
Ginger Salad, Soup, Gyoza & Eda Mame
California Roll and Spicy Tuna Roll
Green Tea Ice Cream or Chocolate Cake

On top of all of the goodies you get to consume, the entire meal is performed by our best sushi chefs right in front of your eyes. Throughout the meal, you not only get to watch and listen closely to how everything is made, but you actually also get to go through the motions with the chef.

In other words, you get to create your own meal. All the while, you learn how to make sushi.

The result is a fun experience for everybody involved. It's perfect for large parties and can increase teamwork and relationships within a group dynamic. That's why we hope to provide Sushi 101 to some businesses this holiday season.

Simply call us and ask us about our special holiday rates - 407.423.2688.

If you hire us, we might even bring this cool sushi Christmas tree along (LOL).

Sushi Cats!

2010-11-12T09:46:00.000-08:00

As you might recall from an earlier post, we love the Cheezburger network and all of their hilarious blogs on Epic Failures and LOL Cats. Their network of blogs have started viral sensations that have taken the entire planet by storm.

We wanted to continue to express our love for their work by locating all of the funniest "Sushi Cat" pictures we could find on ICanHasCheezburger.com and posting them here for your entertainment.

We must warn you. These pictures are both hilarious and adorable. Scroll down at your own risk.

Find more at ICanHasCheezburger.com.

How To Roll Truly Raw Sushi (Video)

2010-11-04T10:13:00.000-07:00

TheRawChef, who can be found at TheRawChef.com cooks raw food recipes. In his latest video, he shows you "How to roll truly raw sushi" with parsnip rice, preserved lemons, avocado, shiitake mushrooms and julienne vegetables.

Sounds yummy, huh! Watch the video and you'll be dying to come in for some sushi later tonight for dinner.

FindMeSpecials.com

2010-10-28T13:22:00.000-07:00

We wanted to show some love to FindMeSpecials.com for listing our specials on their website. We figured that there is no better way to show them love than with a blog post like this one.

The company has been fielding questions from Orlando residents online telling them about our specials. At that time, we didn't know who they were. We did know, however, that they were a great company with excellent customer service and knowledge of specials and discounts from vendors around the country. Just their customer service alone had me at the first tweet. :)

FindMeSpecials Logo

Their website can be found at FindMeSpecials.com and it serves every large city in the United States. Therefore, even our out-of-town readers can enjoy the perks of the site.

The company can also be followed on Twitter, which is where we first heard about them. Their handle is @SpecialsORL. In today's world of promotional discounts, you might want to stay close to their tweets before you go out and do anything in your town.

Finally, our FindMeSpecials page can be found here.

Thanks so much, guys! We're looking forward to running some more specials with you soon.

Throwing a Holiday Office Party?

2010-10-21T10:21:00.000-07:00

Note: If you receive our email newsletter, you may have already read this content since we featured it in the newsletter last week. Sorry about the redundancy, but we did feel like this information is important enough to unveil publicly. Please spread the word.

Not a lot of people know about our exquisite catering services. We have done all sorts of large parties and special occasions for years. From naked sushi to Sushi 101 and everything in between, we bring our best food, our best staff members, and all of the other ingredients that make for one fun get-together.

This holiday season, we know that a lot of local businesses will be throwing their annual office parties. As a VIP member, you have the opportunity to book us early so that you can ensure that we will provide all the fun and delicious elements for your event. Call us today to find out more details - 407.423.2688

Proxy Networks and Customer Expectations

2010-10-15T14:56:00.000-07:00

Some may attribute it to the brilliant practices of Zappos and its Founder, Tony Hsieh, but heightened customer service is becoming more and more expected by customers and ever more important for businesses to carry out. It’s not enough anymore to simply go through the motions. Now you need to do whatever you can to go above and beyond to make the customer feel special, comfortable, and protected.

A lot of customer service is dealt with over the Internet today. Social media has made the constant interaction with customers very open. Trust is key. Customers must trust you in order for you to retain their business.

IT companies that service their customers by setting up a proxy into their customers’ machines, for example, is a very delicate situation. The customer must trust the service provider enough to allow them to troubleshoot their issues by taking over their personal goods virtually. In order to do this correctly, you need to employ the best people and the best tools that help make the process as smooth as possible. Proxy Networks, for example offers remote desktop software that, in our humble opinion, is uncontested in the marketplace. It’s worth checking out if you operate in this field.

As a restaurant, we’ll continue to offer the best customer service that we can. It’s becoming more important for your company to do the same every single day.

Discounts For Those That Go To Orlando Events

2010-10-14T09:55:00.000-07:00

To celebrate the opening of the new Amway Center and the Orlando Magic, we are offering discounts throughout the remainder of the year for anyone that comes in with some sort of ticket stub.

The new Amway Center

While we are running this promotion primarily because of our excitement over the new arena, we wanted to open the discount to any event goer in Orlando. We know that not everyone likes basketball and will be attending the games. Therefore, there will be some that would not be able to take advantage of our Orlando Magic game discounts before and after the game.

It's because of this that we are offering this discount promotion to anyone that comes in with ANY type of ticket stub from a local event on the same day. Whether it's a concert at the Social or House of Blues or the Blue Man Group at Universal, just show us the ticket and we will gladly discount your meal.

Just show us your tickets.

We hope that this will encourage all of you lively party-ers to stop in and have some sushi with us so that they can feel satisfied at the event later in the night. If the event is early, we encourage you to drop by for dinner after your event before you head home. It works either way.

Let's go Orlando Magic!

Make a Reservation With Us Online

2010-09-23T08:39:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, we thought we'd test drive a cool functionality that OpenTable offers restaurants. If you visit our official website (http://orlandoichiban.com), you will see that we are now offering the opportunity to make a reservation with us by simply clicking a few links.

First, all you have to do is find the option located at the top right of our website. We wanted to make it stand out for the time being, so you will see a cheesy "New" icon to the left of the link.

When you click on the link, you will then be taken to a simple OpenTable reservation page. All you have to do is pick the date, time, and the number of people that will be dining with us and submit the information by clicking on the "Find a Table" button.

As soon as you submit the information, you will be given a confirmation and we will be informed of your reservation.

We feel that this is a very simple way for us to extend our level of customer service to our lovable online community.

We believe that if we make it easier to secure a table to dine with us in advance, it might just make you all come in more often.

Prove us right! :)

Facebook Advertising: Our Results Thus Far

2010-09-17T09:06:00.000-07:00

So it has been a few weeks since we decided to test our luck with a little paid advertising on Facebook. We figured we would spend conservatively, track all activity, and just see what happens.

Going into the process, we understood that as a restaurant, it's extremely tough to track every single call-to-action. This means that there is no way for us to tell if an ad sparked an interest in the person that clicked on the ad if they don't decide to call to make a reservation or fill out our contact form. Most people will just see the ad, view our website, and set a mental note to come dine with us at some point in the near future.

Since we don't burden our diners with surveys and questions that ask them how they heard about us, it's evident that tracking conversions is a little broken in this process. However, with site analytics and the copy within the ad, we can get our message across and vaguely understand how successful our efforts are.

So, two weeks into it, here's where we stand:

Spend: $47.00
Site Visitors: 110
Tracked Actions: 5
Estimated Diners: 12

Overall, it seems that these numbers show us that our efforts have been a success thus far.

This was our strategy with each ad:

- We ran 3 ads total.
- One was targeted to people in Orlando on their birthday telling them to celebrate with us.
- One was targeted to people in Orlando that listed "sushi" as an interest on their profile.
- One was targeted to everybody in Orlando in general.

After analyzing it, surprisingly, over 50% of our conversions were people celebrating their birthday. I guess that means that our restaurant makes for a fun birthday atmosphere (Sake Bombs, anyone?).

In conclusion, we feel that we will continue to advertise on Facebook as long as we continue to see similar results as these. At the very least, targeting on birthdays should always be employed as it has yielded us the most obvious results.

Anime Bento

2010-09-09T10:21:00.000-07:00

We love finding amazing innovations in Japanese cuisine. Thanks to our friend @syph on Twitter, we stumbled on a great collection of creative bento boxes that were designed around anime characters. Not only do the creations look beautiful, but they also look delicious.

Here are some of our favorites that we found:

There are plenty more that you can view over at the original post found here.

Again, thanks to @syph for the amazing discovery.

Labor Day Weekend Special

2010-09-01T09:40:00.000-07:00

To celebrate Labor Day this weekend, we are proud to announce a special opportunity to get 15% off your dinner meals if you decide to eat with us on Friday and/or Saturday night.

We will be facilitating this special by using a secret code word. This code word will enable us to track who is coming in for the holiday special and who is just randomly dining with us and not even paying attention to all of our special Internet promotions (they're missing out).

Without further adieu, the secret code word(s) is: LABOR DAY.

Tough one, isn't it? Hopefully, you'll be able to remember it.

All you have to do is come in on either Friday, September 3rd for dinner from 7pm to close, or on Saturday, September 4th from 7pm to close, say the word, and we will take 15% off your entire check.

We're honored to be able to give all of you hard workers an inexpensive and relaxing night of our delicious Japanese food. It really is the least we can do.

Tell your friends and we hope to see all of you for dinner to celebrate the long holiday weekend.

Ordering Sushi From an iPad = Cool!

2010-08-26T13:34:00.000-07:00

You better believe that if we had a larger and wider demographic to try to target that we would have already built some innovative technologies to help our customers enjoy and interact with our restaurant even more.

Recently on this blog, we've covered sushi iPhone apps, online games, and other cool innovative advances in the Japanese cuisine market.

Today, we wanted to highlight the latest and greatest innovation we've seen in the market. Now, you are able to order sushi from an interactive menu on your iPad.

We can argue that ordering via Twitter is still awesome and effortless for our customers, but having an iPad application that you can look at and touch everyday probably trumps the Twitter idea anyday.

Take a look at this video of the application in use and let us know if you think more restaurants should start adopting this type of application and whether or not you think this could improve upon sales and customer satisfaction.

If only we were a large corporation with multiple locations. We would definitely be working on launching something similar to this as we publish this blog post.

Cooking Sushi Rice in a Rice Cooker

2010-08-19T09:30:00.000-07:00

After scouring the Internet, we found a random post / complaint from someone that had attempted to cook sushi rice at home in a rice cooker. This is what was posted:

I just bought a Cuisinart 8-cup rice cooker and tried to cook sushi rice in it for the first time. It was a disaster! Waaay to sticky & mushy. I cooked Japanese sweet rice and used the ratio recommended on the package (not for rice cookers) which was 1 1/c cups of rice to 3 cups of water. My instruction booklet did not give a ratio for this type of rice but it has another one for “sushi rice” which is 3 cups of rice, using the rice cooker measuring cup, and 2 1/4 cups of water plus 2 tablespoons of sake. Perhaps I should have used that? When I added 3 cups of water to the rice in the cooker, it came to the “2″ line. What did I do wrong??? I have made nearly perfect sushi rice on the stove before but wanted the cooker for convenience. Help!!

We wanted to post about this because we have talked about cooking your own sushi at home before. It's fun and exciting and if you're going to put forth the effort to try it, we want you to do it properly so that your meal takes how you want it.

So our response is below. This is how it is done.

You cook the rice using equal parts rice and water. Before cooking the rice, rinse the rice until the water runs almost clear. Next, cook your rice in the rice cooker until it's done and open the rice cooker to let the rice dry out a little bit. In a small pot, mix 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar with 1/4 cup sugar and a pinch of salt, and heat until the sugar is dissolved. Put the rice into a separate bowl and add vinegar mixture to rice until you have reached the stickiness level desired. Try not to mix the rice too much to prevent mushy rice. Finally, enjoy your perfectly seasoned sticky sushi rice.

No one said making sushi was easy. Haha.

10% Off All Catering In August

2010-08-13T10:22:00.000-07:00

In our last email newsletter (hint hint: you should subscribe), we talked about how we now cater all types of events.

Imagine having a spread of sushi like this at your next event.

This time, we're going to take that announcement a step further by offering 10% off all catering jobs in the month of August.

We can do large parties, business luncheons, and virtually any other type of get together. Just give us a call to book us in advance.

And as most of you already know, we can also bring our Naked Sushi extravaganza to parties. That adds so much fun and excitement to any party.

Interesting Japanese Dining

2010-08-05T10:02:00.000-07:00

I just read an article that takes the notion that a lot of Asian dining rituals are odd to a completely new level.

The above picture introduces the new Japanese dining experience that I am now calling "The Surgeon Cannibal."

According to the article I read, it is "...a pinata-like 'body' is carefully crafted, then stuffed with edible goodies in a red sauce. More 'sauce' is somehow embedded into the outside covering - 'skin'... - of the body so that it will appear to bleed when cut into..."

The red sauce would have to be absolutely magnificent for me to even try this.

What do you guys think about this? Would you try it?

Teach Me Sushi iPhone Application

2010-07-29T08:52:00.000-07:00

Teach Me Sushi, known for providing fun and hands-on sushi making lessons throughout the New York area, today announced that its iPhone application has been named “App of the Week” in the U.K. iPhone App Store.

The application features a set of well-produced videos, from beginner to advanced, that walks a user through the entire process of making your own sushi rolls at home. The app covers a wide assortment of dish options and also features visual diagrams to accompany the instructional videos.

It's obvious that part of the sushi-making process is finding the right ingredients. Fortunately, the app even goes as far to find your current location and point you in the direction of your nearest Japanese market. It doesn't get much easier than that.

The application was created by Drew Lavyne of the filmmaking company Six Minute Stories and trained sushi chef Jake Davidow, creator and founder of Teach Me Sushi. “I have been completely humbled by the response – I never thought it would take off like this,” said Davidow. “I get at least 10 emails a day from people in all parts of the world telling me how much they love the app. It’s an uplifting feeling to know so many people find value in what we’ve been able to put together.”

Device Requirements:
* iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad
* Requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later
* 351 MB

Pricing and Availability:
Teach Me Sushi 1.0 is normally priced at $6.99. In celebration of its launch, throughout the month of July Teach Me Sushi is being offered at a special promotional rate of $4.99 USD (or equivalent amount in other currencies) and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Lifestyle category.

Teach Me Sushi 1.0
Purchase and Download
Screenshot
App Icon

Facebook and Twitter Discounts!

2010-07-22T21:43:00.000-07:00

At Ichiban, we strive to always remain on the cutting edge of social media, technology, and our local community. That is why we are now announcing another new Facebook and Twitter campaign that allows users and community members to receive discounts whenever they eat in our restaurant. Here's how it works:

Whenever you are in our restaurant, be sure to create a status update on Facebook or post a tweet mentioning that you're eating with us. Our Facebook page is http://www.facebook.com/orlandoichiban and our Twitter account can be found at http://www.twitter.com/orlandoichiban.

Take a picture of yourself eating sushi like this guy did, or you can save yourself from looking like a crazy person and just post an update about us.

If you do this immediately while at your table and you do it properly, you will receive 10% off your check then and there. If we have to scour the web to find your update, just let your waiter know you did it and we will send you a digital coupon for the 10% off that you can use on your next visit.

It's as simple as that. The more you tell your friends how much you enjoy Ichiban, the more money you'll save.

Don't forget to find us on: Twitter and Facebook.

Miley Cyrus Loves Her Sushi

2010-07-16T06:49:00.000-07:00

There is no question that actress Miley Cyrus and her boyfriend, Liam Hemsworth, definitely adore their sushi.

It was only weeks ago that we blogged about Miley's sushi business date with Justin Bieber. You can check out that post and video here.

The couple was cheerful as they were spotted leaving Matsuya sushi restaurant in L.A. on Tuesday. Miley was even friendly enough to wave and smile at the cameras while holding Liam’s hand as they strolled down the street.

This young duo just can’t seem to get enough of one another.

Pulse of Central Florida = Awesome

2010-07-08T08:31:00.000-07:00

This week, we just wanted to quickly show our love to the Pulse of Central Florida. They have been some of our favorite customers for the last few years.

They wrote an amazing blog post on a recent experience they had at our restaurant. We figured the best thing we could do to promote it was to just link to it. So just click the link below.

http://pulseofcentralflorida.com/2010/07/03/ichiban-japanese-restaurant/

Thanks, guys! Much love.

Sushi Fail | From the FAIL Blog

2010-07-01T13:52:00.000-07:00

We're big fans of the FAIL Blog. But then again, who isn't? Therefore, we figured we would show our respects by playing the FAIL Blog for a day.

Recently, this picture was posted on the FAIL blog.

I don't know about you, but this scares us. Not only is it an EPIC FAIL, but it just seems dangerous. Who would eat at this place? How do you put up a sign like this? How do you even get it made in the first place?

Coverage of WeReward

2010-06-24T11:30:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, we posted a blog about us being featured in the WeReward overview video. Although it took a few weeks, we have been noticing that media outlets are starting to step up their game to cover WeReward and talk about how much of a game changer it can be for social and action-oriented marketing.

This weekend, for instance, we noticed that our restaurant was referenced in an article within the Orlando Sentinel. That article can be found at the link below:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-pay-to-check-in-20100618,0,2771992.story

In addition, some other blogs stole the piece and featured it on their own sites. You can find those at the links below as well:

http://sports.tmcnet.com/news/2010/06/19/4856912.htm
http://sports.tmcnet.com/news/2010/06/19/4856912.htm

Be sure to check out WeReward and check in to our restaurant as often as possible!

Is Sushi Healthy?

2010-06-15T09:03:00.000-07:00

There has always been a debate on the topic of sushi and how good (or bad) it is for you to eat. Allow us to pinpoint each side of the argument, reference some of our research on the subject, and add our two cents.

The Good

Sushi is usually a light meal. Whenever you partake in a meal that requires the use of difficult utensils and must eat a piece of something at a time, you will eat slower, and ultimately feel full quicker. On top of that, most rolls are packed with some sort of protein inside so the protein to calorie ratio is often high.

The Bad

The only REAL argument that sushi haters ever have is that you can get sick from eating raw fish. While this is an understandable fear for many, the same can go for any other type of food, especially proteins. The other less common issue people have is when they eat tempura (fried) ingredients or too much cream cheese, which is high in fat.

What We Found

According to ExtremeBodyWorkout.com, sushi is a very healthy meal for the body. Here is an excerpt from an article we read.

Sushi is usually an extremely healthy choice. It is commonly low fat and low in calories. Although abundant in rice, you can choose to eat sashimi without the rice if you are concerned about the added white carbs. Many varieties of sushi are a great source of Omega 3s. There are unhealthy sushi options as well though, so be sure to steer clear of fried tempura and sushi selections that include dumplings, cream cheese and other fattening items.

http://www.extremebodyworkout.com/blog/2009/06/07/is-sushi-healthy/

Our Two Cents

Unless you're eating at a sushi restaurant that lacks a reputation, you need not worry about the quality of the fish you are eating.

If you are wanting an "extremely" healthy sushi meal, stay away from tempura, mayo, cream cheese, and any rolls that are topped with a cream-based sauce of some kind.

Other than that, there is no question that enjoying a sushi meal should be guilt-free. It's a fun and healthy way to experience delicious ethnic food.

The Sushi Popper

2010-06-10T09:57:00.000-07:00

Just as we think we've seen it all, something like the Sushi Popper is released. Take a look at this crazy invention:

I don't know about you, but this is actually appealing to me. As someone that loves sushi so much, this makes more sense than buying the pre-packaged rolls from Publix.

The best part of all is that the nutrition facts aren't bad at all. You'd think that the calories and the sodium would be high, but it's actually quite the opposite. Take a look: http://www.sushipopper.com/flavors.aspx

What do you think of this idea? Leave your comments below.

WeReward

2010-05-27T09:29:00.000-07:00

Our friends at Izea are always coming up with the "next big idea" in social media. They have conquered the idea of paying for written blog posts, monetizing guest blog posts, sponsoring tweets, and more. Their latest innovation, however, may end up being their biggest yet. It's called WeReward and it's a game changer for the social media world.

The idea around WeReward is that users get paid by collecting points through the sharing of everyday activities. Companies and venues may post tasks that users will be able to complete to get paid.

We're very proud to have been featured in the new WeReward overview video as a venue that is offering points for check-ins and picture taking within our restaurant.

The beauty of WeReward is that it's not trying to compete with Foursquare or any other location-based service. It's just trying to enhance the new experiences that location-based services have already created. How brilliant!

Watch the video below and download the iPhone app from the WeReward homepage to get started.

Special With Downtown Orlando Tonight

2010-05-20T09:46:00.000-07:00

Take a look at the link below. We're doing a special tonight through Downtown Orlando.

http://downtownorlando.com/coupon/index.php?id=ichiban-1

Bring the coupon in tonight for a free large sake with dinner. Don't miss out on this opportunity.

Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber Love Sushi

2010-05-13T09:36:00.000-07:00

Too bad they weren't in Orlando. They would have definitely enjoyed our Andy Roll.

Sushi Go Round for Nintendo Wii

2010-05-06T09:01:00.000-07:00

Nintendo Wii has recently released an interesting video game called "Sushi Go Round." This game is based around the premise of a boy who wants to win the love of a girl, so he opens his own sushi bar. As the game player, you are the boy, and your initiative is to run the entire restaurant yourself.

While none of us at Ichiban has played this game yet, we have done a little bit of research to find out more about it and whether it's worth the money to purchase.

After reviewing this negative review at Nintendo World Report: (http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewArt.cfm?artid=23004), I don't think we feel enticed enough to give the game a whirl. But then again, we are already burdened with our own real-life sushi bar and restaurant. Perhaps this game appeals most to those that have no idea what it's like.

In conclusion, this is definitely a unique game that may be able to persuade many game lovers to give this a try. For us, however, it just doesn't seem worth it. We still would like to hear anyone's comments on feedback that have played the game, whether you liked it or not.

We're on Foursquare!

2010-04-29T11:15:00.000-07:00

Last week, Foursquare announced that it was opening its doors to businesses that wanted to begin offering discounts to users that checked-in to their location often.

Well, typical to us, we have already jumped on board. We have ordered stickers and initiated the process to control our location on the network.

We were very pleased to see that plenty of Foursquare users have checked in to our restaurant already. We look forward to giving out different discounts and specials to those that frequent our place. We'll try to keep you updated of all of the specials via Twitter, but we do plan to change what we're offering rather often.

So, stay tuned for more updates on our account on Foursquare. We're proud to be a part of it and look forward to helping it change the way consumers interact with venues.

Sushi Being Made in Space

2010-04-21T10:44:00.000-07:00

We just heard about two Japanese astronauts (Souichi Noguchi and Naoko Yamazeki) that recently made sushi in space. While there may have been rice flying everywhere due to zero gravity, we are hearing that the dinner was delicious and the first of its kind.

If only we could have been the first restaurant to do this. After all that we have pioneered in the industry, it would have been great to have this in our repertoire as well.

Naked Sushi for Charity

2010-04-08T13:31:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, we conducted a Naked Sushi event at "The Other Bar" in Downtown Orlando. The event was for "Charity Cars," which is a fantastic nonprofit organization that lends out cars to those that don't have yet require transportation.

Like all naked sushi events, it was a blast! We were just so glad to be able to do it for such a good cause.

Check out the pictures below and think about the next event that you can invite us to for some Naked Sushi fun.

Our New Email Membership

2010-03-29T23:04:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, we have evolved a great deal as a restaurant over the last year or so. We've hosted local tech events, we started taking advanced orders via Twitter, and we even encouraged our guests to make their own sushi rolls. If you would have told us that we would be THAT restaurant two years ago, we would have laughed and had no idea how to get there.

In an attempt to continue evolving and to open the lines of communication between us and you even further, we are finally starting our own version of email newsletters.

Within these bi-weekly (at most) newsletters, you will receive coupons, discounts, specials, upcoming events, and anything else involved with our restaurant. Aside from following us on Twitter, this could be the new best way to get constant discounts and stay abreast on your favorite Orlando restaurant.

To sign up, simply send an email to ichibansushiorlando@gmail.com. From there, you will be placed into our mailing list and you will receive the first email newsletter sometime next week.