Ichiban

This place is so amazing, one of my favorite restaurants in Madison! The picture provided was from my most recent trip consisting of braised lamb (AMAZING), pickled pepper chicken, spicy green beans, lemongrass chicken wings, and scallion cakes. I've tried probably 10 or more different dishes from here and they never disappoint. I've been coming here for years and will continue for years to come

Seated immediately, 3 of us. Not very busy, Monday dinner. Ordered 4 main entree and one appetizer. Came to our table in about 5 minutes! The Dumplings with spicy sauce were amazing! Not very spicy. Tasted so light and fluffy and homemade! Fried rice was almost deceptive. Looked pale to begin with, but the flavor was absolutely addictive! Veggie Mei fun was delicious. Shredded pork in garlic sauce was good. Spicy chicken was not exactly what we expected. It was crispy chicken bites with spicy peppers. Was hoping for some sauce. Would absolutely recommend!!!!

I’ve been here more times in my time in Madison than I’ve been to any other place here combined times two - this place is basically my second home, the food never disappoints and I’ve introduced maybe ~75 friends to this restaurant. Get the golden pepper fish, spicy string beans, cumin lamb, spicy boiled fish, twice cooked pork belly, spicy and crispy chicken, sauteed peashoots, just to name a few.

Enjoyed lunch with my wife and infant on a Thursday. The restaurant only had a few occupied tables so we had fast service. The staff was welcoming and friendly and helped with suggestions since there are so many options. The menu has a large section for more authentic Chinese food, as well as, a section for more Americanized dishes. We had a nice and relaxed dine-in experience. We’d happily come back in to enjoy more quality Chinese dishes compared to lower quality takeout Chinese restaurants.

It was surprised to see there were many oriental restaurants in Madison. Ichiban 四川 was a highly recommended. They had an extensive menu with many authentic Chinese food on it. We could only try a few. The parking was along the street, not too bad. The dishes were very good, except the 腰花有点硬。The service was excellent, and the prices were quite reasonable.

My favorite Asian restaurant in Madison! Fantastic Sichuan cuisine. The ingredients are great quality and as a health-concious eater, I appreciate how unsalty their food tastes. The portions are generous and the food always comes out quickly. The prices are super reasonable- even during the tough economy right now. The service is never very good but the food is so good, I always come back. Pictured below are the Meat Dumplings, Shrimp Lo Mein, Twiced Baked Pork dish, Coconut Walnut Shrimp, and the Seafood Soup Noodle (my favorite). Take out is also a great option. They give you the samd portions as in person and the tupperware they use is worth saving!

My wife and I were in Madison for a family event the next day. We were staying with my brother. We got there after 9pm. We ordered the spicy crispy chicken, spicy boil fish, lamb with cumin, and beef hotpot. The food was fantastic just how we remembered it 6 years ago when we lived in Madison. Although I think they took the spice and peppercorn down a couple of notches so other people can learn to enjoy Sichuan food.

We were really excited to try this Chinese restaurant, especially because I’m Chinese and had been traveling for a while without finding a good Asian spot. We weren’t super hungry, so we decided to keep it light and ordered the boiled dumplings, scallion pancakes, and the veggie tofu soup. When the dumplings arrived—only six of them—I took one bite and immediately knew something was off. They tasted exactly like the Trader Joe’s chicken dumplings I’ve had before. I asked the waitress directly, and she confirmed that yes, the dumplings were store-bought. I was shocked. I told her this should have been made clear when I ordered, especially since their menu photo clearly shows what looks like homemade dumplings. Then came the scallion pancakes, and once again they looked nothing like the pictures on the Google listing or the printed menu. They were flat, pre-made, and clearly not fresh or handmade. I asked about this too, and the waitress admitted they were also store-bought. Her justification? Most of their customers are American and don’t really care. That was incredibly disappointing. Whether or not most patrons notice, it doesn’t excuse misleading presentation or false advertising. If you’re marketing your food as authentic Chinese cuisine and showing homemade dishes on your menu, it’s dishonest to serve frozen, mass-produced items without disclosing it. Needless to say, we won’t be coming back unless they advertise properly. Authenticity matters—especially when it’s promised and not delivered.

Service was great! Ambiance very nice. Food could be a little more flavorful, otherwise nice prices.

This place has a wide variety of Chinese cuisine offerings. Being our first time here, it took quite a while while to read through all their menu pages to decide what we wanted to eat that night :-) We decided to try out their fried Lemongrass chicken wings and Sliced Lamb with scallions. They both tasted pretty good and quite good portions as well. The place was quite casual with ample seatings. We didn't had to wait to get seated on a Saturday night dinner. Overall a nice authentic Chinese restaurant to try out if in the mood for this cuisine (they also had an American Chinese section if in mood for fusion)

Really great food, got take out here while at the SSM hospital, so can't really speak to the service or interior-- we got the Spicy and Crispy Fish and Eggplant with Chili Garlic Sauce which were both top tier. The fish was light, crispy, and flavorful, while the eggplant had great flavor and really hit the spot for my Chinese food craving (eggplant w/ garlic sauce is probs my go-to dish at Chinese restaurants). Will likely come here again to eat-in.

For an early dinner, my friend and I ordered lemongrass chicken wings, three delight pot stickers, scallion pan-fried cakes, rice noodles with hot and sour soup, and spicy and crispy shrimp with white rice. Everything was fresh and cooked to order. I enjoyed the scallion pan-fried cakes and the lemongrass fried chicken. I have tried scallion pan-fried cakes from three different restaurants and the city and Ichiban had the best ones. My only complaint about the lemongrass chicken is that I wished it was broiled or grilled to get more of the lemongrass flavors. The three delight pot stickers were ok. The hot and sour soup was too oily for me. The spicy and crispy shrimp were not spicy but were crispy. Overall my food was ok, next time I will try the spicy and crispy chicken. Pro Foodie Don't park in front of the restaurant because you will get towed.

Food is always delicious. Never disappoints, especially given the portion sizes and the quality of the food. Menu is very large which can be overwhelming, but once you find your favorites you will keep coming back. I recommend the crispy Szechuan chicken!

Probably one of the best places in Madison for Chinese food. The food was good, and the spice was there. When it said spicy it was spicy. We got seated pretty quickly, but by 7 the restaurant started to fill. We went for Thanksgiving. Sliced Lamb W Cumin Flavor - 10/10 I love lamb and this dish was doing the most. It had the right amount of spice and the Lamb was cooked to perfection. When this hit the table it was gone in 3 mins. Spicy String Beans - 10/10 Pretty hard to mess this dish up. It was really good. The string beans were cooked to have a soft on the outside hard on the inside Smoked Duck - 7/10 it was good but the duck was kind of dry so it was hard to eat a lot Shredded Potatoes with Capsicum Pepper - 9/10 - it was more oily than it needed to be. The spice was a good amount and the potatoes were cooked well General Tso's Chicken - It was a good Chinese American dish, very suitable for people who need something sweet. Twice Cooked Pork - 9/10 it was pretty standard nothing bad nothing amazing.

This place was recommended to me, so the next time we visited Madison we really wanted to check this place out. We decided to stop in on a Saturday for lunch. We were greeted promptly and shown to a table right away. For a weekend, it was kind of busy but not super busy, which was nice because we were really looking forward to enjoying some Sichuan food. We ordered the Spicy String Beans (very well-seasoned and tasty), the Shredded Potatoes with Spicy & Sour Sauce (a bit heavy handed with the vinegar but cooked perfectly), and the Spicy Crispy Chicken (very crispy and not too spicy). Overall, for a Sichuan restaurant, their spice level was actually on the milder side. I would have preferred a bit more kick in their dishes but other than that all the dishes we ordered were delicious and hit the spot. Service was casual but friendly, and our food came out only a few minutes after we ordered. We were pleasantly surprised by how fast our food arrived because we were hungry and ready to eat. They don't have their own parking, so you will need to resort to finding street parking. Would gladly come back again.

Food is amazing. Service is great. Wish their sichuan flavor was a bit spicier but it still hit the spot for me. Their boiled spicy beef soup and crispy pork intestine were my favorites. Parking is limited as it is all street parking but he atmosphere is warm and welcoming. Out of our visit, i wished i paid closer attention to our tab. Gratuity was already applied to our total and without knowing, we tipped an additional 20% on top of the 18% that was already in our total. No where in tune restaurant or menu stated that gratuity would be added right away.

We meet up with my mom once a month in Madison and usually try a new place each time. We love places that we can order several different dishes and then share. Ichiban is a great restaurant to do this and as usual we ordered way more than we can eat, but then we always have yummy leftovers for later or for lunch the next day. We maybe went a bit overboard today and had to move to a larger table so all of our dishes could fit on the table. Everything we ordered was delicious with our favorites being the twice cooked pork, spicy string beans, spicy crispy chicken, and the pickled pepper style with shredded beef. The dishes were all pretty mild and wish they were spicier. The menu is huge and they also have a Chinese American section.

I love sichuan style chinese food. Every time I order the Spicy & Crispy chicken --- my mouth is on fire. The essence of the spicy chili stays with every bite and eventually my lips go numb. Haha. My friends and I always get the Ma Po Tofu. Highly recommend that and also their green beans. We always want to try something new but always end up our favorites. Parking: plenty of street parking and side street parking. I would carpool if you are going with family and friends. They seem to get a lot of delivery and carryout orders. This place is always busy when I go which is a great sign.

I came here with 6 others for a group dinner and was impressed. I did not expect to enjoy the meal since it is difficult to find good Chinese food in Madison. The spice levels were decent. I expected it to be spicier but it was still good. I would also say their food was pretty oily and salty but that is pretty common I think. They had probably over 100 different dishes to choose from. My only complaint is that they gave us the wrong dish, and then charged us for that additional dish. My other experience at restaurants is they would give it free of charge. We didn't order the dish and it was their mistake so I was upset we had to pay for it. Overall, I would come here again.

The food options were solid. Had a lamb dish and also tofu dish. I have ordered takeout and dined in at this restaurant, and it never disappoints.

Was invited here with a group - one person had been before. Definitely glad that I went! It was my first experience with hot pot and it was very good. We had the dry braised lamb but I'm sure the others would be solid choices! I'm not the best with spicy food (don't eat it often) but the rice definitely helps to offset the heat without detracting from the flavor. Service was so quick! I also highly recommend the spicy dumplings and spicy string beans - if you have a big group (5+ people, I'd probably order two of these since they were so good). The food was all very reasonably priced. We were pleasantly surprised to see the check.

Ichiban makes authentic tasty Sichuan and Chinese dishes! We recently got takeout again and the bag and text on the receipt was such a neat touch. We ordered Walnut Sauce with Shrimp, Spicy Crispy Chicken, Braised Bok Choi with Shiitake Mushroom. The walnut shrimp is like candy and comes with fresh broccoli. I can't stop ordering it! We loved the flavorful crispy chicken too, but this dish has a lot of dried Thai chili peppers that feel weird to eat as they are thick almost like paper, so we picked some out. Still an amazing dish. The bok choi was super saucy with really strong flavorful mushrooms, which we loved. We will definitely keep ordering and trying new things from Ichiban.

Best mapo tofu in Madison, full stop. Although Park street is far from where I live and parking is tricky, I make the trek to Ichiban in the rare times I leave the west side. Delicious food, reasonable prices, and decent service. No frills, nothing fancy. Just delicious, affordable, authentic food!

We came here because the place next door only had carryout and no seating. The things I liked were the availability of real Chinese cuisine. Especially they had Taiwanese beef noodle and spicy won ton and Dan Dan noodle. The complaints would be the fat cap on the sirloin in the soup. (I know in Taiwan you may see a bone) the broth was top notch. I was disappointed that they used spaghetti noodles over fresh noodles. Overall it's a legit Chinese place (no orange chicken). The serving sizes are very large. I would come back and try their hot pot.

Ichiban is set up for delivery and pick up. They have a table set up in their entryway for pickup orders; their staff stays on the far side of the table and leaves the orders there for customers to come in and pick up. Ichiban has a pretty large menu, and there are probably so many other dishes I should try. But I usually get their eggplant dishes. I love eggplant and theirs is usually done perfectly and their sauces are so flavorful! It's also a really great deal - they are hefty portions! I appreciate how many vegetarian options they have and that they are being so considerate with their covid precautions. I will definitely keep coming here.

I'm honestly not too much of a fan of the family style dishes here (a personal 3 stars for me, see precious reviews), but recently tried some of their other dishes which were amazing! I had the beef noodle soup and their dry braised beef hot pot. They were both fantastic. I enjoyed the spiciness of the hotpot and generous portion. The beef noodle soup was also a huge portion and was just perfect: probably the best one I've had in Madison. The beef hotpot has such delicious ingredients and I'm still thinking about it (if I were to change one thing though, it would be to ask for no pork intestine, since I'm not a fan of the soft texture in this dish). I'll definitely be back.

Several non-Chinese colleagues suggested ichiban is the best Chinese restaurant in town. I was so confused since Ichiban is Japanese yet Sichuan is Chinese. We ordered a few dishes and had to disagree. The stir-fried noodles were swimming in oil; the beef in Taiwanese beef noodles soup were super chewy and couldn't even eat them. We ordered dumplings as appetizers yet it came the last. The skins were so doughy and overcooked. Still very puzzled why this is called the best Chinese restaurant in Madison. Food is edible and service is ok. It's very sad to hear that this quality is the best that Madison has to offer.

The food is loyal to Chinese cuisine. This restaurant also has several American-Chinese dishes, but I recommend ordering outside the American Chinese menu; but if that's what you're looking for, the American Chinese food is made just as well. I enjoy the twice cooked pork, but the fatty beef dish was my absolute favorite. I tried the Mapo tofu here as well, but it was outshined by the pork and beef dishes. I haven't had anything I didn't enjoy here, so I wouldn't worry too much and just order what looks good to you. This is my new favorite Chinese restaurant in the area. The menu is sizable, so I look forward to trying more dishes every time!

Spicy crispy chicken is one classic dish that we order almost every single time from Ichiban. I'd say to be careful of the this dish if you can't handle spicy food but if you're looking for a dish to wow your palette, then this is the one to try! I ordered some beef noodle soup and that came out in a giant bowl full of beef and noodles. The dumplings we ordered as appetizers was also equally as delicious. Overall, Ichiban really has some authentic Sichuan Chinese food. There's bond to be something on the menu that you'll like!

My first time having szechuanese food since basically the start of the pandemic, I came in hopefully and had all of my expectations exceeded. I came for dinner with a big group and was pleased to learn we would be dining family style. The menu is large and has many choices from Americanized Chinese food to more traditional regional Chinese food. We ordered about a dozen dishes. My favorites were the sliced fish with sliced pepper, cumin lamb, three pepper chicken, braised pork, garlic eggplant, and wood ear mushrooms. Everything was excellent, and I mean that. There wasn't a bad dish in the lot. The serving sizes were giant. The quality maybe wasn't the best I've every had but I was certainly satisfied and I caught myself smiling at the food multiple times. Some of the presentations and textures were a little off/different than what I'm used to, some dishes more oily, nothing to put a damper on my fun. I do wish they had featured szechuanese peppercorn a bit more prominently. The service was slow and forgetful but not enough to ruin the experience, and it was a big group so some of the errors are understandable. I would absolutely come back.

My boyfriend and I enjoy this place. Honestly, I used to come here often with my family, but somehow we agreed that the food changed, so we stopped going. After a couple years, I decided to give this place another try, and I'm glad I did. The food is oily and salty, but I think that's pretty expected from this certain cuisine. Overall, the hotpot was so good. It's definitely good for a huge party. One of my faves is the tendon in chili oil. I wish I took a photo of it, but sadly, I didn't. The noodles are also super good. They're my boyfriends fave. Definitely do give it a try. I would definitely go back again.

Authentic Sichuan food! Brought a friend of ours from Beijing to eat with us. He ordered and was so happy to have food from home! We enjoyed the experience and staff!

Best in the State. Tailored with care toward authentic exquisite taste and natural flavorings packed with delicate absence of excessive saltiness.

I've been here about 4 times now through the past 4 years and each time has gotten worse. I first came here about 4 years ago during our drive to Chicago. The food was solid and delicious. The water boiled fish was spicy and very flavorful. Each year, I would stop by. When I stopped by 2 years ago, noticed the restaurant underwent some remodel and taste didn't feel the same as the first couple times I went. It was lacking flavor. This time I went, we got the dan dan noodles, water boiled fish and spicy schezuan dumplings. It was very disappointing. It was completely lacking flavor. The dan dan noodles were too strong on the peanut side. Schezuan dumplings were tasteless even though it was drenched in chili oil. The water boiled fished was also not really spicy and had not much flavor as well. This place has gone down hill over the years and I'm sad. It used to be really good, but it seems maybe they underwent some different ownership or maybe different chefs over the year. I probably won't be coming back here anymore.

Great food with great price, I ordered few old traditional dishes and tasted as the same I had. The sweet and sour spareribs are good. Be prepared that the dish are spicy. The service is good and friendly. The only downside is "where to park the car". I strongly suggest this restaurant. The CP valve is good

Ordered to go from here, off food alone not too great. I got the dan dan noodles and they weren't made authentic (sweet sauce, wrong noodles).

My favorite local Chinese restaurant. Every time we have guests, We bring them to ichaban. They serve Sichuan style dishes and the portions are huge. I love that their dishes are flavorful and delicious. We always order the broil spicy fish. It's super tender and falls apart in your mouth. We also like their dry braised meats. And of course we always try a new dish every time we are here. It's a must try, if you are in the area.

Great Chinese restaurant! High quality authentic chinese food with very reasonable price! Highly recommended!

Ordered take out, food is legit and I would say prob the best Asian food in Madison area

It must be hard choosing which Chinese restaurant to go to in this area. Only because there are so many. I haven't been to all of them or really any of them, but we decided on going to Ichiban. The menu is overwhelming to say the least. It probably helps if you're Chinese. Follow-up thought: why is it called Ichiban when it is a Chinese restaurant? I mean there are a few "Thai" options, but really it's just your standard curry dishes and Pad Thai. But I don't think I saw any Japanese dishes. Weird, huh? Anyway, we ordered the Shanghainese Spring Rolls. They were pretty good. I guess I personally didn't care for the mushy filling. For my entree, I ordered the Spicy Braised Beef Noodle Soup. Holy crap, it is a giant bowl of soup. It took me 3 meals to finish it. Great for leftovers for sure. And it was only $8.95. I wish they had put more bok choy in it but the soup, noodles, and the beef were great. My SO had ordered a Thai tea but he never received it. They were nice about it and took it off the bill. Service was pretty quick. The food came out strangely fast but it was good.

It's funny that the 'Americanized' dishes, like General Tso, are buried in the menu on a page toward the back. Ichiban is 5* for me because it is so rare to find such vivid, diverse, exciting food, exactingly prepared (and the extensive lunch menu is a great price). Today the hot and sour soup was far more hot than sour - - very spicy; and loaded with chunky goodness. It was an extra $1.75 in addition to the $7.50 lunch special ma po tofu, but this is way above average fare, so it is fitting that the lunch special isn't the standard 'Americanized' eggroll/eggdrop/entree ritual. It wasn't the top ma po tofu I've had, but a solid second. This follows on a dinner a couple months back, with 7 of us sharing some of the more interesting dishes on the menu, and they were MOST interesting. Virtually nobody liked the beef tendon with chili sauce appetizer, but I thought it was one of the most fascinating and extreme things i've ever had - - the thin slices of tendon were like pappardelle noodles, but the concoction was stunning sensually - - it effectively numbed the mouth - - textures like nothing else - - it was like opium for the palate. Only a couple people enjoyed the fish soup dish, but I thought it was knockout, and so pleased that I could take the vast amount that was left untouched home. And the dry braised mixed mushroom in spicy hot pot - - intoxicating. The more standard dishes we shared were, well, more standard. Ichiban offers fascinating, exciting dishes, prepared with great care and precision, covering a flavor palate that most of us never encounter. (And since it is Sichuan-centered, the dishes can have some serious heat, but also a mellow numbing character). This will put off some people, but it should intrigue others a whole lot. Really worthwhile.

This is the best Chinese food in Madison in my opinion. I loved their seafood soup and chicken corn soup: both soups had more depth of flavor and complexity than I'm used to from other Chinese restaurants. I would particularly recommend their specialty Szechuan dishes- they do provide plenty of Szechuan peppercorn to get that tongue numbing effect Szechuan cuisine is known for.

I arrived yesterday and to be honestly they change the chief.The taste no so good any more.

This restaurant does not look like much on the outside, but the inside is pleasant with some typical East-Asian themed decor. The staff was friendly and the food came out quickly and still steaming. I have to say, the food here was terrific. This might be the best salt & pepper shrimp I have ever had. The rice was perfectly sticky. The traditional noodles with vegetables, eggs, and broth my boyfriend got was delicious. Additionally, both the veggie and meat dumplings were great. I 100% will be coming back here and I highly recommend it!

This is by far the tastiest Chinese restaurant in Madison. I always get the Mapo Tofu and Mei fun - they are so consistently delicious.

We were wanting real Chinese and this rocks! Friendly staff and good service. Try the potato strings in hot sauce appetizer. The tomato and egg and Hong Kong style seafood soups were uniquely flavorful. Order a bit of each and share. As another reviewer said this and Fugu Asian are the real deal. We will be back. BTW, if you aren't adventurous there are plenty of items on the menu that can work for you.

I would definitely consider this some of the best Chinese food I've had in Madison (despite the confusing Japanese name?). My experience with takeout in the past has been pretty good as well, but like many other reviewers said before me, some of their spicier dishes can be quite oily. I recently came here to eat in and was super impressed! Earlier last year, I found a Groupon for $40 of Ichiban for $20 and thought this was a perfect opportunity to eat here again (definitely check to see if Groupon is still selling this because it's a great deal!). I came with a party of 4 and we were seated right away at a booth. The pictures in the menu are really helpful if you don't read Mandarin, since the literal translations from Chinese to English don't translate well. We ended up ordering 4 dishes, with individual item reviews below. - Tofu in Homemade Sauce: 5/5. Loved this! The sauce really is super tasty and very savory. The fried tofu was cooked perfectly, and there are different vegetables and Chinese black fungus in it as well. Highly recommend. -Spicy String Beans: 4.5/5. Don't be fooled by the name - compared to a lot of other dishes they serve here, I really would not consider this as one of their spicy dishes despite all of the red color in the dish. The beans are a cool texture, crispy but not overdone. It is seasoned with larger salt grains, so you get a nice surprise sometimes! - Beef With Ginger and Scallion: 5/5. Delicious. The beef is unbelievably tender and almost falls apart in your mouth. It has an incredible flavor and the scallion brings out everything even more. The ginger is subtle, and not overpowering. - Braised pork: 4/5. All of the meat was marinated very well and this came with a lot of sauce, which is perfect to top rice with. I did think the sauce was a little too intense though - a little bit saltier and more sugary than I would have liked. This dish features fattier cuts of pork as well - super delicious if you like this cut! In addition, the service and speed was unbelievable. Within 5-10 minutes of ordering, our first dish was already on the table and each one came out less than a few minutes afterwards. We came for dinner on a Thursday night, if that is helpful. Our waitress was very friendly as well. I would rate this a 4.5/5 if possible, -0.5 because of the prices if you don't have a coupon and for my previous take out experiences. Ichiban has definitely stepped up its game and I'd keep my eye out for this restaurant in the future!

We had a large group of 18 .. they handled it beautifully. Efficient ..friendly, food was amazing, very clean, I will definitely be going back. our table shared the twice cooked pork ,Chinese style Kung pow chicken-delicious but would've preferred more vegetables. Orange chicken crispy and a delicious sauce, my favorite was the beef and noodles

This place definitely satisfied my chinese sichuan food cravings. Why it starts with a japanese phase...i'm not sure but it could be considered number one for madison chinese food. We came with a party of 12 and it was easy to make a reservation as well as order a ton of food to try. We did family style and ordered; poached fish, crispy chicken, won tons, eggplant in garlic sauce, green beans, rice, broiled pork belly, tripe, salt and pepper shrimp, and kung pao chicken. i honestly probably forgot some items since we ordered so much, but it was great! We all helped ourself to the food and it came out in succession and fed us all to a good level. I highly recommend the eggplant as it is one of my favorite dishes of all time. Happy Eating!!!

The food here is phenomenal - one of my favorites in Madison. The cumin lamb/beef is super flavorful and crispy - it was a favorite for the whole group of us. The thin pancake with minced meat was sweet, savory and satisfying. Highly recommend the koi fish in hotpot or the spicy bean jelly salad if you want to try something new! It upsets me that my favorite Asian restaurants in Madison don't have the best ratings when American/Western restaurants with very mediocre dishes in my opinion have 5 stars. 5 stars for Ichiban Sichuan always.

I chose this place because of the review level and they deliver. I chose a $20 entree for lunch, "Cocktail Shrimp with Chili Sauce" . The shrimp still have their heads and shells on. Who eats "Cocktail Shrimp" with their full shell and heads??? this is disgusting and a total waste of my $20. No where on the menu does it say that these are unpeeled shrimp. Its a bummer because i'm freaking starving but do not eat shrimp heads or legs and these are too messy to peel. Not for an American Audience for sure, at least tell us the shrimps are not peeled. ICK. Note: i edited the review because the manager personally contacted me, and YELP refunded my money. The sauce tasted good but I'm not going to be eating shrimp shells.

My partner and I tried Ichiban Sichuan for dinner the other night. The food was outstanding! When we arrived, it was pretty busy but there were a few tables available. The hostess was pretty engrossed with someone, but she eventually led us to a table and provided us with menus. It took awhile, but eventually a waitress came by to take our order. (They were quite busy and the waitresses seemed very busy.) We ordered the String Bean with Garlic Sauce, the Lamb with Cumin, and the Pan Fried Thick Rice Noodle with Pork. We were surprised that the String Bean appetizer was served cold. It was a little jarring at first, but after a few bites I was a fan. The garlic was almost creamy and buttery and every bite was delicious. The lamb with cumin had just a little spice but it grew over time and again the flavors and textures were amazing. I'm not a huge rice noodle fan but the pork and the sauce were delicious. Beyond the incredible food, two things that stood out for me most. When I went to use the restroom it was not only immaculate, it smelled good. Some restrooms have an odor where you want to get in and out as quickly as possible, but this restroom was actually pleasant. Also, we biked over. There is a dearth of places to lock your bike nearby. Having some bike racks close would be a great improvement.

We ordered the cold bean jelly, dry pot pork intestines, and tripe(?) and they were all delicious. I haven't had pork intestines prepared like this before and it's the best dish i've had in a while. Ichiban really satisfied my craving for chinese food and the heat was just right as well as flavorful. On my next order, we got lamb, wide noodles, and mapo tofu and they were all excellent as well.

Best Chinese in town-- get the Mapo Tofu with pork, spicy crispy chicken and garlic string beans. If you add it, the garlic eggplant.

This review is for their delivery service only. I like Ichiban but I would not recommend their delivery service to anyone. The other day I had to wait more than an hour to get my food. The delivery guy was not friendly at all, no saying hello no smiling face and he demanded 15% tip. The food was cold and I had to reheat them.

Was pretty excited to try Chinese food in Madison especially Ichiban has fairly good reviews. I ordered the pork intestine sour and spicy noodle soup which was a complete disaster. The soup was bland, neither sour nor spicy. The noodle was like plastic that I hardly can chew. If you can't cook an authentic dish, don't put it on your menu to tarnish your restaurant reputation.

Excellent szechuan food! We order dry hot pot probably once a week. The meat dumplings are also delicious: gooey and rubbery, but not sticky, and melt in your mouth. We have picked up food from Ichiban Sichuan at least twice a month since October 2020, and every dish we have tried was delicious. I have to say that the sizes have considerably decreased, but it seems to depend on the week of the month. Sometimes we get bet bigger dishes, then much smaller the week after that. Also, although I love every noodle type they serve, it has been a bit inconsistent: I have ordered the exact same shrimp and noodle dish several times in a row, and they come with different types of noodle, even sometimes a different sauce. (They can be a bit stingy with how many shrimps are in the dish, so I now order chicken, and it's always full). I haven't solved that mystery, but if you don't mind a little surprise here and there, you have to try this place!