Itacho Sushi

Either I suffer from rosy retrospection or this chain has seriously dropped in quality.
When I visited the branch in Ion Orchard more than 2 years ago, I recalled fresh fish and well seasoned rice that, while not comparable to Japan, was close enough to stop me wanting to buy tickets to Tokyo.
Alas, it was not to be. We ordered freely and were not impressed by any of the sushi or rolls, and ended up spending just under $ 50 per person. At this price point, we should have gone to Ikeikemaru.

I think the reviews for this place is unrightfully harsh. When it comes to quality. I admit that the quality of the fish fluctuates pretty wildly, but usually it is pretty decent. I’ve always enjoyed the salmon belly aburi sushi, and at 1.70 a pop, it doesn’t get better than that! Obviously, the itacho in hongkong (where itacho originates from) is wayyy better, but I think that the sushi here is not terrible. A very convenient place to eat at if you are craving that sushi and likes variety in sushi, because they sell a whole array of raw, seared, cooked sushi and have many small seasonal dishes to keep it interesting.

I always feel like people have the perception that it is cheap, but in actual fact, it is not cheap at all!!! I was horrified when I ordered an avocado soft shell crab (2 pieces) for $ 5.80! I could have 6 pieces for $ 6 at Sushi Tei! Beat that!
2 pieces of Mango sushi at $ 4.80. Again? What is this ordering by per piece and making me keep re-​ordering in order to be full?
It always draws a queue whenever I am looking for a place to dine in, which puzzles me even more.
Food wise, it is just decent. Not outstanding.

Bad, slow service. Manage to forget some orders and had the audacity to accuse us of not ordering. What little sashimi that came tasted stale. Will never return!!!

Came here for dinner with some friends. The food was pretty good… until both my boyfriend and I came down with rashes a couple of hours later :(
Will not be returning again!

Good food, slow service on account of crowd. We had to wait 15 minutes in line despite arriving at noon. The sushi counter chef was friendly and gave good suggestions for the freshest seafood. Counter seating cramped and servers often handed hot items over shoulders from behind. I had the hokkaido-​don which is a version of chirashisushi. The tuna was really fresh and the vinegared rice perfect.

I wasn’t impressed by this place and probably would have given it three stars based on my charitable American Unilocal rating scale, but I refuse to have my review of a place that left a bad taste in my mouth actually raise it’s average score. I definitely expected more though after seeing the enormous queues when the place opened. The sushi was small even for Singapore and the maguro was unusually dark and hard. Do people like this place because it doesn’t feel Japanese? I don’t get it.

They have good sushi and they have cheap sushi, but they don’t have good, cheap sushi. My wife and I have deeply divided opinions about this place. She loves it, but I’ve been disappointed every time. I think it comes down to our different expectations for a sushi restaurant. I like the simple, basic things: hamachi, toro, unagi; while she wants the «top shelf» experience: salmon belly, aji, uni. Hamachi is my yardstick for a good sushi place and theirs is TERRIBLE. I’ve tried it on two separate occasions. But I agree that the salmon belly is quite good.

All I’ve known of Itacho Sushi until I tried it yesterday was that it had an outlet at Ion with perpetually long queues (an immediate turn off for me because it means a) there’s some price gimmic b) the food is good but table management is antiquated c) it’s a die die must try place and I need to muster the energy, patience and hunger to go stand in line… none of which are enjoyable dining experiences to look forward to). On new year’s day at 9pm, I thought maybe it would be a great idea to grab some sushi at Star Vista since it was nearby. There wasn’t a queue and we got seated pretty quickly.
A quick glance through the menu explained why this chain is probably popular — they have one or two items that are priced ridiculously cheap and there are «20−50%» offers on a product of the month. Other than that the sushi is actually pretty expensive. To put this in context, I’m the sort of person who likes eating good food that’s of good value if I’m paying for it and unconcerned about the price if someone else is picking up the tab (usually for work). I therefore abhor chains like xyz-​sushi/​sushi-​xyz that serve crap on conveyor belts and I used to frequent Sakuraya Fish Market pretty often until they started letting standards slide. Gimmicky promotions therefore don’t really appeal to me and I’m looking for innovative or really fresh, well executed sushi and a filling meal for two at around $ 40 at a suburban location. Here’s what I got…
We ordered 6 pieces of the spicy lobster sushi, a tuna and chives «roll», an avocado and soft shell crab «roll», a «crab» meat salad, pumpkin tempura and a grilled mackerel. The «crab» meat salad came first and it was really a pile of un-​chopped lettuce, a dollop of avocado mayo (with an emphasis on the latter) and surimi sticks. Guess I should have known eh. Next we got the sushi. The spicy lobster sushi was about $ 1.20 a piece and it wasn’t substantial to say the least. Granted, the rice was suitably vinegared and mixed with black sesame seeds and roe, which scored innovation points, and the lobster was slathered in sauce as described… but the sushi was small. The tuna and chive roll was more balanced and didn’t assault the tongue like our first sushi, but the roll consisted of 4 pieces? The last roll took the cake at 2 pieces. I thought the fish was decently fresh but not mind blowingly fresh-​off-​the-​boat fresh like you would get with port-​side sashimi joints in Japan.
The pumpkin tempura was fine but again, portions were small. The grilled mackerel, a cheap and common grill dish at restaurants, was decently sized here but almost $ 4 – 5 more than what I’d pay at Sakuraya. Total bill was $ 60 and boy did we have to spend that amount at this supposedly cheap joint to feel full. Small point to note too is that they close at 10pm and have a strange last order policy at 9.20pm.
Would I go to Itacho Sushi again? Probably not. Would I line up for «cheap» sushi that’s limited to two pieces per customer? Err right I’m sure Oliver Twist dining went out of fashion before the stone age. Was the sushi life changing? Heck no but I’m guessing it’s a step up if you’re the kind who likes to eat at chain restaurants and thinks that eating food by the piece is somehow more economical.