Igibon Japanese Restaurant

Came here for lunch and was amazed. Great food for an awesome price. He staff was nice as well.

Food decent for the price. Our first waitress was pretty shoddy. She took orders for half of our party and then promptly peaced out without warning, leaving the rest of us hanging. I think she went to take care of a customer who had come to pick up some take-​out? Anyway, when she reappeared, I asked if I could have a veggie tempura lunch bento box instead of the shrimp tempura lunch bento box… which COMES WITH veggie tempura, she suggested I get the more expensive veggie tempura dinner entrée. When I asked her the question again to clarify, she barked at me, «No! We can’t do substitutions!» Ended up getting the veggie (cucumber + avo) roll and a cucumber roll which were aight. Second waitress was much friendlier but we didn’t interact with her too much. Also, the wait for our food was quite long considering we were only one of two parties when we first sat down.

If you want sushi this place is the truth. Absolutely love everything I’ve had here. The Igibon Roll is completely over the top it is so delicious. The wait staff was very friendly and courteous and there was a nice quiet environment to enjoy your meal in.

Fine for the price. Presentation was much nicer than the photographs on the menu. Beef perfectly cooked and seasoned. Sushi was serviceable, I suspect other reviewers’ assessment of ‘best authentic sushi in Little Rock’ is probably true. Service very rapid, but we were nearly the only ones in the place, which I found a disappointment.

I grew up in San Francisco and grew up eating Sushi my whole life and I can say with all honesty that this is the most authentic sushi restaurant in all of Arkansas.
The fish and veggies are fresh and the host was very accommodating.

Another place to surpass my expectations on sushi in Little Rock. This place is hands down way better than Kobe and Sushi house on quality. I would say the sashimi and donburi are both very well made. just as well made as if you were to have it in SF or New York.
Best of all, this place is really well priced!

Ordered California roll, tuna sushi, salmon sushi, and mackerel sashimi. The salmon, tuna, and California roll came out together and were good (though the roll was on the small side). Unfortunately, I had to wait an additional 20 minutes to get the mackerel sashimi. Wish I had never ordered it. Tasted like it had been kept frozen and then defrosted in warm water, hence (im guessing) the additional wait time.

I’m a loyal customer of this small restaurant. The quality of the sushi here is decent and the small lady owner is very friendly and passionate, which is what anyone would look for in a restaurant owner. I normally enjoy the more traditional sushi but due to the location (Arkansas) I can’t expect fresh top quality raw seafood. I order their rolls instead and boy are you in for a treat! Highly recommend the spicy crawfish roll and the igibon roll. They are. Must for me and any of my friends who dine here.
The only negatives I have for this is the slow service. Service is not rude or horrible by ny men’s, just slow. Don’t expect a quick meal.
On the side note: the sushi chef can certainly improve the quality or the skill to make sushi rice.
Overall great atmosphere and good food if you do not mind the slow service! Will be going back

Not bad. Not quite sold on it

I went to Igibon for lunch, and very appropriately ordered a lunch bento box. It came with a lot of different stuff. It was satisfactory. It came with a lot of different tempura and a weird looking sausage I couldn’t identify.
It irked me a bit that they put an ungodly amount of rice in their sushi, which to me, it only means that they want to ensure fuller stomach rather than happy stomach. Other than that, everything else was satisfactory.

My favorite sushi, and perhaps restaurant, ever! Ask for the Phoenix Roll (not on the menu) and you will not be disappointed!!! I just moved back and cannot get enough.

Love this place — its an every Saturday thing.

First time here & I must say, the reviews are pretty spot-​on. Sat @ the sushi bar (there are only 4 seats @ the bar) but service & food was very good. I got the crawfish roll & really enjoyed it. Would certainly go back.

We used to come here quite regularly, but that was several years ago before Fuji opened in Conway. But I was here recently and was reminded of how friendly the people are and how delicious the food is.
I called an order in yesterday because I was really craving a Philadelphia roll, which is not on my usual sushi order. I asked a friend who is a fan of sushi to suggest a place I could pick up a delicious roll to go, and she named Igibon. I called it in, made another errand stop and arrived to pick it up within 15 minutes. When I walked in, a woman who seems to own the restaurant (or feel a great deal of ownership!) came strolling across the dining area, smiling, saying, «To go? Philadelphia roll?» I nodded and she came to the check-​out area, saying it was all ready. I paid (and tipped her… she was SO friendly!) and was out the door lickety-​split.
Now, the décor of Igibon is more like 80s casual restaurant, not contemporary sushi restaurants, although the area around where the sushi chefs work is definitely Japanese in decoration. But it is comfortable, with soothing lighting, not too dim, not too bright. It’s a small place and cozy.
When I got home, I opened up the to go box and was so delighted with the size of the roll, which was not small like grocery store sushi is. The roll was wide and stuffed with delicious, fresh salmon, cream cheese and avocado. It was exactly what I was craving and hit the spot.
I’m grateful to my friend for reminding me of Igibon. I’ll be back for lunch or dinner soon. I had somehow forgotten how delicious the food is and how friendly and comfortable this restaurant can be.

Bad customer service. Called in for take out at 6:12, went there at 6:47. was told they were working on my food and «it’ll take a couple mins». At 7:00, I asked how much longer it’ll take and the waitress sheepishly said they haven’t started. Beware of service (take out at least)

After my horrible, frustrating, «never want to go back there» experience I had at the Sushi Café a few weeks ago, I’ve decided to try out every sushi place in Little Rock with hopes I’ll never have to go back there for good sushi.
Unfortunately, I still haven’t found that sushi place. The food was good, and the service was really good, even though it was very slow. I didn’t have a problem with the slowness, because I was expecting it from all the reviews I read.
My fiancé and I try to only eat out once a week, and when we do the fat kid in us usually comes galloping out. We ordered the edomame & the crab puffs, both were excellent. It’s pretty much impossible to mess up edomame and the crab puffs were fantastic. I typically don’t like fried foods, but these were great. The dough was very crisp, and weren’t heavy and greasy with oil. I don;t care for sauces, so I just dipped mine in some soy sauce and I loved them.
We ordered five sushi rolls; the igibon, the Sakura, the spicy tuna, the volcano and the rainbow (my all time favorite period). I didn’t care for the igibon roll at all. It had way too much rice and you couldn’t even taste the seafood inside of it. We didn’t even finish the order, which never happens. My fiancé’s favorite was the spicy tuna. It was delicious. It definitely had some spice to it and it was crunchy, which I’ve never experienced in a spicy tuna roll before. The volcano roll had potential, but I hated the presentation. It was eight rolls, in four stacks of two. The top layer was drenched in sauce. I didn’t care for the top, sauce covered piece, but the bottom one, which was very light on the sauce, was delicious. The rainbow roll was great as usual. Very light & fresh and I gobbled it up. My favorite for the night though was the Sakura roll. It was salmon, avocado and was amazing.
The sushi was definitely delicious & fresh. The rolls just aren’t as inventive as what I usually have back home in Charlotte or at the Sushi Café. The décor is also very plain. It was like sitting in an old fashioned cafeteria. One of my favorite things about going out for sushi is that I typically go to very trendy restaurants, and that just is not Igibon. My biggest complaint with the food is that there aren’t a lot of options. Most of the sushi seemed to be made of crab and there was way too much rice. The pieces were large, but there wasn’t much to them beyond rice.
I’ll definitely return, but I’m still searching for a truly fantastic sushi/​customer service experience in Little Rock.

Igibon has had the best Japanese food in Little Rock since they opened their doors in…1998, I think. They suffered a fire from the restaurant next door and had to close down for about 6 months, that was in 2000 I think.
We have had many dozens of good meals there. Especially noteworthy is the Yellow Tail Tuna in the «Twin Sashimi» dish.
Also very noteworthy is the «Igibon Roll.» It’s a creamcheese roll that is dipped in tempura batter and flash-​fried. Then sliced into 10 pieces and drizzled with Eel Sauce. Very tasty, and perfect for dessert.
The Spicy Tuna Roll is the best I’ve ever had, anywhere in the world, including Manhattan, Orlando, Dallas, Los Angeles, St. Louis, London, Brighton (southern UK), Melbourne (Australia), New Orleans, Toronto (Canada), and probably some other places I’ve since forgotten.
I’ve not had much appetite for sushi in the last couple of years, but returned tonight for the first time in maybe a year. To my surprise, they are now under new ownership and management.
There is lots of new china, but little else has changed.
The quality of the fish was as good as it ever was, the presentation was still lovely, and the prices are about the same. We will continue to enjoy our visits to Igibon.

My family visited this restaurant after reading the reviews. Overall it is a decent eatery. The place itself is neat and clean with minimal Japanese décor and without fuss.
Sushi chefs appeared to be efficient and did a good job with the dish presentation. I like all the items we ordered, especially a peanut-​based spicy sauce served on Volcano roll and rolls with snapper.

I seem to have great difficulty finding a good sushi place in Arkansas. Most of the sushi restaurants in Arkansas are more of the hibachi and sushi combination style restaurants. However, Igibon was able to differentiate from the rest and concentrate just on the sushi and dine in specials without a show. I appreciated that mostly because I hate coming out of a restaurant smelling like what I just ate.
They had a great selection of dishes as well as sushi rolls. I decided to go with the Oyako Don which is a chicken rice bowl with egg, mushroom, and onions all steamed together (a tad salty). I also ordered the Igibon Roll which was basically a deep fried roll with the imitation crab meat and cream cheese. I ate about 3 pieces and took the rest to go. It ended up in the trash… The meal was also accompanied with a bowl of miso soup.
Overall, Igibon was not the greatest, but certainly has potential. I believe they are catering more to the local palette, which is understandable. Nice little restaurant with a real Japanese feel, even though there seem to be mostly Koreans running the place.

Let me start by saying that in a sushi restaurant, things WILL be slow due to several factors. There is usually only one or two sushi chefs who make all the orders and keeping a clean and fresh work station takes time. This isnt a buffet line where they throw stuff together. It is a series of events that take major skill levels and much time. If you are not waiting for great sushi then you are not in the right place.
Igibon is hands down has best sushi in Arkansas. There are several places that offer great sushi but Igibon offers great sushi and the variety that is second to none. Paul, the Sushi Chef, is someone who may or may not remember your name but he will remember what you ordered from him if you are at the sushi bar. My friends and I have been going here since around 2003 and I kick myself in the ‘ahiroll’ for not doing this sooner. She actually brought that up last time I was in town and so here it goes.
When you go you must wait for a spot at the sushi bar itself. You are right there and Paul is eager to answer your questions and explain at length what he is doing. All you have to do is ask. There are so many rules and regulations in owning a sushi bar and the inspection and quality control is a must and Igibon understands that.
The staples that we get when we go are as follows, Spicy eel, spicy salmon, spicy tuna rolls with yellowfin and salmon sashimi. The Arkasnas Roll and the Little Rock Roll are awesome.
You never know who you will run into in this place. Many of the local news anchors and reporters go there as well as rock stars. Ben Moody and Amy Lee’s family have both been spotted there and rightly so. The food is as fresh as it gets and the service is slow, AS IT SHOULD BE, but very personal.
Pencil a date/​night with the one you care about and make sure that you have several hours to spend and you will eat the best sushi that Arkansas has to offer.
FYI. If any of you ever wondered why Japanese Chefs would even think about taking the powerful tasting wasabi and pickled ginger and serving them with the delicate flesh of a wonderful fish, here is the answer. Many are thought that the introduction of the two have a two fold answer. One to cleanse the palate and taste buds after eating the different pieces so each you can get the true essence of each fish and the other reason that they both may be HELPFUL in killing off any parasites and bacteria that MAY reside in teh fish. Who knows. I am a purist. No soy sauce or wasabi for me. However, I do love the pickled ginger when I am finished.