\"Do you like Mother Nature?\" This question came after the check. It was on the heel of a discussion about mountain biking and camping. South Mountain. Camelback. San Francisco Peak. He liked it all. In fact, he liked to talk. He being the owner, I mean. \n\nMy friend and I arrived around 5:30 for dinner. We were greeted right away and shown a table. Our Kirin Lights shortly followed. The sushi menu offered nigiri, sashimi and their roll selection, which included one called \"Phoenix Suns.\" The owner soon embarked on striking up a conversation with us. His English was somewhat broken, though. I let my friend do the talking. I added, \"We'll trust you\" when it was decided that we'd let him pick a roll for us and put together a sashimi platter. \n\nWhile we waited, we sampled the miso soup and drank our beer. Soon, a brightly colored roll came to our table. \"Spicy Slim\" is what we were told it was. We had no idea what it was, until the owner came over later to chat some more. Crab on the inside, tuna on the outside - covered in spicy sauce. Well then. It was pretty tasty, especially with the coating (like small, white crunchy flakes). It got pretty spicy the more you ate. \n\nSoon the sashimi came. We had peppered and seared salmon (yum), extra white tuna, ahi tuna, yellow tail and salmon. Each piece was very good. The sizes were generous, too. The sahsmi came with two small dipping bowls, too. Sort of a mild spicy sauce, an alternative to soy. The sauce was a great complement to the meal. \n\nMy friend wanted more. Man, she can pack it away! So, we ordered some mackeral nigiri and a caterpillar roll. The mackerel was very good, although I thought the rice it laid on was a bit too sticky - hard to chew. The caterpillar roll was good, though. It was your basic eel meets avocado. The eel sauce was sweet without being overly sweet and overpowering the taste of the roll. \n\nOverall, a great meal! The service was also great - although a bit too attentive. Considering we were the only patrons (minus a couple sitting at the sushi bar), they were just waiting around to serve us. In fact, they tried to take our miso soups away twice before we were actually finished. \n\nAlso, there was the chattering - the owner striking up a conversation after we paid, when we are about to get up from our seats. First it was about basketball, since on the big screen I saw that it was about to be Bedlam (Oklahoma State vs. OU). Funny, considering I went to OSU and my friend is a big Sooners fan. I think the owner wanted to see us throw down. Who knows. In any case, basketball talk soon turned to travel (Hawaii was a hot topic) and the outdoors. We gradually weened the conversation to a flutter and left. \n\nAs we were pulling away, my friend said, \"Oh god, he's outside waving to us.\" It was true. He was outside, alright, bidding us adieu. Some may call that spectacular service. I think that was over doing it a bit much. Yet, what else had he to do? It seems the FBR had devoured most of his dinner patrons. Besides, he did admit that Ichi Ban is more of a hot lunch spot for the surrounding businesses. \n\nAs for the bill, it came to about $100. True, we did order some more expensive fish (like the white tuna), but it was not worth $50 a person. No way, no how. Especially since you felt like you stumbled upon an obscure shopping plaza and into a sushi diner, not a restaurant. (Case in point: They have a seperate counter to take orders for teriyaki rice bowls and the like.) The decor didn't so much bother me, though. It was the extra attention. I guess I just don't like being spoiled (that's one way to look at it). \n\nPlus, the owner is Korean. We know this because they were speaking to each other in another language, and my friend picked up on it. He was Korean alright. She should know. She married one.
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