On a Sunday afternoon, Ichiban was packed.

Just beyond the front door, a collection of tables was pushed together so that more than 20 people could sit together. They were eating plates of food, and it looked pretty good.

The server immediately brought us out a bowl of clear broth with thinly sliced mushrooms and scallions to take the edge off any hunger pangs we might have while deciding our order.

As is the case at most restaurants with sushi, you need to place the order for it first if you want to eat it before your entree.

Anyone who really likes sushi knows that 50 percent of its score is based on appearance. And in appearance, the sushi at Ichiban gets a middle-of-the-road score.

Before being cut, the rolls of seafood, seaweed, vegetables and rice should have been rolled more tightly to prevent them from falling apart when being lifted off the plate.

But the taste was pretty good. The spicy tuna roll was just that: spicy, tiny pieces of raw tuna rolled up with rice and bits of vegetables. And it’s hard to go wrong with the California roll (sushi for the squeamish), because it’s cooked. The tempura shrimp roll was also good. The delicately sweet and battered shrimp was rolled with rice and then with nori (sheets of seaweed) before being cut.

The raw fish case looked clean and was neatly presented by the two sushi chiefs behind it.

For the entree selection, I selected shrimp and scallops with broccoli. It was cooked on a hibachi out of view from diners, as were most of the entrees.

Each dish comes with sliced onions and zucchini also cooked on the hibachi. There is a generous portion of lightly stir-fried rice and a whole bowl of dipping sauce.

My partner had the pork chop with the same accompaniments. The chop, really a small breakfast chop, was moist and tender.

The food tasted fine, but wasn’t extraordinary, and the presentation was bland.

Perhaps my expectations were too high since Japanese is in the restaurant’s name. For the Japanese, food and its serving is a production. Those expecting a traditional Japanese meal will be disappointed.

But if you’re just looking for a bit of a twist to the standard Asian fare around town, it’ll do just fine. In fact, the restaurant was given good reviews by many fellow employees who contend that I’m a food snob.

One thing that is cool about the restaurant is that servers took orders on small hand-held computers. As a result, in my listening in on the conversations of fellow diners, I didn’t hear anyone complain about getting the wrong order.

Ichiban Japanese Restaurant Steak Seafood and Sushi Bar

1423 U.S. 31-W By-Pass • 270-783-4110

Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily

Cost: $3 to $11.99 for entrees, $2 to $9.75 sushi

Smoking: yes

Libation: beer, wine and sake

– New restaurants are given an six-week grace period. Comments can be sent to Managing Editor Mike Alexieff by telephone at 783-3235 or by e-mail at malexieff@bgdailynews.com.