Wagamama has a worthy rival as long as you're prepared to take the full Japanese plunge

I'm sorry to fall immediately into the world of stereotype but Japanese restaurants surely stand for one principle, and it's got nothing to do with raw fish. Good service is the sine qua non of Japanese cuisine, possibly because all rude waiters are immediately taken out back by the owners and beheaded with a Samurai sword. That's what I heard in the pub anyway.

The good news for all in Canton is that there will be no rivers of blood tonight (except for in the Goscombe obviously). Step into Ichiban and as the fabric prints of rural Japanese scenes waft over your head in the curiously awkward lobby a smile is sure to follow. The waitresses here really are remarkable for their friendliness. I've never met a Geisha girl but sure as heck imagine one to be like an Ichiban waitress.

Just in case you want food as well (are you greedy or something?) you will have to navigate the ludicrously long and convoluted menu. It's also adorned with hideously captured thumbnail photographs, as if to convince you that all the food is totally disgusting. Besides, freedom of choice is something we fight wars for, not something I want in my restaurant menu. Not this much anyway.

Fortunately there is a neat short cut. The set meals (Teishoku) are by far the highlight and you might as well be done with it and order one. You'll be rewarded with a large platter of (probably) fried fish of the calamari kind, sushi, miso, salad, rice, a main course of stir-fried beef or suchlike, and probably a host of things I've forgotten. It'll set you back about a tenner, but it's worth the money just to avoid thumbing through those awful photos.

Not that the rest of the menu is without its merits. Beware if you're an unadventurous eater though. Starters like the Tako Su with its marinated octopus tentacles, seaweed, cabbage and sesame are for the true Japanese food lover, someone who enjoys a chef's attempts to capture the tastes and smells of the sea in a small china cup. There's plenty of good fish to be had too, especially the likes of the Tekka Don with its (raw) sashimi tuna slices on a generous mound of sushi rice, again accompanied by miso soup.

Whether Ichiban is a Japanese experience is for others to discern, but you'll certainly see twice as many Cardiff Japanese in here as in Wagamama. And if a bit of gastronomic adventuring takes your fancy tonight there are a good many worse places you could go.