Ichiro is the kind of place you dream about stumbling upon. Nestled on 15th Street just off Broadway sits this small shop. When you walk in you see Ichiro behind the counter making his delicious sushi. His infectious enthusiasm is, well, infectious and I ended up chatting with him about Japan for the better part of an hour. What started as me trying to find a place for a quick cheap bite turned into discovering a wonderful shop hidden away in downtown Oakland. For the food, let's start by saying I ordered the chefs nigiri special and got so much more than I expected for the price. The meal began with a remarkably good miso soup with thin noodles. The dashi was rich and the miso had a good flavor. A short wait later and I was presented with this gorgeous nigiri plate. The pictures may not do it justice, but these were some large nigiri. When I saw the size, I was worried as sometimes large cuts aren't as good. But here, the fish was great and the size just helped fill me up. To top it off, they gave me a delicious cooked salmon dish that was the perfect foil to the raw sushi. I have rarely had such a good experience in terms of cost, friendliness, and quality as I had tonight at Ichiro. I know I'll be returning to Ichiro on a regular basis. I suggest you give it a shot. Oh also the wasabi, while it wasn't fresh because... affordable sushi, was still a cut above the normal homogeneous wasabi flavored horseradish paste you find all over. This wasabi had that texture to it that makes it feel a little better and taste much better.