Grub Crawl - I Drive: Ichiban and Pao Gostoso Bakery

I went to these places on the north side of I Drive today for lunch.

Ichiban - I was dreading this encounter and they didn't disappoint. It's an Asian buffet that unconsciously provides you with a theme experience. That theme would be - holiday soup kitchen or post disaster gymnasium. The lunch buffet is $8. I used a 10% of coupon to see if they would cop out. They kind of didn't. They only discounted the buffet portion. That's a whopping eighty cents. You have to buy a two dollar soda to qualify for the discount. The only items that I dared to try were some sushi and butter shrimp and a fried crab claw. The crab claw was just paste fried around a crayfish claw. That is the funniest thing ever tried. The frozen crab claw they usually use is bad enough. The shrimp were ok. The sushi scared me. You can't take a culinary concept that requires better ingredients and use the worst of breed. They were using talapia! And talapia that had it's corners curling. I'm not sure if that was what did it or if it was the sale priced sausage from Publix (every sale item they sell is spoiled) I had last night, but, I had to use their two stall (not enough and already full by the way) restroom after plate one. *If you are observant enough, you will notice I said plate one - to my eternal shame. There were others even after the IBS*. They also tried some rainbow rolls, etc that did have ok salmon. That makes them less cheap than Koy Wan (who incidentally tried to tack on an extra $5 to my last signed receipt). The tuna was paler than me and they used talapia again. I had some ok spicy tuna rolls and avocado rolls. The real issue is the crowd and the cleanliness. They can't do much about the customers. They try and shelter their own people by having a "yellows" only side. And perhaps the "untouchable" people also create the mess. The carpet was littered with food and utensils. My cup was sticky. The rags I saw them "cleaning" the tables with could start a "Genesis"  like project on a lifeless planet. And of course the place was packed. I think it has been there for about a year. They didn't take any prizes and they didn't take Amex either.

Pao Gostoso Bakery - This place is in a little Brazialian enclave across from Sonic. They say they have been there for six years. I may have been here before. It's just a little bakery for sweets and hand held meals. I had a Chicken Esfirra for $3 and a Chicken Frango for $2. The first was a triangular soft roll with cheese and chicken inside. It was fresh even after a date with a microwave. The other item was a tiny, biscuit like chicken pot pie (sans veggies). Also, fresh. They had around ten sweets and ten savory items. They didn't list the prices. The place has three, connecting, open rooms. A patio. A main area. A tv room. Not bad.