One Two Three Sushi

I had the pork belly ramen. This is a staple dish when it comes to Japanese ramen. Although I’ve only had this dish at Zen Box on Washington and Unideli at United Noodles in South Minneapolis, the quality of 123’s pork belly ramen is definitely inferior. The broth seems flavorless, the pork belly appears to have been fried/​preheated, and there was really no original substance to it (although this is just my opinion). The portion was time but lacks substance.
Also, for the price of over 10 bucks after tax it just seems to be over priced. Honestly, if it were to have been only $ 6 I’d still second guess ordering it.
I’ve yet to try their sushi or other dishes but based on my ramen experience I am not likely to return.
The staff seemed nice and service was prompt. I hope they improve their ramen. I would love to have a good ramen lunch spot for my lunch breaks downtown so I’ll stay tuned to the reviews. Who knows, maybe they’ll see this and make some improvements.
The location is also very clean and neat looking. I’ll give them that.

In the NW corner of the US Bank Plaza skyway. It’s a new location that seems not a lot of people know about, because it had no line at lunch. I got chicken-​katsu steamed buns and a side of gyoza. The steamed buns are a sort of taco made with a thick, steamed dough and topped with your choice of meat, cucumber, a vegetable mix with lettuce, and a seasoned mayonnaise sauce. I’ve never had steamed buns before so I’m not sure if this is unique to this restaurant but they were very tasty and filling. You get three in a box, freshly made, for $ 7.
A delicious, quick lunch for under $ 12 (without drink). I definitely want to try their ramen as I’ve never had «real» traditional ramen.

Super fun place to eat in the skyways! And I should know — I’ve been eating here once a week lately, which is kind of embarrassing. I love that you can design your own sushi and rice bowls with whatever you want, and on top of that, you can use the nutrition calculator on their website. The sushi building options include about 10 kinds of sauces and all kinds of authentic and not-​so-​authentic fillings, so you can totally have fun with it and build exactly what you want. The rice bowls are my favorite, which cost about $ 8.50 — not bad for a big bowl of delicious food that’s reasonably fresh and healthy. You get to choose between brown and white rice, a protein (tofu, if I’m being healthy, or chicken katsu, if I’m not), three toppings (including beautiful soft-​boiled whole eggs), and a sauce. I’ve heard less-​than-​stellar reviews of their ramen, but I’ve yet to try it. Happily, this new place is way less crowded than the IDS location, with fun décor to boot.

When 1,2,3 Sushi opened its third downtown location in U.S. Bank Plaza, I was one of the first in line — for Ramen, the perfect lunch an a too-​frequent rainy days in Minneapolis. I’ve tried a handful of noodle shops along University Ave, and was eager to see how well 1,2,3 could deliver when it comes to Ramen takeout.
1,2,3 handled long lunch lines in short order by dividing the lines for sushi seekers and those seeking hot dishes (ramen, rice bowls or steamed buns) — don’t let this throw you if you’re paying for someone sent to another line. You can reconnect at the cash register. They assembled my Pork Belly Ramen order quickly and prepped it for takeout by separating the broth from noodles and protein. This strategy worked well. It allowed me to tote it back to my desk without letting the noodles disintegrate.
Once reassembled, the pork broth, noodles and pork belly, accompanied with shredded pork and a few small fish cakes, filled the need. It didn’t wow me, but my ramen craving was satiated.
While 1,2,3 doesn’t match the variety, portion size, or value price of family-​owned noodle shops located along side the Green line in St Paul, it’s a reasonable (somewhat pricey) substitute for weekday lunch.