akiba

i did intend on returning to akiba but not this soon, this was all timmyc’s doing, he was super keen! despite the bad weather, we head in with enthusiasm and we giggle when we are seated in our previous seats with the same server from our first visit (see my previous blog post here).

a definite must go!. fabulous service, fantastic food and great atmosphere! what more could you want? oh and all at a great price.

the service
service was nice and quick. a casual setting and casual staff to go with it - not pretentious and there to look after you and let you know what's what in the land of asian fusion.

the food
the pork and soft shell crab baos are to die for!! along with their enticing cocktail menu - i tried a few and let me tell you they are out of this world (so smooth it'll keep you coming back for more)!

the atmosphere
if you're like me, atmosphere and similar people hanging out at the place means it's bound to be good! the mood was casual chic and the people friendly. whether you're out for a nice dinner or a drink and dance, akiba has it all.

you will not regret going here. the harrington brothers have done it again and i love it.

new favourite place! omg i.... new favourite place!
omg i have been here 3 times already, twice for dinner and once for lunch, just keeps getting better. great food options and very well priced, means if there a few of you you can pretty much try one of everything without breaking the budget. stand out favourites are the kingfish sashimi, the kimchi pancake, the chicken bao and the oysters. have tried a few of the cocktails, snap crackle and pop and the spritz one that i can't quite remember the name of. so good. love the staff and how they all appear to have a fun time at work, clearly they are happy. get in here if you haven't already, so so good.

let down. service was good nice and friendly however running out of 2 types of beers was a sign i was not going to enjoy my meal on top of that they ran out of kingfish as well which was a big suprise seeing as the menu has like 20 items to chose from.
you would have thought they would have been stocked up with everything for 12:30 busy lunch time period.

also price were pretty expensive for you get

uncomfortable & overpriced. on visiting akiba tonight, i found the whole experience just a bit uncomfortable. when we arrived, the place was 3/4 empty so in asking for two seats in the restaurant we were sat right next to two girls on a tiny bar bench in front of the chef. i asked one of the staff kindly if we could be seated somewhere else. the manager walked toward us but then began talking to the two girls already sitting and eating at the bar as if they'd requested to be seated elsewhere...we were the ones standing on our legs (weird?). when i took 2 steps and let her know we were the ones looking to be moved, she laughed it off and we were given the choice of two different seats which seemed a pain in the arse for her as they had many big gatherings coming in tonight so it was a bit tough.

the drinks menu. overpriced. $20 for a cocktail which contains mainly fruit juice and one shot of alcohol. to be what we assumed was safe, i chose a zierholz wheat beer and my girlfriend chose a glass of sparkling. bad choice. both drinks - flat with little to no fizz.

the food menu. we ordered the kingfish sashimi, 1 pork bun, 1 soft shell crab bun & the salmon belly. the kingfish sashimi was quite delicious. a fresh hot flavour and it was really enjoyable. the pork bun was not too bad but they do better at ippudo in sydney. the soft shell crab bun was a complete let down. it was all bun and mayo with a tiny bit of crab that was 70% batter - avoid that one if you can. the salmon belly was really just like a basic salmon fillet - we could've done without it and the flavour wasn't anything to write home about, especially for the price.

other than that, 50 minutes later i took a quick walk to the other side of the restaurant and there were no massive groups covering any of the big tables so the awkward moment at the start of the night was fairly unnecessary as they weren't even at 50% capacity when we left.

i honestly don't mind or care paying a high price for a good experience, pleasant staff and well prepared food or drink but i know i won't be going back to akiba at all. btw, don't forget to bring cash if you visit. there's a 1.5% surcharge if you want to pay on eftpos. plus one of the staff had no idea they had an atm in the corner of their restaurant, hardly observant but putting the pressure on people to pay cash just seems dodgy to me.

not worth hype or price. so noisy (crap music) table of 6 couldn't have a conversation.
tiny portions at high prices $5 for half a potato skin. nothing substantial (rice, noodles) to fill you up in an attempt to keep you ordering little meat dishes at $20 a hit.
claimed on net they could do vego and gf (allergy). menu had 1-2 dishes each that didn't have an inappropriate ingredient (fish in the vego dish's butter) and didn't require substantial modification
made mistakes with our order.
lots of work and a 25% price reduction required to make this worthwhile.

disappointed. staff and atmosphere were good, however the food was extremely disappointing, particularly for the price. left feeling still hungry and wishing i went to soju girl. the flavour and quantity didn't match up to the price.. left and had sushi on the way home..

incredible venue amazing drinks and great food.

akiba - the best in canberra!. the service here is fabulous, mike and the guys are personable, fun and know their menu inside out. the best food in canberra and cocktail list that goes on for miles. our new favorite place for any night of the week!

-jess

daaaaaaaaaaamn!. get up in this joint, deep! so good, thanks to kat for making our experience all the more awesome. great food, good beer selections, 10/10.

possibly the most hotly-anticipated new restaurant in canberra in recent months, akiba invited the first 100 people through its doors on saturday night to have their first six dishes for free. akiba is a vibrant and fun casual dining establishment that has a lightning strike for a logo, always spells its name in capital letters and is named after a fire-controlling japanese deity. located in the actewagl building in civic, and inspired by akihabara, the electronics precinct of tokyo, there is a definitely an electric vibe to akiba!