akiba

asian fusion cuisine at its best.greatfood.greatatmosphere.greatservice. good music. a must visit in canberra.
it's all about sharing.

one of the best pieces of beef i have ever consumed - cooked to perfection, seasoned perfectly and super efficient service
as to be expected at agreatrestaurant there was a small wait , butgreatcommunication from the wait staff in dealing with this
great variety so don’t be afraid to take picky eaters here - should be enough on the menu to keep them quiet

so i am an akiba devotee since they opened doors but went last night and it was actually the worst service ever. more interested in covers. foodgreatas always but i booked, arrived on time and was rushed the entire time. "a 1.5hr cap" which i've not once been informed about, is apparently "normal service. the 'manager' came over to "make me feel better" by rapidly talking at me not with me for 10 minutes and taking no feedback or ideas with any grace. telling someone who has been a regular since they opened what he thinks 'normal' service is, left me cold, #akiba. the bit about being authentically hopspitable in hospitality, was utterly missing. eventually arrogance kills anygreatproduct or service offering and yes, i have worked in hospitality and know how tough it can be. in this town it's also fiercely competitive. this is #tough love for #akiba.

dinah and i visited akiba a couple of weeks ago to check out their expanded food menu now, and had agreattime sitting in front of the sashimi bar and chatting with the new apprentice sashimi chef.

i have mixed feelings about akiba. i do feel they are over-hyped and they get away by serving mediocre fusion food because they're in canberra (and not in melbourne or sydney). the tofu cheesecake (which they should disclose is deconstructed) is just a bowl full of goop with crumb over the top and it was very unappetising. unfortunately that is the standard dessert in the banquet and has been that way for the last 2years. on the other hand, of you order off their menu the josper octopus is delightfully tender with generous amounts of crisp potatoes and octopus. the kobe skirt is also highly recommended as the beef is perfectly rare and hasgreatflavour! perhaps, they bundle the inferior items on their banquet menu to sell more of them?

however, on my fifth visit to this restaurant for lunch today i was very disappointed. they advertised a $10 ramen lunch special and this is by far the smallest serve of ramen i have ever seen. from the top it looks like it is piled full of ingredients. the redeeming factor is that the pork belly slices were tender and the egg was perfectly poached. however, let's not kid ourselves it is obvious from the photo they serve their ramen in a saucer. the sides of the "bowl" is not much higher than the edge of the green plate that is next to it in the photo and is ridiculously shallow in the middle. even as a lunch serve it is grossly inadequate. the ramen was very very over cooked and not chewy at all. the texture of it was like the soggy and paste-y noodles you get from cup-a-soup chicken noodle soup packets. there was barely any noodles in the bowl and i left definitely still feeling hungry. also, the cooked mushrooms on the top were oddly sour for some reason. i'm not sure if they were supposed to be pickled but the sourness was very off putting and odd in this ramen.

i may go back to try their dinner menu but i certainly won't be going back for this pathetic rendition of ramen. save your money and go anywhere near by like the asian noodle house or cbd dumplings and get yourself a human sized serve of noodles.

amazing food, fantastic atmosphere and agreatselection of drinks. my new favorite restaurant in canberra. will definitely be making it a regular outing!

✅ highly recommend the set menu. you get to try out a heap ofgreatdishes — i think it's the best value compared to getting several sharing plates.
✅ the bao is absolutely delicious, as is the fish!
⚠️ the wait is long in the unforgiving canberra cold nights.
💵 a little on the pricey side, but well worth a try.

went to akiba for dinner and opted for the $49 feed-me options. staff weregreatand changes to the courses catered to the table's dietary requirements. 

we definitely got some tasty asian fusion however no memorable dishes to mention.

great vibe, loved sitting at the bar enjoying the 'just feed me' meal. the food came fast and fabulous and was more than we could complete. friendly fun staff that were always aware of our needs. agreatfind.

great atmosphere although make sure you get a table that's not under the aircon!
food came out so quickly which wasgreatas we were hungry.greatfriendly service. highly recommend the chestnut dumplings and the hapuka. the fried rice was good but probably a bit too charred and the eggplant had way too much miso paste on it so it was pretty overwhelming for your tastebuds!

if you're visiting canberra, this is the place to try. i could see why akiba was voted number one restaurant for sure. our table of three came here for lunch on a saturday as dinner was fully booked out. to start, we had a couple of the fancy cocktails which were a bit on the pricey side but tasted pretty good. as the place wasn't busy, service was quick and staff were helpful and friendly. the decor was hip and funky with agreatatmosphere.

all the dishes we had were share plates so this is perfect for big groups too and means you can try lots of tasty little dishes. for entrée we had the tuna ceviche which was really fresh and delicious. we also had the raw kingfish which was the unanimous favourite of the group. it had a nice kick to it and yummy coconut dressing. we also had the pork belly and slaw buns which were a bit too sloppy and creamy for me but the prawn and chicken dumplings were top notch.

for mains we had the supercharged japanese fried chicken which were covered in parmasan cheese and came with mayo and sriracha sauces. deliciously crispy on the outside and moist on the inside. we also had the short beef rib - super soft and tender it just melted in your mouth and had a nice sauce.

overall, we were stuffed with delicious food and totally worth coming here. it cost us just over $150 for 3 people for 6 dishes and 3 drinks.

outstanding... a group of us treated in the 'just feed me' eight course option for an early dinner. outstanding selection of share plates, outstanding service, and agreatjam packed buzzing atmosphere!

we came here for mum's birthday and the 4 of us got the feed me menu, which was $49/pp and included 8 signature dishes. our favourite was the gua baos, kingfish (flavoursome), beef short rib (super tender) & the spicy prawn rice. since it was a public holiday and they were obviously super busy, the service was still amazing and quiet attentive. overall,greatatmosphere (kind of reminds me of the restaurants from melbourne) and definitely will be back in the future to try some of their other items.

what can i say about this place!!!! i walked by with a friend of mine and i said i really want to try it!!!!! i walked in at first the waiter said do u have a reservations i was thinking oh no!!!! well he got us two seat at the bar!!!

this place is amazing the vide is off the hook! the stuff asked us did we want a drink we said yes please we had wine,greatselection of wines cocktails and drinks!!!!

they explained how it's works there more for sharing, or u can get a feed me now option where they bring out 6 dishesgreatoption if u asked me, due to my diet conditions i was not able to do that option i wish i could have!!!!

i had sashimi it was amazing so fresh and it was really well balanced with herbs and what ever els they use! if u want a really upmarket place where the food is out standing weather it be a date or a group of friends this is your place, it's a little loud however the vibe is really really good!!! i

i can't wait to go back again!!!!

the presentation was much better then this however my friend was serving it up before i could get the photos :-(

highly recommend the ocean trout cheviche and the king fish dish. they have agreatjust feed me option for $45/pp and isgreatfor non vegos. this place is packed most nights and you better book. my fav place to sit is at the bar, you get a free show from the bartenders as well!