akiba

the downside is the loud music. the upside is seriously nice food. the prawn and chicken dumplings were sublime, the fried rice generous in its ingredients and the beef ribs were tender, sweet, sticky goodness. highly recommend.

this restaurant has really great reviews, so we decided to come for dinner tonight and even at an early time of 5.30pm the restaurant was buzzing and had a great atmosphere.

service from staff were friendly and very accommodating when we needed to change the dishes slightly so it wasn’t too spicy for my son.

we started off with the tuna tartare which was a great way to start and then my son loved their corn pancakes that came in 4 small pieces. this was made not spicy for us and he wanted another order after he had the barramundi with rice and chinese broccoli. we also tried their roast duck with sichuan and orange. this wasn’t the best duck we have tried and it is a generous serve.

food is slightly overpriced but the quality is there, while i’m glad i got to try it, i won’t be rushing back when i visit canberra next.

他们对辣白菜是不是有什么误解？ 我的辣白菜泡饼 竟然是中国式的酸菜 。。😂😂😂😂哈哈哈哈 我真的也很醉。 但是叉烧面 还是不错的呢！ 额 我说的是叉烧而已。 面嘛 就还好啦。
不过很好的是 他们还有送一张明信片剩下的字我是瞎打的。
啦啦 akiba 还行 一半就给个3分吧。

when you’re in a new place and you don’t know where to go- akiba offers a great vibe, food fun and just an all round great night.

we only arrived in canberra on friday for the weekend and hadn’t made any bookings, so when we came by at 8:30pm- we could see that the place was jam packed. luckily, for a table of 2 we only had to wait 20min for a seat.

the point of akiba is to try lots of different drinks and dishes to share- and they even had a yum-cha style trolley offering off menu dishes that the chefs had whipped up to use customers as taste-testers.

food and drinks were tasty and definitely a great japanese fusion style, it’s not a cheap eat- but it’s not extortionate either. as long as you’re looking for a restaurant/bar with pumping tunes, loud vibes and everyone (staff and customers) shouting “eyyyyy!” when the kitchen drops a plate - then you should definitely check akiba out.

went here for a late friday night dinner with friends. we all ordered the just feed me option. all dishes were out of this world. the food was amazing. kingfish, bao, rice, pork belly, dumplings. amazing deconstructed cheesecake dessert. the three of us didn’t have one single criticism for the whole night. service was friendly and efficient. the long island was nice and strong.

asian fusion cuisine at its best. great food. great atmosphere. great service. good music. a must visit in canberra.
it's all about sharing.

honestly, the restaurant is overhyped. despite being "recommended by the good food guide as one of the 'must trys', the pork belly bun was at best mediocre (ive had better ones); the acclaimed 'people's favourite' (can't remember the exact title) duck soup dumplings was a miss for us, we couldn't even finish half a dumpling; the salt and pepper sichuan squid with onsen egg was another miss for us--there was nothing "sichuan" about it and the egg was overcooked. the only dish worth trying is the ume oyster, that was delicious.

however, the design of the restaurant is stunning! although the atmosphere and ambience was a bit loud, the environment was very lively--perfect for a night out drinking with friends.

i have mixed feeling about this restaurant
the best dish ive tried was the kingfish sashimi and barramundi with miso.
the rest was ok.
their duck dumpling was sweet. the other dumplings was average too. fried rice was still wet, the flavour is there but its very light. the octopus was my least favourite, it has a weird fishy smell. the kobe skirt, its sad that the meat is drowned with a-lot of teriyaki. if its drizzled with thicker sauce it should be fine.

service. was average, i feel like the waitress rushed us, less than 5 minute after she gave the menu she returned to take my order. im alright with that cause the restaurant seems busy. the kitchen cooked all of our order in under 1 hour. i am super amazed.

if they change the menu i would definitely comeback.

akiba sits on bunda street, canberra’s main shopping strip. it presents youthful, contemporary pan-asian dishes, from a raw bar, barbeque and dim sum kitchen. it reminds me a bit of manly’s daniel san, though i’d argue the dishes here are slightly better. akiba also wins on the friendliness of their floor team, who take the time to make friends, as well as serve. we’re seated on comfortable stools at the raw bar. with a large function coming in at dinnertime, the chef is rapidly breaking down whole fishes. it’s clearly a space and menu designed around doing volume, which makes me suspect it isn’t the owner's first restaurant. my inquiries uncover that the harrington brothers, peter and michael, own akiba. they’re second-generation restaurateurs with sage and kokomo (a neighbouring 600-capacity canberra hotspot) also under their wings. drinks are obviously a big focus here, so we double-park with the ultimate boiler maker ($38). it teams my favourite japanese beer, echigo koshikikari rice lager, with a mild, dry wakashika ‘blue bambi’ sake cup. to avoid fomo (fear of missing out) we create a second boilermaker ourselves by teaming...

fantastic! superbly presently, delicate but full flavours, always incredibly fresh. i've never been disappointed with akiba, if i had to find a negative it's not about the food, it can get noisy, and the inside seating is stools which isn't to everyone liking.

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 a great restaurant there was a small wait , but great communication 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. food great as 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 any great product 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.

the hype of this place was high so husband and i decided to give it a go. to my surprise,it was one of the most enjoyable dinner i've had in canberra. food was great, we had the tuna tartare, which i thought was fantastic! it melts in your mouth and the sauce was yum! next we had spare rib, it was super tender and very tasty! we also tried the pork bun, i'll be honest, i had better ones, but this one's not too bad at all, still enjoyable. also, we tried the ume oyster, it was really good, so fresh and was just amazing. they i tried their cocktail, i forgot the name but it was really nice. now food aside, the ambiance was quite loud so bit difficult to hear when you're having convo. there was even a dj at the back which i thought was really cool, environment was lively full of lights and service was quick and people are nice. would i come back next time? definitely, can't wait to try other menus! xx

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

i'm in love with this restaurant, they have good bartenders and service crews willing to give u their best service. the food is definitely good, during this visit i tried their king prawn fried rice (doesnt looks like king prawn to me but watevr) and the softshell crab bun, both very tasty, definitely worth a shot!