akiba

i ate a weekend lunch here with friends. superb vibe and ultra friendly and helpful staff.

eclecticfoodwith good range of options. loved the crispy chicken and the beef dish but can't remember it's name.

shanghai noodles were tasty and the shiitake dumplings were spicy.

great place

akiba has a vibrant atmosphere with it's wood and black metal interior encouraging neat casual attire. the open kitchen makes it fun to watch the cooks in action and gives the assurance that yourfoodis being cooked under sanitary conditions. i arrived during its off peak hours so the wait staff were attentive and easy going. it's advised on the menu that they cannot alter any dishes however they have alternative menus to suit dietary requirements, such as a vegetarian menu.

i ordered the wok blasted mushroom (15) and those accompanying me ordered the kobe beef (33) and flounder fish (34).

the wok blasted mushroom dish was cooked just right - salty with a touch of sweetness and a light crunch. according to the others, the kobe beef was a little too salty with the teriyaki sauce overpowering the beef but still a delightful dish. the flounder fish was full of flavour, lightly salted and required alot of self de-bone-ing.

if you don't usually season yourfoodwith salt you may find the dishes to be too salty, otherwise you're in for a treat.

thoroughly enjoyed my night. great atmosphere and a quirky yet chic looking restaurant. chose a 'feed me' which is a set menu consisting of their top 8 dishes for $45 per head. i received 4 small tapa sized dishes, followed by 3 larger main dishes and 1 dessert. the stand out dish would have to be the pork steam bun and chocolate mousse.foodcame out within reasonable time and everything was super tasty. would definitely return and try other options on their menu.

fantastic dining... amazing food 
excellent service and wonderful saki
recommend this eatery to everyone  !!! 
we had the feed me menu ....and it was huge for us 
could barely finish 
but finish i did 
the dessert was delish

i've eaten here once for lunch and a couple of times for dinner. although thefoodis absolutely delicious, the portions are a little on the small side. as i have a big appetite, i tend to incorporate "value for money" as part of my experience. unfortunately, this part of my experience was not as great.

reasonably priced. adequate portion servings. not hungry when i left. all phrases which could not be associated with our experience tonight.

while thefoodwas actually tasty, the $120 bill for leaving hungry wasn't. it would have been nice if we could order the degustation which i had heard contained enough dishes to leave everyone satisfied. unfortunately this was denied as an option as - being non seafood eaters - varying the menu is apparently a crime punishable by enforced hunger.

the rest of our experience followed thusly: a parade of approximately 6 mouthfuls each of actually lovely food. it was kind of like they were teasing us. anyway, it suffices to say we were disappointed with our experience.

lucky dumpling house was open so we didn't have to die on bunda street of malnutrition and poverty.

i absolutely love akiba! it's one of my favourite restaurants and i highly recommend it to any one who asks me for restaurant suggestions. everything from the service, the vibe, the atmosphere, the drinks and of course thefoodare spot on. it gets really busy so if you can't book a table you might have to wait a little but but if there's just two of you and you have the option of eating at the bar then do it! it's so fun and you'll be amongst all the action. we also tried the jalapeño margaritas and wasabi vodka! they were so different but so good and there are heaps of other fun drinks to try. the sashimi and ceviche are delicious as is everything else on the menu. get dishes to share because it's a great way to try lots of food! they also offer a 'just feed me' menu and for only $45 you can try 8 of their favourite dishes. for thefoodyou get it's so cheap but it can come out a little fast. don't eat before you go and ask them if they can space it out as much as possible. i'm always satisfied when i go to akiba and highly recommend it. a full review will be on the blog soon.

fun, vibrant and great atmosphere, this place has it all to go along side the wonderfulfoodthey create in the back kitchen.

a modern take on yum cha is on the menu and boy do they reliever.

yes it's a little pricey but i don't mind considering you get in return a great night and good memories

akiba has been the name i've heard most in town. everytime i walk past it's booming with customers. i think it was inevitable that i had to dine here. i dragged a work mate and off we went. give me the "just feed me" deal... 8 of their favourite dishes to share.

beef short rib, tamarind caramel and thai basil - the serving came out small, but the quality was supreme. the sauce combination paired with beef that just dissolves in your mouth was a spectacular sensation. 

chinese broccoli and lemon penang - i was a bit disappointed with this being in their 8 choices to sample.. as chinese broccoli usually screams quite a boring dish. the lemon penang provided an unusual base flavour/sauce that however did carry the dish but still it was slightly underwhelming. on the bright side, at least i got my daily intake of vegetables.

king prawn fried rice, snake beans and chilli fried egg - the rice was well cooked with a touch of smokiness to it. the aromatic flavours presented made the dish and the touch of an egg brought it home.

kimchi and angasi pancake, kewpie mayo, sriracha and itogaki - first up itogaki is a blue fin tuna thats dried, salted and smoked... then served on top as a bonito flake like substitute. it offers a subtle smokiness and lighter flavours than bonito. the pancake was a nice balance of fluffiness and dense-ness... and paired with the beloved kewpie... how can you go wrong.

pork belly bun, char siu and asian slaw - the bun was fluffy, the meat was tender but the overall flavours was a tad on the sweet side. the slight chilli kick resonating from the sauce was a nice touch.

steam prawn and chicken dumplings, ginger and black vinegar dressing - the dish presented well and sounded fancier than it tasted. i could barely appreciate any extra efforts if any to make these dumplings stand out.

kingfish, coconut, nam jim and coriander - nam jim is just a thai dipping sauces to offers a salt, sweet, spicy and sour flavours. this drizzled on a fresh, soft kingfish was a great start to the meal. it even had a little bit of a chilli kick to get the appetite roaring.

steamed chocolate and passionfruit bun - this had to be the biggest let down of the night. i didn't appreciate the super sour passionfruit then combining with an overly sweet chocolate oozing from the asian style bun... it just felt like two worlds colliding on my plate. after a few bites, i literally pushed it aside.

they had a nice collection of beers and wines to help pair up with each dish. i noticed thefoodcame out rather fast, one after the other like it was already sitting in a queue waiting for us to finish.

since this place packs out faster than a boxing day sale, i highly recommend a booking. book through dimmi's and collect some points along the way. the service was top notch, very friendly and had decent knowledge of thefoodthey were serving. depending where you were sitting, the room volume due to chatter can get quite loud. 

i suppose the question of would i go back again... umm maybe... thefoodwas good, the price tag is a bit high to make it a regular occasion but i'd definitely take wifeofsnackingbear when she's in town.

dinner last night - great food. no booking but arrived 6.20pm & told had to be out by 7.45pm which we agreed to believing there to be plenty of time to eat & enjoy our meal. then another waitress informed us had to be out by 7.30pm. contradiction but still felt comfortable with time to order & eat although confused re change of time. ordered 7 courses & couldn't believe how quickly they were placed in front of us, so much so we had 6 courses delivered within 15' & when the 7th arrived a few minutes later we actually sent it back to the kitchen and requested it be held until we had eaten what had already arrived. meal completed by 7.05pm and out the door by 7.15pm. foodreally good & i will probably go back but staff need to learn to either not accept walk-ins or treat them with a little bit more respect - we still pay the same price as the customers who book & have a right not to feel rushed & enjoy our meal, especially when there was ample time to do so! food4/5. staff - friendly but lacking in service industry knowledge. 2.5/5

nice play for a quick work/business lunch. it's clean and quite spacious. deliciousfoodfor a reasonable price. service is good,foodwas served pretty quick after ordering. i'll go back.

my husband and i received a voucher as a gift from some friends. we had $200 to spend so decided to take another couple with us who were visiting from interstate. without drinks, we ended up only spending $150 for a party of four, and had $50 left over to spend on our next visit (which we did for lunch a week later!) the service was friendly and efficient, and the interior is impressive with ample space away from other diners. we ordered a selection of small plates and some mains and sides to share. thefoodwas great (maybe a little salty at times) and as we had ordered too much, was too full for dessert but the options were sure tempting! we will definitely come back to try more items on the menu.

this funky fusion asian bar/eatery was bustling when we visited. apologies for the dim phone photos!

service was a little slow, ourfoodcame out weirdly spaced out and we had to order morefoodbecause we weren’t full. surprisingly, our favourite dish was the fried rice. it had some sort of chilli powder element to it and more flavour than your average fried rice.

the cocktails had some asian/japanese twists too!

think asian fusion tapas. nice atmosphere, thefoodwas moorish. we just kept on ordering one dish after another and all were very satisfying. last but not least the service was lovely.

even in my very short (and first) visit to canberra, i heard a lot about this place. its riding on lots of hipster hype. we had a booking (which in true hipster trend you can only do with 6 or more people), arrived early happily waiting for a spot & attempted to just have some drinks before starting to eat. the pressure was on from the massively quirky and annoying staff to orderfoodfrom the get go. uncomfortable park table seating means by the end of your night you need physio on your back just to stand up. thefoodwas good, even great, but i struggled with the service and i think its too hip for itself & its big ego.