akiba

akiba, akiba!. it was love at first sight and then love at first bite! akiba obviously employed agreatinterior architecture or stylist before fitting the joint out. the pop-culture, comic-book styling and references absolutely kill it. juxtaposed against a timber cut-off wall and i had died and come to eye-ball happiness heaven. we argued over the menu (small bites, raw dishes, share plates and sides) for a while before deciding on something from each.

out first was the kingfish sashimi with sambal, coconut and coriander. no words can describe the absolute ambrosia of this dish. i wish i could eat it every day. no word of a lie. other standouts included the pork buns, braised beef, and chinese broccoli with penang. my colleagues also raved quite strongly about the tuna tartare, although i wasn't a fan. the only let down was the crispy soft shell buns which did not go down well.

wonderful service, the cocktail menu looks amazing, killer tunes andgreatambience. can't wait to go back and try the 45pp 8 course tasting menu!

newcomer  akiba  is all about modern asian share dishes.  the space is modern and trendy, with plenty of outdoor seating; perfect for a sunny day lunch.  the dishes at akiba are best described as modern asian - the menu has a mix of flavours, inspired by japanese, chinese, korean, thai etc. it's a hard decision to choose what to have for lunch; everything on the menu sounds delicious. kimchi and angasi pancakes the pancakes were tasty, served with the spicy kick of sriracha and kewpie mayo. the angasi was barely discernible though.  beef short rib perfectly cooked short rib that just falls to pieces with a nudge of the fork. the flavours are lovely with the addition of tamarind caramel and thai basil.  yellowfin tuna served with organic japanese soy and wasabi panna cotta. good produce does not need much fancying up, and the tuna speaks for itself. the wasabi panna cotta is an interesting concept, though is quite mild and does not really add much in the flavour department.  cocktails - summer spritz and gaijin fizz the summer spritz was a refreshing blend of sake, bubbles, lychee and coconut - very easy to drink. my gaijin fizz included tanqueray gin, aloe vera, pandan and bananas; soundinggreaton paper, but this combination just did not work for me.  i left wishing i had room for more dishes and dessert as there were quite a few dishes i had my eye on - definitely will be back again!

best meal out i've had in years. flavours were spot on, service wasgreatand the meals came out so quick we were shocked.
i highly recommend to anyone that enjoys an adventurous meal

best place out. definitely love the vibe food is amazing japanese fried chicken was amazing. the staff are agreatbunch of people. best place i've been to in canberra for a long time

new to canberra.greatvibe and service, with brilliant flavoursome food. would highly recommend checking it out!! i'll be coming back for the chicken and prawn dumplings and everything else on the menu i didn't get to try :)

must visit in canberra. a friend recommended i visit here while in canberra. sat at the bar and i couldn't be happier with the service and drinks. food and cocktails are on point and eddie tookgreatcare of me, ask for him at the bar!

great foodgreatstaff excellent cocktails. the service was very friendly and quick. we are having a fun night but please please turn the music down 🙏

good for being new, but eh.. this place isgreatfor canberra, that's for sure. our city's been waiting for these flavours and these vibes for a while, we tired of suburban chinese and sammy's oh so long ago and a reinvigoration of asian flavours has long been overdue. all other major cities in australia have been on this wave for years now, so i'm sorry, but akiba is not unique.

in fact, i'd go so far as to say that it's a rubber stamp of.. chin chin? supernormal? a little bit of ms g's maybe? but with a rather bad playlist to boot.

i've got no real issues with akiba. i've been half a dozen times, but every single visit has had enough significant mistakes to make me want to go back less and less. the vegetarian items that weren't in fact vegetarian, and then the waitress that argued with me over what being a 'real' vegetarian was. having all 5 dishes that we ordered at the table in 15 minutes, even before we'd barely started our first cocktail was a bit much. perhaps maybe it should decide whether it's a bar or a restaurant?

the oh so surly door girl is an interesting feature. makes me feel like i'm at a proper, highly organised restaurant. but really, what's the point of booking when my waiter, or the kitchen, can't be bothered to organise their service speed enough so that all the plates we ordered aren't in front of us getting cold?

also, the jfc is the most nothing dish i've ever paid for.

actually, so many aspects of this place are so contrived it makes me cringe. the loud, awkward drake club beats, the gross akiba snapbacks, and the staff trying so hard to be something they're not. take it down a notch, who are you trying to impress..

but really, it's good for canberra. the drinks are awesome, a good part of the menu is great, and it's something our city needs.

it's a good injection of trendy, but still don't take us for stupid, uncultured philistines, akiba. don't treat us like silly punters because we've eaten your kind of food before, and we've seen the others who've been doing a far better job of it for longer.

great service andgreatfood. try everything! ask for recommendations!

immersive sensory and emotive experience. my first visit i stumbled solo into akiba needing a coffee. warmly welcomed i selected a seat at the bar, affable and deftly confident and competent hospitality professionals were apparent and actively engaged with their craft and their customers all around. the food was creative, thoughtful and fun. each of the four dishes i had was an experience in and of itself.
i came back in the evening for dinner with my family, now we've just spent two hours post meal cogitating the joys and wonders ofgreatdining experiences.

great service and outsantidn food! every dish is a journey to new and fantastic flavours. i've been in canberra for about 3 months from melbourne and being to many restaurants and this one is definitely the jewel of the civic.greatatmosphere as well. totally recommended

everything is true. all the reviews i read were spot on, interesting food,greatdrinks, attentive staff and super quick service. we ordered two rounds of food after 6:15 and still made it to the ticket booth for a 7:00 movie at the dendy.

dish we went back for: kimchi pancakes.

soft shell crab bao. soft shells crab bao


-----17 jan, 2015-----

arguably one of the best restaurants that has emerged onto canberra's foodie scene. attentive service, unique/delicious drinks menu, and of course the food was incredible. we selected a number of things to share, and the yellowfin tuna took the cake - literally melted in our mouths. fresh and simple ingredients made into something great, withgreatprice tags. well worth a visit any night of the week.

what the city needed!. if you don't likegreatfood, service and wine don't go. i've been back twice and will be there again over the weekend. not only is itgreatvalue the food is amazing!.
love the atmosphere, the music is on point and the staff are welcoming and friendly.
akiba will be my go to place, this place will definitely be around for a lonnnngggg time!

if you haven’t gone there yet, go!

good work boys!

kd

akibaaaaaaaaaaaaaamazing. wow! on par with some of the best restaurants in melbourne and sydney! canberra is definitely winning with akiba! we had the oysters (extremely fresh and tasty), pork belly bun, jfc chicken with hot sauce and roast broccoli with blue cheese yum yum yum - along with 3 bottles of beautiful shiraz. service was fast. such agreatvibe - definitely a regular one hunnnnnnid.

shut up and take my money!