akiba

trendy restaurant serving modern asian food. best dishes were the grilled eggplant smothered in an addictive miso sauce, the smoky, tender octopus accompanied by more-ish bacon fat spuds and the snowball dessert which was a white chocolate mousse dome with a basil sponge base and a calamansi centre. the calamansi filling was sour and slightly bitter but this flavour bomb paired really well with the sweetness of the chocolate. the sashimi is also worth ordering; both the hapuka and ocean trout ceviche were fresh. funnily enough, we thought two of akiba's signature dishes were quite average - the king prawn fried rice was too soggy and quite bland while the beef short rib also needed more flavor. the egg noodles with lemon mushu chicken was surprisingly tasty. service was mostly friendly and on weekends, the place is packed.

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 your food is 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 your food with salt you may find the dishes to be too salty, otherwise you're in for a treat.

travelling back home last year, we made an overnight stop in canberra and this was our first dinner there after a long day of driving. a modern, eclectic japanese fusion bar restaurant, akiba definitely fits in with the new civic centre in canberra. i definitely don't remember canberra being this flashy last time i visited, albeit that was about 5 years ago.

modern set up, hippy servers & fusion asian food.
interesting menu with an australian twist.
a good place for having a few drinks and nibbles.
not really a proper restaurant if you're looking at having a full course meal.
kitchen takes quite a while to prep food, so be prepared to wait.
would rather recommend trying out their drinks. an extensive list of drinks with some interesting ones for the adventurous.

been here 4 times - 3x for dinner and 1x for "yumcha". loved the freshness and punchy flavours for their regular dishes. service was great too! yumcha was ok - it's fusion and that's ok but needed more variety.

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. food came 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 the food is 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 the food was 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 the food are 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 the food you 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 wonderful food they 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 the food came 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 the food they 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... the food was 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.

i went to akiba with a few friends for a late valentines supper. the cocktails are excellent especially the clover with tanqueray and raspberry. good atmosphere, sharing plates and solid customer service from all the staff.

not the best place for asian food.
expensive for what you get, the flavours and ideas of their dishes are interesting but needs more thought put into it.
i had their dumplings and it was really disappointing.
their baos were good at least.

customer service however was good, waiters were friendly and did explain the dishes as they were bought out.

not a drinker but i tried couple of their drinks from the menu and i believe they were poorly mixed.

dis place does not call for a muzz

the décor is appropriately captured in the bright sign depicting the lit cities of the world. akiba is bright, colour and international, though with a distinctly asian twist. i can’t exactly call it subtle but it’s certainly effective and eye-catching. the open displays of fresh seafood, fish and produce also underlines the quality of their product and adds a sense of seaside freshness rarely found in inland canberra.

known more as a bar than a café i wasn’t expecting to be blown away by the coffee