akiba

new menu items. good to gobackafter a couple of months and see some new menu items. smoked potatoes were great, and sirloin was divine. service a bit hit and miss, but mainly around timing of wine orders.


-----12 jan, 2015-----

good food, awesome space. awesome space, clearly designed with a younger, hipster crowd in mind. food was mixed, too much mayo on the crab bao. pork bao was great. beef short rib was sublime. good list of wines by the glass, including some locals. overall really good for canberra city.

3/5 had lunch here while on our drivebackto melbourne and decided to order a couple of things. the tuna tartare was delicious and fresh and had a lovely balance of flavours. the mixed mushrooms while it certainly had a kick to it, i found there was a touch too much liquid in this dish. the beef short rib was delicate and soft and melted in your mouth. the laksa dumplings were a major let down, they were dry (don’t know why they are called laksa as there was no liquid at all) and they came with no dipping sauce so you couldn’t add liquid either. the prawn and chicken dumplings were ok, but the balance of prawn to chicken was out. overall a decent place to stop for lunch but didn’t nail all the dishes to make me want to rush back.

it was our first time in canberra and was recommended to eat at akiba. we didn’t know what to order so opted for the feed me option. we loved everything! the eggplant, wontons and ceviche were our favourites. would definitely comebackagain.

we had one night in canberra, and after many research and recommendations by friends, we’ve decided to dine at akiba. did not disappoint at all!! we didn’t have a booking and despite being packed, they still squeezed us in. eggplant is a must try and everything else was just delicious. service was spectacular and their drinks menu was awesome with lots of variety. would definitely consider comingbackto canberra just for this!

this place looked great; it has a cool vibe, high tables, good music and extremely cute advertisements featuring dumplings. but the food was average, the dumplings were a bit floury and bit over cooked, the king fish toppings were a bit too much- the fish itself was beautiful and didnt need the extras, the octopus was average & the boa was dry; overall underwhelming. the drinks menu was great, lots of different cocktails to choose from and the service was really quick. i would gobackand give it another go.

we went here for the first time and absolutely love the food! we had teriyaki kobe beef, beef buns, josper octopus, and japanese fried chicken, they were all very delicious. the kobe beef was tender and tasteful, it was definitely the highlight.

at first we did not plan to order the fried chicken, i was thinking what could be special with fried chicken. but i spotted that the fellow customers around our table ordered that menu, so i felt like i had to add that in our order too and it was a good decision because it tastes so yummyyy. the seasoning was perfect to accompany the crispy-outside-tender-inside fried chicken.

only the dessert was a bit dissapointing. we had miso dome and it was just so-so. i'd love comebackto akiba, but next time i will order the dessert in other place.

overall, it was a wonderful experience to have dinner at akiba. make sure you reserve a table in advance!

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 rushingbackwhen i visit canberra next.

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 thebackwhich i thought was really cool, environment was lively full of lights and service was quick and people are nice. would i comebacknext time? definitely, can't wait to try other menus! xx

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 has great flavour! 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 gobackto try their dinner menu but i certainly won't be goingbackfor 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.

i've heard many good things about akiba and it sure lived up to the hype. the setting is a modern take on japanese fusion street food. it's cool but inviting, along with the staff who were all friendly and knowledgeable.
we opted for the feed me option, at $49 per person menu. the food kept on coming and coming. we were very full and super satisfied. i couldn't fault it. i cannot wait to comebackagain!

the food and service here were just exceptional. loved every dish we ordered! especially the beef rib and the agedashi tofu.would definitely comebackfor more.

service was good, but the food was disappointing. we had the 'feed me' menu which is meant to be some of their best dishes, but asides from the kingfish sashimi we wouldn't gobackand order any of those dishes again. all ordinary and completely rushed, the whole 8 courses delivered in under 45 mins. what a shame, it looked so good on paper.

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, great atmosphere (kind of reminds me of the restaurants from melbourne) and definitely will bebackin 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, great selection 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 dishes great option 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 gobackagain!!!!

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

food was amazing. kingfish starter was all time. atmosphere was okay but i couldn't help noticing that only a couple of the staff were actually smiling, which makes me suss on service and particularly management.
that said, i'll bebackfor the food for sure.