I must say that I really like this place. Came here once for drinks on a Parents' Night Out date and again tonight with my Dad from out-of-town, cousin and S.O. Sake selection was good and ambience was great. Very tastefully decorated and looked very much like a traditional Japanese sushi bar.
I would have given this place 5 stars, except that everyone else's food was better than what I chose. Not a roll person but the New Orleans roll was really good. They also didn't have uni (sea urchin) which I love. If they had fresh wasabi available, I might have had a mouthgasm. I'll definitely come back and try more dishes.
Oh mah gatto! This is the best sushi joint in Alpharetta, hands down. I like coming here to get a Booty Call. No, seriously, it's a Booty Call. The place wasn't hopping when we went, but the sushi was fresh and great. Our kids just loved it and asked for more and more. It's also nice that they have K-Pop on tv with a bunch of skimpy girls dancing around-- for me anyways. I can't recall everything that we ordered, but the Booty Call was memorable. If some of you guys and gals remember, I use to be in fine dining, and sushi was my thing, so I can guarantee that this place rocks it like Olympus Mons on Mars baby! This place is a must if you are in the area. It's a bit pricey, but for quality, raw fish, we'll pay what it's worth. If you're in the area, and you are going and want to pay for my meal, CALL ME BABY! Hey! I just met you.....
Review Source:Sorry, "Chef", but no off nights allowed since you never know when first-timers might come in, which is what we did last evening whilst "Chef" was having one of those off nights. This review is not about Akina's sushi nor sashimi because we ordered neither.
Our waitress messed up our order. We ordered an app and before she put in the app order she asked if we were having anything else, so we gave her our main dish orders. What happened next is a frustrating puzzle: She brought out our appetizer with one of the mains--DH's Shrimp Udon soup. I told her right away about the error but she would not take the soup back while we ate our appetizer, so DH's panko coated shrimp sat in the udon broth getting so soggy that the panko turned into a mushy mess in the soup. What came next was worse--my entree. Chef, you killed it in a very bad way. I ordered the non-soup Udon dish and what I got was soooo hot that I blistered the roof of my mouth on the first bite. Not only was it way too hot, but it was way overcooked already, so it just kept overcooking as it sat there waiting for me to be able to stand it. The chicken was in very small pieces, so by the time I could eat any of it, it had turned into small rock-like bits, and we all know what happens to shrimp when you cook the living daylights out of it. The broccoli in both mains was so tiny that it, too, was way overcooked. Oh, back to the appetizer. Chef, that one you nailed. We ordered the fried shrimp coated with potato. I didn't think it sounded good but DH wanted to try it. It was very good. My only issue is that for $9 we should have had more than one shrimp=four bits, two each. Pretty presentation, though.
We also ordered a bottle of wine and I guess the waitress wanted to close up early since near the end we were the only people in the restaurant. She came over to our table (first time since dropping by with my incendiary plate of stuff.) She pulled our wine bottle out of the ice bucket and said something about the fact that there was still some wine in the bottle and then proceeded to dump the entire last glass into DH's glass, even though both of us had nearly no wine in either of our glasses at the time. We asked for our food to be boxed up (I thought I could salvage it into lunch today (?), but what she brought back was one container into which both of our dishes were dumped together. DH never seems to get enough restaurant punishment, so he ordered dessert, fried green tea ice cream. Note to "Chef": I understand that you wanted to go home early, so congratulations on accomplishing same, but our fried ice cream was an abomination. I was so "done" with the place by then that I would have sent it back and caused a fuss, but DH wanted that disgusting blob of stuff. It was a hard, super-frozen ball of green tea ice cream that had been dipped into tempura batter and then fried in the fryer that "Chef" must have turned off early in anticipation of his escape, because the coating was undercooked and the ice cream was too hard to eat. So, "Chef", I hope you enjoyed whatever it is that you do when you get to leave early. If you keep this up, you will get to leave early every night.
We definitely won't be back.
I went here recently with a friend and we ordered a lot of sushi and I only remember the Vegas rolls :) Â I ordered the Play Boy and he had the Caesar's Palace. I really liked both of them although I must say the presentations of the Caesar's Palace was pretty amazing. I remember loving the roll that had the soft shell crab in it. My friend really liked that one as well. Everything tasted pretty fresh and for Atlanta sushi I think this place it pretty good. I will definitely go back :)
We ordered a large bottle of sake which makes everything better, imo. The service was good and even though we were probably in there after closing time we didn't feel pressured to leave. Two thumbs up!
We had lunch, the sushi was great. Â
The place smelt, and looked, clean; this is a big plus when you are eating raw fish. The service was up to speed and the location is seemingly safe and "findable". Â I enjoyed the "Queen of Heart" roll, wifey had the "Booty Call". Â Both were delicious. Â There's an affordable lunch menu with many recognizable items. Â There are some authentic dishes for those who wish to venture to the dinner menu but things are a bit more pricey. Â Wifey and I paid $36 for two people, we ordered a la carte off the dinner menu... two large rolls, soups, salads, drinks and rice. Â We left full. Â
PS. There are many references to Las Vegas on the sushi menu. Â My guess is, the people who opened this place filtered down from Las Vegas?
The food is very good and the chef is very intricate with the plating for sushi. Â you can tell he spends a lot of time designing the plate and placing every sushi exactly where it should be. I went there mostly for dinners and the staff is very attentive. The sashimi is very fresh and the best that i have had so far. there is a lot of rolls to order from.
Review Source:Frequent here often. Fish is fresh with very neat presentation. Price is on point for most establishments of this type. Would like to see a few more exotic offerings, like Hamachi Kana, but they do offer toro.Always friendly with good service.
Update: I was wrong about Hamachi Kama. It is offered under the appetizer menu as sashimi. Came out with the sashimiwhich was very good and then they took the jaw back after and baked the rest. A+
This was great sushi, not the best i have ever had, but definately in the category of best suchi in alpharetta. Â Everything was presented very well and it added a nice touch getting a good looking house salad instead of just in a cheap bowl slopped together, for the same price. All the rolls were very good, and my Dad, who does not like sushi unless it is flash fried, found a great rool and also loved the chicken hibachi dish.
Review Source:Absolutely delicious and well presented Japanese food.  The miso soup is the best that I have ever tried, and I have had  a lot of it in Japan.  The fried rice is exquisite, never had better.  The udon is great and the sushi fresh and perfectly prepared. Â
The bento boxes for lunch are a deal and very delicious.
The sushi chefs give the traditional Japanese greeting to everyone who enters the restaurant, just like in Japan.
This visit was the first time that I have ever eaten in a Japanese restaurant in the USA that was so much like restaurants in Japan, from the service to the food quality to the decor. Â I really felt like I was back in Japan.
You must try it if you like "traditional Japanese cuisine".
Akina is very close to my work, so I felt that I had to try it at least once. I came in right after they opened and took a seat at the sushi bar, with a warm welcome from the chefs and the hostess/waitress.
Looking at the menu, it's maybe a tad cheaper than Nani down the street, but not by much. They have a relatively large selection of rolls, most of which though, again, featured cooked items like eel, crab and tempura meat, or are just outright fried. Strangely, all of their specialty rolls are Las Vegas-themed yet they have no "Vegas Roll" (which is a fantastic roll). It all either had to do with Vegas hotels or gambling. I can only guess that the management (not a non-Korean face on the staff) lived in Vegas at some point.
They also have two different types of regular rolls, one of which is cheaper. From the explanation I got, it sounded like the cheaper ones were actually hand rolls. The non-sushi items on the menu are somewhat limited, but this place is very obviously focused on sushi and sushi alone.
I got a Philly and a Bellagio (again, Vegas-themed). I was immediately told by the waitress how good the Bellagio was. The manager would later come by and sort of reassert this, so there was a level expectation that I don't really like.
Of my Atlanta sushi experiences, this place definitely had the best fish. The salmon in the Philly was good. It had a nice texture, did not taste fishy in the least, and lent itself well to the rest of the roll. I would have to complain that, on the Philly, the cream cheese was a little overpowering. A lot of places use cheaper or light cream cheese, but I've always thought that actually works better because you don't get as much of the cheese flavor as you do with this variety of cream cheese, but still get the texture of it.
The Bellagio came out a couple of minutes later from the back where it had been cooked. It featured spicy tuna, cream cheese, crab and was fried in tempura batter. I believe there was something else on there, but I don't remember. It was served in two sauces which had been dripped onto the plate and slightly on the rolls. One was chili-based while the other was cream-based. For the roll itself, I honestly wasn't blown away by it, but all of the elements were there. The spicy tuna was red as opposed to the sort of orange-pink color you find sometimes when they've used too much sriracha in the mix. I also really enjoyed the tempura batter, which was lighter than most I've had but still had the light crunch and taste that I like. The sauces were the highlight though and what made the roll stand out. When mixed together, they really livened up the roll and worked well together.
The bill came out to roughly what I had spent at Nani ($20) but, unlike there, I left very full and didn't have to eat again later on. So, in that respect, it's a better deal. I would also point out that they really focus on presentation here. I mention the sauces in the Bellagio roll that I got, but everything was laid out very, very nicely and neatly, and made you feel a little more justified in paying extra for the food you were eating.
After I was done, the waitress suddenly appeared behind me and, as if some signal had been issued, the chef handed over an additonal plate to me. The waitress explained that this had been prepared for me on the house. I thought it was some sort of dessert sushi at first, but it was actually kind of strange. There were carrots, krab and cucumbers, as well as the same sauces that I had had on the Bellagio, but it was wrapped in some sort of cake-like substance. It wasn't bad, but it certainly not sweet. If anything, it came out a little spicy from the sauces. Good, but I can't say I've ever had anything similar to this.
I'll be back, but probably not that often. $20 per meal is a little rich for me.
Better service = better review. Â Our server was very attentive and we didn't have the same communication issues like we did the last time.
The sushi is very fresh. Â I had a roll that was wrapped with cucumber rather than rice. Â It was super refreshing and I walked away feeling content, but not over stuffed. Â My friends both had a dish called The Luxor. Â (all of their rolls have Vegas type names) Â It is layers of fresh fish, rice, seaweed and roe. Â It comes out with a flame along the side of the plate, just for fun. Â You pour this creamy, spicy sauce on top, mix it up and away you go. Â I will for sure get this next time!!
So I've driven by this place about...let's see...500 times to and fro work and wondered if it was any good. Â I had a chance to find out tonight on someone else's dime. Â
The sushi was terrific. Â The presentation of the food was spectacular. I was really impressed. Â I also thought the sushi was well made - this can't be taken for granted. Â I've had sushi before that wasn't wrapped tightly and was falling apart. Â (This would be the moment when I do a sophomoric cough with fist over mouth and cough out the name "Sushi Nami!")
The service dropped the score from 5 stars to 3.49, which I rounded up to the nearest star. Â Our orders shouldn't have taken as long to come out as they did. Â First, my main course came out. Â 5 minutes later. Â Diner #2's dinner came out. Â Then 2 minutes later, here comes my deep fried super fantastic Bellagio roll. Â We could have been done eating by the time the meal for Diner 3 showed up. Â That was ridiculous. Â If the meals weren't so awesome and pretty, we wouldn't have been able to look past the shortcomings. Â (Sort of like paying to watch Beyonce Knowles act in a movie.)
And why were there so many menus? Â If we laid our menus out end to end, they would have totaled over 10 feet. Â I guess that's not a complaint. Â But the prices were a bit high too. Â You know what...I'm changing my score to a 3.
Oh Akina... Â How I love you. Â What a great sushi place. Â Don't be afraid of the flat screen TV outside the front door or the weird Japanese Miley Cyrus music videos being played inside. Â This place is the real deal. Â Always fresh, always delicious plates of the most beautifuly presented seafood I've ever seen. Â Every plate has a style and grace not seen OTP. Â Go there, be amazed, thank me later.
Review Source:Man, this place still has solid food. Â Last night we came back for dinner with a group and had the udon, which was not too salty and mild, the chicken teriyaki and the chicken kas - all very good. Â
My only disappointment was with the size of the rolls - they seem to be shrinking. Â We all shared a spicy tuna roll, spicy yellow tail roll, and some yummy roll with shrimp tempura. Â They were still great, but so much smaller than the first few times I went. Â :( Â Sad.
Yeah, I'm back! oh so many clients, so little time for slaughter and mayhem so I can barely keep up with my reviews.
Let's take it from the beginning shall we? This place is indeed sort of hidden in the strip mall where the Georgia's Own Credit Union is; yep ninjas do have to keep close tabs on finances, specially on those who don't make the electronic transactions on time, those people always regret it, and my Katana always accept their apologies; anyways, the greeter must have suspected who I was, she was a bit nervous and we were treated like royalty from the moment we got in, that or maybe because the place was empty. It was a Sunday evening, I wasn't surprised.
As we were walking towards our table I see the sushi chef looking at me suspisciously, I stared back calmly and continued to the table.
Ah, a nice place, sort of romantic to some degree, it was quiet and you could engage in conversation and be able to hear, not like I need help with that; perfect place for a date.
We tried a variety of appetizers and rolls. I ordered the Fried Calamari, something that many places in Atlanta can not get right, it's usually breaded too much, not so here; it was the perfect combination of crispiness from the batter and tenderness from the calamari, that was a preview of what to come and I was exited.
I caught the sushi chef looking again; I excuse myself to go to the bathroom... the chef thought I didn't noticed him following me; what a surprise he had when he came into the bathroom, I still giggle over that. Turns out the chef was bogus; here is a clue for all you posers out there, if trying to kill a ninja who entered a room BEFORE you, always look UP! yep, too late. I come out of the bathroom and the greeter is extremely happy to see me, my friends at the table were wondering what was going on. Moments later the real sushi chef came to his station and prepared all of our rolls, man o man, almost like what momma used to make. Every roll was incredibly delicious and fresh.
So I give them 4 just because they let such a lame excuse of ninja killer (there's no such thing) to temporarily take over the place for an ambush.
I'll definitely be coming back; the setting, the food and service is top notch and I'm sure I'll be getting free sushi rolls as a reward for saving what could have been a very expensive forced renovation of the place.
out! *poof*
I see i'm the first...
This place seems more authentic than most. The dishes were kind of small for the amount being spent. Wait staff was nice and attentive I wouldn't go way out of my way to eat here but it was ok. Dishes seem to be more closer to original type meals where else can you get baby octopus? Â Good for a date or a lunch outing with a group from work.
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