Overview
- Signature dishes: Beef tartaki, tempura prawn
- Opening Times & Days: 12pm to 3pm & 6pm to 10pm (Mon to Fri)
- Address: 34 Courtney Street, North Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Contact: 03 9326 5766
- Reservation: Yes
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Summary
Akita Japanese Restaurant has become an establishment over the years due to their consistent high quality meals that are cooked to perfection, their professional service and beautiful decor. Nestled in the suburb of North Melbourne, it is only open during the week for lunch and dinner.
Akita Japanese Restaurant Melbourne
Akita Japanese Restaurant Melbourne was made famous a few years ago, courtesy the Age Good Food Guide. Since then, they have maintained their high reputation with quality food, exceptional Japanese service and excellent decor.
Last year, Shareen and I went to Nobu to celebrate her birthday. This year, she decided to try another Japanese restaurant in Melbourne for her birthday dinner.
I have dined at Akita several times – as a teenager with my parents and sister, and returning as an adult with friends. For Shareen, this is her first visit.
We reckon that we had the best table in the restaurant. Seated on what could be best described as a couch, the seat was not only extremely comfortable but was also slightly elevated compared to all other seats, giving us a bird’s eye view of the entire restaurant.
The restaurant is divided into two sections – the casual sushi bar area, and the formal dining area. As we entered, we noticed a few Japanese men having an evening drink at the bar. We were seated in the formal dining area, but if you prefer, you could sit at the bar for a more casual setting.
The decor is simple yet elegant. It is similar to a restaurant you would find in a Japanese town. It does not have the posh atmosphere that a ‘Nobu’ has which made us feel very comfortable and relaxed.
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We ordered four dishes plus warm sake and asked for each to come separately.
Sake is something that goes really well with Japanese food and I recommend to have it with your meal. I prefer warm sake to a cold one as it is lovely on the palate.
This evening, we chose to try Sho-chiku-bai, a Takara brand which is smooth & well-balanced, brewed in a lighter style, with an emphasis on freshness, has hints of apple and anise all through the glass, and is great to serve with lighter fare.
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Our first course consisted of a main size sushi and sashimi plate. The fish was a good mixture of tuna, salmon and yellowtail. Differing textures and flavours combined with edible garnishing of fresh wasabi and ginger made this a great starter.
The tuna was so fresh it just melted in our mouths. The salmon was more textured with a stronger flavour which was also excellent. Salmon is always Shareen’s favourite.
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This was followed by beef tataki. A signature dish for Akita, it is lightly cooked and finely sliced high grade steak.
As a lover of rare steak, this dish really highlights the quality of the meat and how lovingly it has been cooked. It is served with spring onions, red onion and a dipping sauce. I ate the tataki by folding the meat like a pancake around the red onions, spring onions and then dipping it into the sauce.
Shareen felt that this dish could have been improved by a stronger dipping sauce but I liked the subtlety of the flavour.
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Next up was an eggplant grilled with minced chicken and a miso topping. This is one of my favourite Japanese-style dishes and Akita does this dish really well. The miso has been beautifully combined with the minced chicken to make a sauce that you will want to scrape off your plate.
When the waiter brought this dish to our table, he cut the top off the eggplant and then cut it into half before serving it on to each of our plates.
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Tonight we finished with an udon noodle soup served with shiitake mushrooms, a fried egg & beef strips topped with a tempura prawn. The prawn was crispy even after having been a few minutes in the soup. It makes me wonder how good the tempura platter must be (we saw this on other tables and we could see people enjoying it). The soup is slightly sweet, Japanese-style, and having this dish really ended our progression from raw to cooked, and cold to hot.
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On a previous visit to Akita, I had the lovely black sesame ice cream but today we have eaten enough so we skip dessert.
The warm sake went really with each course and cleansed the palette really well. We ended up having two bottles of warm sake by the end of the evening.
The service was typical of a Japanese restaurant – professional and attentive. However, Shareen was not impressed when the waiter tried to take away her plate before she had finished. Due to the language barrier she said no and he didn’t understand until she pulled the plate back from him.
All dishes were prepared with the highest quality ingredients, and you could tell that the chef had prepared his meals with a lot of love and care. Also, the meals were really well presented.
The best part of our evening was at the end when we walked away having spent $92 for four dishes and two bottles of sake. If you know how expensive dinner at a Japanese restaurant can be, you will appreciate the value to be had here.
Overall, we had a wonderful evening at Akita Japanese Restaurant Melbourne, having spent a good two hours over dinner and sake.
