Review Akiya Japanese Restaurant - Brighton

Ordered through Ubereats knowing it was being delivered by restaurant staff. Ordered at about 7 pm to try and help local businesses. Waited for 1 hour before calling up, or at least tried to... Called about 15 times and got declined about half of those. Understood that it was probably busy but its not that hard to answer the phone and say there's a bit of a delay... Being in 14 day isolation this was dinner so couldn't go pick it up. After finally getting through to the restaurant they said it would be delivered within 5 minutes. Finally got it and when I asked the delivery driver (who is restaurant staff) what happened he just laughed. Very very poor service. Only took 2.5 hours to get an answer and then eventually food... Not one to complain but thought I had to say something.

Food was tasty but took over 1.5 hours to arrive despite Uber Eats saying 25-45 minutes. This is the second time this has happened to me. There won't be a third.

Order through UberEats and even though it takes some time and is delivered by the restaurant itself, which is fine, it always arrives fresh hot and tasty. The sashimi and salmon is perfect and even the Tempura is great. 10/10

The food tasted well. The service was good. The price was reasonable. So why 1 star? After dinner I had horrible stomach issues.which very very likely was related to seafood hot plate given this being only dish I had different to my wife. Systems were clearly similar to food poisoning.

Do not order from this restaurant!!! Ordered our food on ubereats at 7pm, by 8:15pm restaurant was still preparing meal, so we rang up and were told that food would be delivered in 20mins. After 20mins still no changes so rang again only to be told that the meal hadn’t even started being prepared yet!! Ending up going to pick up the meal. When at the restaurant was told that the night before was very busy and people were waiting 2hrs for their food!! Seems to be a regular occurrence! Also we weren’t given any kind of apology. Food was ok, but after the terrible service dinner was ruined. This restaurant is horribly run by what seems to be incompetent people. Do not order here!!! They don’t deserve your money!!!

Delicious Bento boxes, great value for money! Curry Katsu Don was also tasty!! My kids loved it.

Ordered twice from here after lockdown 5. Great sushi. Freshly prepared to order, great range and delicious.

2 x bento boxes with lots of diversity in food - sushi, gyoza, teriyaki chicken, rice etc etc - TASTELESS - ALL OF IT!! Also asked for additional sauce and chilli oil in the comments box - none was sent with our order. I will not order from here again.

The special rolls are amazing, the salmon is very fresh and there is not a lot of rice but overall is amazing. Kinda the best sushi in melbourne i have ever tasted haha. <br/>But the miso steak is not good, it is very dry, chewy and rough. Okami is better haha,

“5. Akiya Special Roll“ is SUPER GOOD<br/>others are okay~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br/>

My absolute favorite sushi for many years now! Never disappoints!

Chinese run sub-standard trying to be Japanese, to say the least. Indolent owner who spends most of his time playing with his mobile phone. The food is certainly not fresh or appetising at all. The place looks run down and quite dirty. The prices are exhorbitant for the fare. I really do not know how people go and eat in this joint. Never again.

We only found out the owner and cook are Chinese not Japanese, they served dim sim in bento box which will never happen with any authentic Japanese restaurant, Sushi were not made by sushi rice as they are quite sticky (sushi rice are definitely grainier), wasabi was not freshly grounded but made from powder. NOT RECOMMENDED!

Definitely below my expectations. The restaurant was deserted (I was the only customer) at 18:30 in Brighton central. The Chinese owner sat me at a table, then went to play with is mobile phone, completely ignoring me. About 10 minutes later I called him and ordered. The food which arrived was looking mediocre and the taste was below mediocre. Tempura tasting like old frying oil, sushi and sashimi quite old, not well presented and small for the price. One other point is the fact that the prices displayed on Zomato are AT LEAST 30% LOWER than the ones on the restaurant menu. That is certainly defining the owner. I will not go back and I am advising other reviewers to avoid this place.

Coming back for the first time after they closed for a small period. They had improved a lot! From food to hygiene or even services!<br/><br/>Really love to rate them more than 5 stars!<br/><br/>The sashimi plater was my all time favourite!<br/><br/>Well done to the new management

Booked online for a Friday dinner. The restaurant is large and the staff are lovely. We had an excellent miso beef and few smaller starters; gyozas, yakitori, and a salami plate (which was fresh and delicious). Large drinks menu and a fair few sakes available too.

The sashimi was deliciously fresh. The crispy chicken California roll was uber fresh and tasty. The service was lovely<br/>Highly recommend this hidden gem.<br/>The beef and salmon tataki were both Devine and tasty

Ordered takeaway & the Bento Box was delicious. Sashimi was fresh & the tuna sushi was great. The Horenso Spinach was surprisingly tasty. Just lovely

Great food and reasonably priced for Japanese in the area. Akiya special platter is my regular order for 2 ppl. The Special rolls are fantastic.

The entrée was nice, but the teriyaki chicken arrived cold and tasted like it was reheated. Sorry, as really wanted to make it to be a great local.

Went here for dinner sunday 26th February 2017. Had high hopes after reading mostly good reviews and the restaurant being in Brighton.<br/><br/>Ordered teriyaki salmon, teppanyaki beef, rice and green tea. The teppanyaki beef was so chewy I could only chew two thirds and then had to swallow each piece. Very poor quality meat for this dish. Only ate it as was very hungry and had not eaten anything since breakfast. Salmon was decent but too small for a main dish.<br/><br/>Sauce was just ok. rice decent. Green tea arrived extremely hot and had to wait several minutes before drinking. Green tea is not meant to be served so hot like this.<br/><br/>Decor and atmosphere also lacking and chair so tiny and flimsy I thought I would break mine at any moment and I am an averaged sized male.<br/><br/>Only gave 1 star as the salmon was decent.<br/><br/>Overall a thumbs down.

First time to this restaurant and can't say it was bad food but can't say it was great either. I did notice one of the scallops were still cold in the middle (tempura). What really annoyed me was I was on my own and the meal came to $21 but was told there was a 50 cents charge for using my card. Needless to say there are plenty of other restaurants in the area so don't think I'll rush back.

Grab bento boxes from here all the time. Love my Japanese food and their bento is right up there for quality and variety. Beautiful teppanyaki chicken, sashimi is on point - and don't know what a previous reviewer was on about with his gyoza comments - they are some of the best I've had. As far as bentos, sushi and sashimi goes, if you enjoy your Japanese I'd be surprised if you didn't enjoy this place. Cheers for the good food and good prices

We had dinner here for the first time tonight. They served us complementary bean sprout salad and edamame beans. We had the sushi & sashimi platter - this was fresh and tasty. For main we had the miso steak, vegetable salad and steamed rice. The miso steak was cooked medium rare as requested and the salad was fresh and had a tasty dressing.<br/>What I would like to mention was the great service provide by the staff. They were very polite and courteous - it really makes a difference for me.<br/>Overall it was a good experience and we would go back.

Ordered take away from here & I do not recommend it at all. Ordered the Gyoza, which was more of a frozen dumpling & the sushi & sashimi platter. The 'Gyoza' arrived burnt at the bottom & raw in the middle. The sushi & sashimi platter was warm & when you serve sashmi, you have to constantly have it at a controlled temperature for the obvious reasons of it being raw fish. They need to find a better way of transporting the food so it stays at a safe level to consume if they are delivering.<br/>Called them up to inform them about it but there was no effort from staff, delivery guy was very cheerful though. Will not order from them again.

Been rolling with the takeaway bento boxes for years. They changed hands last year but quality remains. They are terrific. Filling and delicious.

We love going there!. My wife and I visit this restaurant reasonably often and always enjoy the experience. <br/><br/>Friendly staff, attentive service, consistently good food served in meal size portions and reasonably priced.

Not really. Chinese cook and owner who worked for 5 years in another Japanese restaurant. Not a good experience for us and only 2 other customers came while we were there but it was Tuesday. My sushi & sashimi plate was OK. The spinach (horenso) wasn't great, it lacked the Japanese subtlety, looked messy, oversauced and overdecorated with bonito flakes. My husband's 'sukiyaki' was a total disaster: a bit of refrigerated roast beef too thickly sliced, tasteless and chewy, dumped into hot liquid which was bland, flavourless to the point of being disgusting. It had no resemblance to Sukiyaki.

I have loved this place for years, but I think it has changed hands in recent months. The food has changed, so too have the staff. The food is not as authentic as it used to be. We ordered gyoza and received something that looked and tasted like dim sims!? The sushi and sashimi were very good, so too were the prawn temaki, but the place has lost its sparkle.

Had the banquet for two and enjoyed every course. Service was top notch with no long wait in between courses.<br/>Will definitely go again.

Went back. We went back again after frequenting this restaurant for years, and it seemed to have dropped of a year ago, coming back was delighted they have gotten they're act together again, with fantastic fresh produce and authentic cuisine, thank you as i have always loved it here

Rating is too high.. I Honestly feel like the current rating of AKIYA is too high.<br/><br/>The staff were lovely. They were smiley, attentive and helpful.<br/><br/>The atmosphere was stuffy. Beyond a curtain I could see a man hosing. Hosing what? I'll never know. <br/><br/>As for the food the words dull, inauthentic and empty come to mind. It was far too expensive also. <br/><br/>Currently AKIYA is rated at 78% on Urban Spoon. 65% feels better.

Try the Agadeshi tofu!

Never Disappoints. As a local, I frequently visit Akiya and have never submitted a review so thought it was long overdue. The food here is top quality and I'm always happy with the standard of the service too. Dishes i order each time are the Gyu Tataki and Fish Teppanyaki. Always fresh, top quality products and always so tasty. The sushi bar is another top choice when dining here. I recommend this restaurant, you wont be disappointed!

Very Disappointed. The food was very poor. My Beef Teriyaki was luke warm , smothered in a bottled sauce and served on soggy vegetables. The restaurant decor is dated. There are so many better Japanese restaurants in Bayside that I have no reason to want to return to this one

Loved it!. Didn't plan to go there just looking for somewhere to eat and picked this restaurant as it looked warm & had a nice ambience about it. We knew we made the right choice as soon as we entered we received a lovely warm greeting from a lady like we were old friends. The service was always attentive, pleasant and friendly and the food was mouth watering. Definitely go there again.

Disappointing. Sashimi don was good but everything else was not so good. The udon soup is supposed to be made with seafood, they used cheap vegetables instead. And the sides for the eel don tastes like rubber!

The worst meal I have ever eaten. Gyoza and deep fried pork were soggy, vegetables tasted like hospital food and the chilli chicken was disgustingly salty. Staff were rude from the moment we walked in.

I had a party here for fourteen people last night - including three children and people with lots of different tastes. I left the menu entirely up to the Akiya manager and she brought us dish after dish of simple fresh food - so much good fresh seafood. my family was full, everyone was well looked after and I have never experienced a venue with customer service as good as this.

Worst Japanese ever!! Decide for your self chocking from the fumes before you sit down. The menus are dirty. Service was quick. Ordered prawn teppanyaki with seasonal vegetables. Came in batter and cabbage. Was shocking. No taste.

The food is very average. Prices are very high compared for what you get. I ordered beaf teriyaki $23.50 Came with cabbage and very hard to chew. Chinese style. Won't be coming back .

Japanese?. Truly appalling and perhaps the worst "Japanese" food I ever eaten in Melbourne. After three mouthfuls of the indistinct mush masquerading as Oyako Don the realization that wet cardboard would have more flavor made me too depressed to continue eating. The Gyoza we ordered were definitely not gyoza and were more like microwaved Shumai and tasted very old. My dinner partner, a Japanese gent from the home of gyoza, Utsunomiya, couldn't stop laughing. In fact, the whole experience would have been laughable if we hadn't paid through the nose for such a dreadful meal. Some basic knowledge of Japanese cuisine and at least some modest ability in the kitchen would go a long way I would have thought. It seemed the Miso soup was the plain old instant packet variety, but at least that resembled Japanese food. The waitresses were friendly and the service, although kept to a bare minimum, was adequate.<br/>If you want Japanese food or even just edible food eat elsewhere.

Great option. One of the best and most affordable japanese restaurants around. The attention couldn't be better. My favourite place for an impromptu dinner. They have never let me down. The prawn special roll is a must have.

A great local!. Love the sushi/sashimi and always have great hot specials. Everything is super fresh and meals are delivered in a timely manner. Only problem with this place is getting a table without a booking!

Fantastic service & delicious, fresh food! Great vegetarian options...every time I have been here, I have loved it!

Delicious. Been going to Akiya for years and always good. The sushi and sashimi platter which comes in a wooden boat is delicious, so is the miso and the beef tataki. Highly recommend. We were in and out in a hour as the service is great. Very attentive and friendly

Evening dining. It is a restaurant with character and has a friendly atmosphere. If I felt asked for extra condiments, they would be gladly provided and offered. Over Mother's Day they did a package lunch and it went down well with the families that were there. In terms of the food, it does go down very well with the locals and there are a variety of excellent wines that complements the meal.

Worst meal. I went there with two friends last night and hands down was the worst 'japanese' food I have ever had. I ordered a Gyu Don and some Gyoza. The beef was not shredded and was in thick strips, it looked and tasted like it had been re-heated and was hard as a rock. There was no sauce which normally is on the Gyu Don and they put vermicelli all through it. It was tough meat and horrible. The gyoza tasted like dim sims they had taken out the freezer and then pan fried. My friend's salmon and vegetables was so overcooked it was hard to cut up, and it was served with broccoli on the side and thats it! It is so expensive and the quality of food is horrible and defiantely was not japanese. Do yourself a favour and go somewhere else.

I'm not a big fan of travelling to the burbs for food and Japanese is not my favourite cusine but all that changed when i discovered Akiya. Its worth the drive and the tempura and the Akiya special is heaven. Its a ceramic boat filled with sushi, sashimi and the special reverse roll. It's amazing and I highly recommend

Service was great, food was TERRIBLE! Didn't seem fresh at all and so over priced! Some sushi rolls we had looked like a 5 yr old had rolled them. Very disappointing

Came here for dinner for the first time in months and found it disappointing. Food was bland, main beef teppenyaki was very salty and service a tad slow. Sakuraya across the road is kicking Akiya's butt!

Go over the road! Far better and fresher!

Bad experience. We tend to go almost weekly to Akiya. Liked the place - till today.<br/>had a an embarrassing experience - after we pointed out a waiter mistake in the bill (charged for 2 beers, while in fact he forgot the drinks - beer and tap water, when 1st ordered and when we asked for it again - he simply charged it again...) the owner instead of rectifying and politely close this minor mistake - simply started to argue and shouting on us.....<br/>Not a behavior that u expect from any restaurant, even less from one that you spend so much money every month. Wont go there again neither will recommend to my friends

Had a good sushi platter, but have been turned off by a couple of dodgy takeaway experiences. Prefer Irori or Sakuraya across the street.

Great food. Exceptional service. They go out of their way. Fattest prawns we've ever seen and super tasty. All good!

Big in Japan. Akiya is clearly well-liked by Brighton residents, including many AFL players from a certain club that are known to "come marching in". The friendly owner does a good job of making regulars feel welcome, and the overall vibe is warm and relaxed.<br/><br/>I enjoyed a wonderful evening at Akiya recently, although I must say that the superb wine and great company probably overshadowed much of the menu I sampled.<br/><br/>Things started off fine with a very nice plate of sashimi, and having demolished the first serve we proceeded to repeat the dose.<br/><br/>I was less excited about the gyoza, as the filling was more like a stodgy commercial dim sim, rather than the lighter contents normally present in a good gyoza.<br/><br/>The tempura I tried was too heavily battered, spoiling the essence of good tempura which is clearly that lovely, translucent, crisp coating.<br/><br/>Sizzling platters of Teriyaki beef and chicken were satisfactory, but not thrilling, and seemed to be crying out for some vegetables.<br/><br/>Whilst undoubtedly a popular venue with warm & friendly service, I felt the 'cooked selections' ordered didn't quite hit the mark. Perhaps I need to focus on the sushi, sashimi and maki rolls on future visits.

Be back soon. Eat here on the 25 jan and it was great, friendly helpfull service, the dumplings and the fish age were a good choice as a starter and did not disapoint

One word - wow!. We just had takeaway and it was GREAT! We ordered the agedashi tofu (yum!) the Akiya Special Platter which included mouthwatering sushi, sashimi and california rolls, and the salmon teriyaki matched with steamed rice - fantastic! The best Japanese in the bayside area and the best prices too. Our favourite.