Review Akira Sushi - Chatswood

Lightning fast Japanese food. We also ordered the Spicy Sashimi salad Bowl (Hwe dup bap) which came with ALOT of sliced sashimi but I was just a little disappointed that it was missing rice, I don't often find this dish but generally when I have it has always come with rice. Either way the food was great although just a little on the pricy side but I walked away feeling happy with our dinner choice for the night.

Katsu-don is one of those staple dishes that imo, defines wether an establishment is worth any of my time or money. This is not of one of those establishments. It's a simple dish to make, comprised of simple ingredients and a dish I have cooked in my home kitchen as per what I would receive in Japan countless times. The "Katsu-don" served here is an abomination, absolutely disgusting. The rice was drenched in sauce making the dish more like extra salty gooey congee and the egg which should have been presented as a layer of light fluffly egg between the rice and chicken, was non-existant. Not sure what part of the world cooks katsu-don like this but this is definately not what I would expect from a Japanese restaurant. When I asked the waitress, she asked if I want more rice. I think she missed the point that the rice was sloshing around in liquid. When asked about the egg, she said the egg was mixed in the sauce, and continued asking if I want more rice. Serving katsu don like this is an absolute insult and blasphemy. Absolutely disgusting and uneducated preparation and service. Hopefully this other dishes are not the same, but I'm never coming back!

Friendly staff, the food came out fast. Overall the food was great.

Extremely disappointing with overpriced food. Why is it $12 for a sushi roll that only has 4 pieces? Ramen is very average and assorted tempura is heavily overpriced. Don’t really recommend this place if you’re looking for dinner options.

Haven't had the luck to find a place that served cold soba noodles in a while, and this place had it! Walked away satisfied.

Delicious, Fast, Authentic Japanese Food with a large Menu and Daily Specials! Always friendly service here and I especially like the great music! Sushi is fresh, generously sized & incredible. Udon & Ramen soups are amazing and perfect for a rainy evening. Making me hungry for more writing this review now!!

The food is fast and sensational, the service is impeccable this place is well worth the visit.

Really fast service, disappointed by quality of food. Ordered a salmon salad, with barely any salmon and avocado (6 very thin slices of salmon only), and a whole dish of cabbage underneath. Not enough flavour or mixture on the plate. The roasted eggplant in the menu was half an eggplant, but we only got a quarter. Maybe we went in with higher expectations. Noodles was great, good broth flavour.

Soba: 2/5 <br/>The noodles tasted floury, texture was weird and the sauce was average. <br/>Chicken Katsu: 2.5/5 <br/>Although nice and crispy on the outside the chicken inside tasted and looked like it was old and pretty sure this was refried.<br/>Ramen: 1/5<br/>Sushi: 1/5 <br/>Tastes like old packaged salmon. <br/><br/>Overall the portions are small and not worth the price.

Found this little gem in the District Dining section above the interchange. The menu had a LOT of variety, from hot pot, to sushi to ramen and so on. The fried sweet potato croquette curry don was amazing since the croquettes were nice and crispy without being too oily and the curry was flavourful and suited the overall flavour combo. Complimentary miso soup successfully opened up our appetites before we really dug into the food. Yaki gyoza were pretty much the standard decent gyoza u would expect at a Japanese restaurant. Also got the chicken katsu curry don, unagu don and the chicken teriyaki don, all good options. Overall a very well rounded place that I would definitely visit many times over!

It’s casual dining at Akira Sushi. Perfect for a mid week bite to eat when you are craving Japanese food. It’s not just sushi, there is udon, chicken katsu and the list goes on. The dishes are fresh, tasty, and reasonably priced. The staff are lovely and personable too just to top of the experience. #akirasushi

Respectably busy on a Thurs shopping night. The bento boxes seems to be pretty good value with most of them under $20. The service was pretty efficient, not long wait for the food. However the quality of the food was a little disappointing. The sashimi & the pork were probably the best out of the average bunch. The karaage chicken were oily, the rice a bit dried. Don't even mention the dessert cheesecake slice, one small bite was too much.

Service was alright, but compared to other restaurants I've eaten in, the karaage ramen had the most odd combination of ingredients that didn't sit well (with me anyway). The poor egg was torn and chicken too pink.

6 pieces for around $13? Although they tasted amazing, full of flavour, i don’t think it’s worth $13 when you can get this for cheaper in other sushi stores. Food was relatively fast to come out but we did arrive at a less busy time

FOOD QUALITY <br/>Three of us dined on the Monday night of the October long weekend. We ordered a mish mash of different dishes, including a bowl of edamame beans ($7), tiger chicken and avo sushi ($9), teriyaki wagyu ($20), calamari rings ($9) and chicken katsu ($13), accompanied by two bowls of rice and washed down with a couple of bottles of refreshing Asahi at a reasonable $7 a bottle. Serving sizes were generous and we enjoyed every dish. The edamame beans were tasty and crunchy. The teriyaki wagyu beef was melt-in-your-mouth tender, and served with a variety of different vegetables, including onions, peppers, broccoli and chives. The chicken was succulent and tender, cooked in a crispy batter and came with a small helping of fresh, shredded cabbage. The calamari was firm and chewy, and the sushi with a creamy sauce on top, was a nice contrast. <br/><br/>ATMOSPHERE<br/>Surprisingly for a Monday night on a long weekend during school hols, the place was quite full, which gave it an energetic and lively ambience. Seating and interiors, are a tad spartan, with wooden chairs and tables, in an open air-type arrangement at “The District” food court, just above the Chatswood train station. The District itself is a bit of a mixed bag. Despite its strategic location at the transport hub of Sydney’s north shore, it hasn’t been a total success. A lot of places have closed down, including what was the largest, “Marciano’s”, which has been replaced with another Italian called “Stretch”, a not entirely inappropriate description since it occupies only about half the space of its predecessor. Akira itself, until last year, was something called “Kan Sushi” which obviously also failed, but at least this new incarnation seems to have met with some success. A few others though, had decent turn-outs, but many have closed their doors.<br/><br/>SERVICE<br/>Even though it was a full house, I was surprised at how quick and efficient the service was. Our pretty Japanese waitress was friendly and polite. Orders were promptly taken and the beers came out within a few minutes - always a positive sign, and a good way to start the evening and get the digestive juices flowing. Within 10 minutes of ordering, all the dishes were on the table. Perhaps a little bit too fast for my liking, as our plan had been to have the edamame, calamari and sushi as entrees, and the chicken and beef as mains, but in any event, better that way, than having to wait around for ages for the food to arrive. <br/><br/>COMFORT<br/>As mentioned, the style here is quite utilitarian with tiled floors and wooden furniture in a kind of open plan food court style. Still, the chairs were firm and comfortable, and the table was large enough to just fit all the dishes, which was no mean feat given that at one point, all five dishes plus two bowls of rice and beer bottles and glasses all had to jostle for space. Even though it was the beginning of October, it was a chilly night, but it was very warm inside so I’m thinking that these guys may struggle to keep the place cool in summer, or maybe they just forgot to put on the air con. Even though it was busy, acoustics were fine and we had no trouble conversing.<br/><br/>MENU<br/>The menu is a colourful and detailed document, complete with pictures, and encased in a plastic laminate to keep it clean and hygienic. It’s fairly extensive, over about five or six pages, but I found it easy to read in the strong lighting.<br/><br/>TOILETS<br/>There are ample, reasonably clean toilets which serve “The District”, and conveniently, they’re just behind this restaurant.<br/><br/>COST<br/>We paid $75 for five dishes, two bowls of rice and two bottles of Asahi, and that’s after a 5% discount for liking them on FB, but without any other deals. Fair value, given the high quality of the food, decent quantities and quick service.<br/><br/>BOOKING<br/>We took the precaution of booking ahead through Dimmi, and I’m glad that we did. This is clearly a popular place, so booking ahead is the prudent thing to do for weekend dining.<br/><br/>PARKING<br/>There’s easy parking at the nearby Westfield Shopping Centre, where you can score three hours for free or, if you arrive after 6.00pm, it’s totally free. There’s a similar deal down the road at the Chatswood Chase Shopping Centre.<br/><br/>SUMMARY<br/>We had a pleasant evening and everything went off smoothly. The food is of a high quality and served in adequate portions, and service is fast and efficient. Ambience is relaxed and casual, there are ample, clean toilets in the centre, and parking is a breeze at any one of the two nearby shopping centres.<br/><br/>MEMO<br/>I noticed on Akira’s FB page that they have a Happy Hour deal, where you can get a teriyaki wagyu (or wafu steak) and a bottle of Sapporo for $20, or for $31, hot sake and sashimi. But they fail to say what times or days of the week, this HH deal is available. There’s nothing about it on the menu, nor is it advertised at the restaurant itself. So we weren’t able to take advantage of it. It should be better promoted by the staff, and at least the hours and days when you can get the deal, should be made clearer on their FB page.

Good food and pretty decent service. Came here with a few friends and I think it was a pretty good place to grab some Japanese food if you want something other than ramen up in The District.<br/><br/>We ordered a few dishes, including Katsu curry and a Wagyu beef stir fry. I was particularly happy with how large the teriyaki chicken skewers were - $9 for three very loaded sticks. Overall decent enough Japanese place, but definitely more affordable not to order sushi.

Kids sushi taste worst ever so is Japanese style eggplants. No seafood in seafood pancake and taste cooked from frozen. Udon is not authentic too. Sorry really cannot think much positive.

Great lunch deals. I had the udon set and the chicken karaage bento box. Soup in udon very fragrant. The best I have had. Lots of variety and assortment of sides in their meals. Will definitely return.

Went on a Tuesday evening at about 7:30pm, we were seated and the waitress came relatively quick to take our orders.<br/><br/>Our friend's chicken nanban with noodles came without the noodles. When the dish was fixed there were ice and icy water over flooding her dish. <br/><br/>We ordered two butter corn ramen. My butter corn was cold and my broth was lukewarm not hot. The ramen was over cooked and the broth was rather average. The rice dishes and the yaki noodles looked better.<br/><br/>The food came slow, about 30mins wait. I was starving, usually food tastes 3 times as good but I didn't enjoy my food at all. Very disappointing and won't be returning <br/>

Slow service so not a place to come if you need something quick. Food was of reasonable quality but portions were smallish. Though the kids enjoyed the food as it suited their tastes.

Terrible and will not be returning. Just arrived in Sydney on my own so thought I would head down to Chatswood for a meal. <br/><br/>When the owner sees that I’m on my own I am immediately ushered to a back table and promptly forgotten about. I eventually ordered my food and waited 45min for it to arrive whilst newer tables ate. <br/><br/>I would have put up with the terrible service if the food was good, but it’s average at best. Avoid and choose one of the many other great food options in Chatswood.

Won't be coming back again. Ordered takeaway teriyaki tofu don. Waited around 30mins (long enough for my friends to pretty much finish their meals bought elsewhere). Went back and was told it would be another 20 minutes. Could see our orders were still in the middle of a pile of others. No explanation. Cancelled order and went elsewhere.

A very very interesting place that makes us very confused how it managed to have 10 different outlets all around Sydney...<br/><br/>Anyways onto the food :) <br/><br/>Every dish is a self contained mini game where it's all about spotting what's missing on what you get served and what you actually ordered....<br/><br/>Take the Chashu ramen...yes I know menu photos aren't usually what it looks like in real life....but usually there's some degree of truth....this one is just another level....and as you can see wasn't even presented with Chashu....so we had to ask uhh is there Chashu with you Chashu ramen? Yeap forgot to put it on....<br/><br/>Next up was the stuff chicken wings....no problems there! It almost felt were that there was no bones! But yesh a pass?<br/><br/>The tempura prawn roll...yeah nothing fantastic here but many inquisitive looks to see if something else was missing :) <br/><br/>Finally the Unagi Tofu Tamago...served to use without Tofu...very interesting, I mean how does one forget that either. Even the waitresses were having a good laugh at the kitchen...but the kitchen did just make us a new one so guess that was that....<br/><br/>Overall pretty average food...then a few very painfully funny mistakes and so well that's that....a very generous 2 :)

Akira is a Japanese restaurant located in The District in Chatswood and famous for their wide variety of authentic Japanese food. I am a huge fan of Japanese food and Chatswood is quite famous for their Asian cuisine so I was curious to try this restaurant. We came here for dinner on a weekday night and will share with you our experience.

Basing this rating on the dish I had because it was amazing! If you are here and are thinking of what to get then go for the kingfish miso ceviche. You won't regret it!

The food is average. The service was so slow. Took 20mins for simple ramen. The wait staff delivered our order to different table. Most of the time, we didn't understand their English. Moved our table after we ordered. Overall..., not a pleasant experience.

Inside Chatswood’s new dining precinct The District, lies Akira Sushi. It’s a little tricky to find the entrance the first time round – and then you realise how easy it actually is! (I’ve added some directions at the end of the post just in case others face the same challenge).

REVISITED 13/03: The service was extremely slow, my order came out incorrect (even though the waitress repeated the correct order), my two friends ordered the same dish however, one was luke warm and one was hot. The yakiudon was cold on the outside and warm on the inside. We had to get the attention of the staff on several occasions. Plus, all dishes arrived at different times (the first dish arrived 40 mins after ordering, the last dishes arrived 15 mins later).<br/><br/>I would not return again as it was a completely different experience to our experience (when we were invited to dine there). <br/>____________________________________________________________________________________<br/><br/>We had a wonderful night with FCBA and Famished Duo at Akira Sushi. It was a night filled with laughter, conversations and moments of happiness and I think all our jaws were hurting by the end of the night! But right.. let's start talking about the food! Akira Sushi can be found at The District, Podium Level in Chatswood interchange so it's conveniently located for a weeknight dinner fix (or weekend splurge).

Akira is a pretty solid Japanese joint with a Korean owned vibe. The food is not mind blowing but certainly good and a lot better than competition in Chatswood such as Sushi-Ya for example. Solid sashimi, takoyaki and miso eggplant. Salmon carpaccio needed a lot more salmon though. Try the pickled cucumber in particular - it's a stand out! $4 Kloud beers are pretty hard to dislike too. Worth coming back too.

Located at the chatswood interchange this Japanese restaurant serves quality and delicious food in the district of chatswood above the train station. With reasonable prices, fresh sashimi and great dishes, it's the perfect spot to unwind after work or catch up with your friends! 🍻🍻

Great sushi in a Chatswood. I must say this is a particularly enjoyable place to go for a date - great light food, good drinks, great setting and vibe. Have enjoyed many meals here. The food was amazing, great selection and very fresh. Good Food & Good Price. Very Nice. Recommend strongly.

<br/>A lovely charming little gem of a place to dine, situated in the district dining section of Chatswood’s buzzing CBD hub. Selections and serving sizes come in a large range of varieties, for all sorts of dining….big or small.<br/><br/>Staff are attentive and there when you need them, delivering prompt and efficient service. Which fits just right, as the main attraction is the fresh, mouth-watering gracefully presented cusine.<br/><br/>High-lights: ‘Watari kani Kar-age’ dish (E24), tiny crabs deep-fried, crispy cute little mouthfuls of bliss…. As well as ‘today’s Sashimi’ (A4), a mixture of super fresh tender raw seafood. There sushi is well above the area’s standard and definitely worth experiencing.<br/><br/>In a suburb crowded with places to eat and loads of Japanese restaurants, AKIRA Sushi is an absolute must for the serious foodie..!!