Akai Ryu Shabu & Sushi Restaurant

Came here for hotpot, and regretted it. The soup was so bland and the meat quality and quantity was not worth the price. Didn’t try the sushi but the fact that it was on a conveyor belt was not appealing to me whatsoever. Don’t plan on coming back for hotpot, but the restaurant is beautiful so I’d probably go for drinks at the bar instead.

Business has been closed for at least a month and a half. Their front door just shows that they’re «Closed» but without any indication of when they are going to reopen or if they’re ever going to open back up again. No where on their Facebook page or on their website show any indication that the restaurant is closed so i can only imagine how many other customers like me make a trip over here to only to find out that the restaurant is closed. Their phone line has stopped ringing and the manager has never responded back to my email in regards to when they might reopen or if at all.
I guess it’s the end of the road.

Great option for decent, affordable sushi in north Cambridge. I’ve eaten in the restaurant once, and service was great. Friendly but not overly present. The place was empty when I was there, so I was a little apprehensive, but everything ended up being delicious. I didn’t try the nigiri, so it’s hard to speak to the quality of the fish, but the specialty rolls were great, and they were able to accommodate a shellfish allergy in my group.
Since then, I’ve done takeout a bunch of times. They’re not the quickest, so plan ahead, but there’s also plenty of space to sit if you’re waiting.
I probably wouldn’t take someone here for a nice sushi dinner, but it’s definitely my favorite take-​out place in the area.

This place is pretty good I’ve been there couple times and tried their Wednesday hotpot/​sushi buffet and it was delicious!
However, are you guys closed? Went there last Wednesday there was simply a sign up «closed». Not sure if you guys are closed for the Christmas week or permanently closed?

I continue to love this place. My husband and I watched the Bruins game at the bar the other nice and not only was the food delicious, but the hospitality was great. The bartender (Kyle?) was super friendly and even made me my favorite spicy cocktail despite the fact that it’s no longer on the menu. My only wish is that they would add some sushi combo entrees to the menu, a la the «sushi deluxe» type deals you see at other restaurants. Otherwise, perfection.

Everything is so yummy! The ramen was a perfect portion with rich flavor in the broth. The hamachi kama is so tender and super fresh. I was here with friends but the ambience is nice enough to come for date night. I’ll definitely be back.

I would like to update my review and give this place 5-​stars. The boy and I’s go to place for hotpot. Never disappoint. Though, a bit on the pricier end — but that’s what you usually get with a la carte. Making food babies every time. Extensive (sorta) broth selections. And more enoki mushroom + bean thread on the conveyor please!

I went this restaurant with my husband around 3pm today to have japanese shabu shabu for lunch. We ordered chicken basic broth with Thai tom yam broth for soups with beef and fish meet balls .
I’ve also had a plate of chicken yakitori with teriyaki sauce .
First, the chicken broth soup is really good also Thai Tom yam soup was good but not as much as we expected .
And chicken yakitori was just okay .
I highly recommend you to have the chicken basic broth soup with beef.

Was craving hot pot so came here on a whim with my friends.
Atmosphere: It’s a nice looking place inside. Nothing fancy about it, but doesn’t matter to me.
Service: It was pretty good. Our waitress checked in on us every now and then.
Food: My friends and I opted to do a split pot-​Tom Yum and Regular Broth. Oh boy, Tom Yum really hit the spot and considering I was sick and still sick, it really helped! My friend ordered the cheap dollar oysters and she seemed to like it. We opted for the prime rib & rib-​eye veggie combo, rice, and udon noodles and it was more than filling for dinner.
Drinks: My friends and I each ordered a different drink. I don’t recall what my friends ordered, but I remember ordering a Watermelon Sakitini? Whoa, it was really good. The watermelon was actually blended to a pulp.
Price: The Prime Rib/​Veggie Combo for Hot Pot was $ 25 and The Rib-​Eye/​Veggie Combo was $ 22. I don’t remember the prices of the drinks, but I’d say it was around $ 12-​$ 13, which is pretty standard.
Final Verdict: It was my first time being in Porter Square and this was my first taste of it (literally) haha. I liked it enough to want to come back again and perhaps try different drinks. So definitely try it out when you get the chance.

I came here for dinner with my gf and we got an appetizer and a number of sushi rolls. The salmon essence we got was beautiful as it was delicious, nicely crispy and toasted and topped with delicious sauce. The sushi was also really good, this place definitely uses fresh ingredients that you can taste. The restaurant is a little hidden behind the mall but inside was clean and roomy, great service and i will definitely come back when there is a groupon again.

I did a chinese herbal broth and sirloin shabu/​hot pot. Lots of vegetables, fair amount of beef, great tasting broth. My fiancé did a basic california roll from their sushi bar, and for a drink I ordered a lychee smoothie. Everything tasted great.
My only complaint is the prices for shabu. My favorite restaurant of all time is in china town, on tyler street, and their shabu is HALF the price of this somerville location. And they’re located in Boston.
The place is pretty. It was dead on a Friday night, which I found strange. Maybe because they’re in their first year? The server could have been more knowledgable. There was some minor communication errors, and he was a little slower than I like. But he tried and he was pleasant.
I did not like the fact that all the sushi chef’s were eating at the sushi bar where they prepared food. That is a health violation.

Overall 3.5÷5 rounded up because of Groupon (no lunch special if you use Groupon)
Food ³⁄₅
Store ⁴⁄₅
Service ⁴⁄₅
I came here due to a Groupon i bought for $ 32 for a $ 45 value. This place is located in a building complex so im not sure how parking would work out. Nonetheless its located on the 2ed floor very close to the red line.
Upon entering this place around noon, my impressions were modern, spacious and it felt clean. I ordered the lamb hot pot for 22, california roll for 6, spider roll for 11 and salmon for 7 and yellowtail sashimi for 7. The sashimi was ok, but the cut was extremely small and thin. For 7 bucks I would expect better cuts. The rolls were ok. The quantity was there but the quality and taste was not. The hot pot came with a small portion of veges, small rice, some dipping sauces and a decent amount of meat. If you need more food you can just take it off the convyer belt which is really neat :)
Overall, you get a lot of food with an okay quality. I would not come here without a groupon but will so if I have it again. Cheers!

We had a great lunch at this restaurant. The shabu soup was delicious with a variety of broths to choose from. We chose Tom Yum broth which was superb.
The waiters were super helpful and friendly. And the view to the street and Porter Square adds to the whole ambience of the restaurant.
The prices might be a little too expensive but it’s worth a try.

Came here cause the bf had a groupon since they’re promoting their new restaurant. They have a great location in the center of porter square, the convenience of a parking garage, but unfortunately I found the food to be disappointing. Ordered the:
1. Pork cheek yakitori — of all the dishes this was the best but pricey, 3 scantily clad skewers for $ 6 or 7
2. oyster mushroom yakitori –nothing sexy about soggy mushrooms
3. Tried to order the hamachi collarbone but apparently they only have one a day
4. Fried oyster –came out piping hot, nice fried exterior, didn’t enjoy the oyster itself though
5.spicy salmon and tuna roll — just your standard roll but pricey
6. Lovers roll — tuna, salmon avocado, crunchies, and roe topped with a sweet spicy sauce. Sauce was good, rice was hard and stale. No bueno.
The restaurant is huge btw, but when it’s empty it’s not as impressive :/​the magnetic belt rotating in the center for people doing hot pot was though. Prob won’t be back

I came here for lunch. I had bought a groupon online for $ 25 to spend $ 50. Just a little note. you have to spend $ 50, not including tax to use it.
There is an additional special menu for lunch. I got the marrow bone ramen soup that was about $ 10. It was really good! The best thing I liked about this place was the waitress was really nice and sweet. She have a lot of suggests on what to order.
I’ll definitely come back for the conveyor belt sushi :)

I’ve been to Akai Ryu twice now — once for sushi and once for shabu. It was really good. The sushi choices were varied — not your usual salmon and avocado.
But the shabu! My husband and I went for dinner one evening, and had a great time. I was a bit pricey, but we ate a lot for our money. The choice of broths was very interesting (we had a bone marrow broth), and the mushroom selection was amazing. They also have the sushi train filled with veggies and mushrooms for the shabu, which was really great. It definitely took the fear of ordering too much /​not enough away. It’s definitely a meal you want to share with your close friends though. It can be quite messy and there’s lots of double dipping.
I can also highly recommend the caramel cheesecake and the Baileys cake-​y thing for dessert. Both were amazing.
Would highly recommend for a night out with friends or your significant other

It’s a very beautiful venue as others have said. The prices may be a little high for hotpot and sushi though, unfortunately. Usually prime rib eye is 20 but here it is 24 so a bit different. Side orders are higher too, such as extra noodle because it’s not a lot that is given. The sushi isn’t as good as stand alone sushi places but they still charge the same price for the special rolls. the service was fine. Our server was very accessible but there was a confusion when they tried to give me the next table’s order and my bf who was very hungry almost
Took it but I was like «no».
The korean bone marrow soup want good. The regular chicken soup tasted like soup from ramen which I liked cause I like ramen. I enjoyed the spinach looking veggies and the amount of mushroom given was good.
Anywyas I wasn’t expecting to have a bill of almost 100 for 2 people for just 2 entrees, a green tea, mango shake, a roll of sushi and the salmon essence. The salmon essence was good but wow, tiny compared to the pictures I saw– which was probably taken. Very close.
I may come back for lunch… but I don’t know about dinner, I don’t spend that much at other Hotpot places…

T’was a Groupon that led me all the way out here on the Red Line for dinner one chilly wintry eve. And it was the available free parking in the back that made it an easy choice to suggest to my DC.
If you took the T as I did, exit the Porter Square station through the door to the right and zero in on the Walgreens before you, slightly to the right. Akai Ryu Shabu & Sushi is its upstairs neighbor, perched above the Potbelly Sandwich Shop which is positioned on the ground floor, in the Porter Square Galleria
From there you have a choice. Head on in and take the escalator, stairs, or elevator. Or, if the escalator is out of whack, like it was on the evening of my visit, take Walgreen’s escalator on up.
Akai Ryu has quite a good-​sized footprint. The kitchen is hidden in the center, and you can walk all the way around if you like. And just might, since the bathroom is in a little hallway in the back.
Purely sushi tables are located to the left by the sushi bar. The rest of the tables have burners in case you are hankering to cook up some raw meat and veggies in a pot of simmering soup.
We started with two appetizers. Though I doubted our appetites could do it justice, my DC didn’t want to miss out on the Kaki Fry $ 8 (deep fried oysters, lightly panko-​breaded, served with Japanese mayonnaise) when I suggested it. The second was the Okonomiyaki $ 12 (Japanese-​style pizza: ebi, scallops, ika, and scallion pancake topped with bonito flakes, Japanese mayonnaise, and okonomi sauce).
The fried oysters were terrific! They counted 6 fat, crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside orbs to an order and we completely decimated the plate. The Okonomiyaki happily waved its bonito flakes at me, yet sadly lacked the visual effect of the generous pieces of seafood that had so enticed me from the photo printed on their menu.
Two of the Shabu-​Shabu broths were offered at no charge (the rest were either $ 4 or $ 5) so I went with those in the twin compartments of our pot: Chicken (light and silky chicken consommé) and Vegetable (Our vegetarian and vegan soup base).
Shabu-​Shabu Combinations come with your selection of protein (or vegetarian) and a mixed vegetable platter, and either rice or noodles. We ordered the Boneless short rib combo $ 20 and added Beef Tongue a la carte for $ 10. I selected the Sweet Potato Noodle to go with the combo since at $ 4 a la carte it was a dollar more than my beloved Udon Noodles, and I figured if we were hungrier than expected and hankered for more carbs, we could always add on the Udon later.
The sauce for dipping the cooked goods after their pass through the bubbling broth was provided in do-​it-​yourself fashion so we could fix it up to taste. A small bowl of soy sauce was poured out for each diner. A shared bowl of bbq satay sauce was set before us, and each diner provided with our own two-​compartment dish of diced garlic and scallions — both raw. Add what you will to the soy sauce, mix and enjoy!
The mixed vegetable platter that came with the short rib was pleasantly easily divisible by two. Don’t mind if we do! Admittedly though, I had trouble identifying some of the veggies exactly. There was corn on the cob, some orange squash thing (don’t think it was sweet potato), some sliced fungus, wood-​ear, tofu, and maybe 3 varieties of leafy greens, just two pieces of each, except maybe 6 of the larger darker leaf vegetable.
We heard that the a la carte meat were larger portions than when ordered in a combo. The short rib combo came as 12 slices nicely rolled up while the tongue a la carte numbered 15. I couldn’t quite get the tongue to be exactly tender after its hot bath, but I did manage to cook my final slice of the short rib just right to my intense pleasure.
We quit with half the pancake app, most of the noodles, and nearly a third of the meat left. Yet we had room for dessert! They do say that there is a separate stomach for dessert !
After perusing the two sided dessert menu, we went with the Bailey’s Irish Cream Pie $ 6.99. Not a generous portion at say ¹⁄₁₆^th a cake, but plenty for our remaining appetites. Hot green tea to accompany our sweet was $ 3 for a pot. It had an interesting fragrance and flavor, nothing like the Chinese teas I’m more familiar with.
Their parking lot is out back, down a few steps, and it is off-​set from the large parking lot that belongs to the Porter Square Shopping Center which serves the patrons of Shaw’s and its neighboring businesses.

Doggie downer is not my preference for a review but I was disappointed. It was OK, not be running back for more unless its with or group or for convenience. The szechuan broth was basically just hot chili peppers, I couldn’t taste anything more than that. There is no meat combo only only fish/​meat combos.
The serving platter of meat and vegetable plate was average in size compared to other Shabu restaurants.
The server was bored, I really just wanted to get things myself instead of feeling like a burden. It was a quiet night and he looked like he wanted to be anywhere else but helping to make me happy. I understand, we all have those days.
The three stars are for the interior. The décor is quite lovely, the design spacious with great lighting. If you can get a table overlooking Porter Square it is quite nice.
I might return, try a different broth and give it another try. Every new establishment deserves a second chance. Chefs, business owners and customers are all only human.

Really pretty, and I love the concept of conveyor belt appetizers for shabu. They also have a private parking, which is always a plus. And the meat is pretty darn good. but the price man, the price. $ 20 for a dinner entrée set. and the portions aren’t large. Mind you, they may LOOK large, but it’s all fluff (one of our meat dishes had a large hump of napa cabbage under it). The noodles are also not precooked. which may be a good thing for some people, but to me, that means there’s less noodles packed per bowl (as cooked noodles remove the excess air uncooked noodle has). Soup level also began at like, ¼ of the bowl and quickly evaporated, and the waiter had to keep filling it. Sauce quantity was also very conservative — literally about two tablespoons of barbecue sauce which I need about a whole bowl full of when eating shabu.
So, all in all, not a bad place, and the location is definitely convenient if you’re around porter square. Otherwise, I’d rather go to Boston for cheaper shabu of comparable quality as I just can’t justify the current price.