Akira

Love it here every time!

Consider this a tentative 3.5-star review. I like Akira, but this place is also very peculiar. Bare with me, this is going to be a long one…
So, I’ve been here twice and ordered take out once (maybe twice?) within the past couple months. The first time I dined here was with my mother. (I think it was a Sunday or Monday night.) We ordered really simple rolls. Yellowtail, California and a rice-​less salmon roll wrapped in cucumber. I have zero complaints. The food was good, the fish was fresh, the prices were reasonable; nothing crazy, but nothing terrible. We talked, ate, relaxed. It was a quiet night and overall pretty nice.
The second time I was here, I went with two other people on a Saturday night. It was pretty busy, but I made a reservation about 20 minutes in advance and they sat us within five minutes of arriving. We had a big booth-​style table near the back of the restaurant away from the main dining area, which was rather crowded at the time. This time, the food was incredible. Even better than the last time I was there. We ordered edamame, miso soup (my normal fixins) and Akira tartar for appetizers, and a few special and plain rolls to split for dinner. The sushi chefs were seriously on top of their game that night because we were really impressed. We were, however, super weirded out/​entertained/​confused by what was going on while we were in the restaurant. So, you know how when it’s someone’s birthday, certain restaurants will bring out cake or dessert and sing a song to the birthday-​er? Well, Akira’s birthday song was this extremely loud, high-​intensity, hip-​hop, «Kidz Bop» style birthday song that would blast over the speaker system (which happened to be right above our booth) every 10 or so minutes. There were a lot of birthdays that night, I guess. I don’t know, it was just REALLY weird and the song made me uncomfortable. But otherwise that was the best night I had there.
The third time I ate from here, I ordered take out with a few family members. My rolls were fine. I ordered California, Boston and Futomaki. They’re always easy rolls; pretty hard to mess up. My father said his was OK, but he wasn’t wildly impressed. He ordered a teriyaki salmon platter. My mother and sister shared a couple rolls. They were more or less in the same boat as my father except for this one roll they had. The salmon inside was so hard they literally could not eat it. It looked and smelled fresh, which is how we came to the conclusion that they gave us the bottom of the fish. (Usually the part you don’t give people…) Needless to say they were pretty annoyed at having to pull all the salmon out of their salmon roll.
My parents decided they probably wouldn’t go there anymore. I would most likely come back. My experiences here vary so much, I might have to try it at least once more. I just hope there are no more birthday-​marathon-​dance-​party-​extravaganzas next time…
The end.

I’m still exploring this area’s restaurants, but after visiting a handful of sushi spots, Akira is my favorite. My gf who is from the area agrees with this assessment and we both plan on returning.
Topping our list of things to reorder here is the appetizer called avocado sensation. This is a tuna tare tar type dish, with crispy panko added to the fish. Served in an avocado and drizzled with a fruit sauce and a contrasting soy/​ginger reduction. We plan on ordering one each on our return. We tried 2 of their basic rolls, both good but the spicy scallop was excellent. This shellfish can be a useful gauge on quality and freshness, and it succeeded in both aspects. Trish is a big fan of Udon noodles, I’ve seen her order the chicken version at several area spots, we both felt this was the best. I opted for the noodle bowl (Nabe Yaki Udon) and was satisfied. The broth was flavorful and soothing, and the portion was huge. This dish features several reconstituted «seafood» products that I usually avoid, but the inclusion of 2 shrimp tempura swayed me to try it. I was glad I did.
This business is located in a strip mall that seems to specialize in food. Their neighbors include Italian, Chinese, Thai, Afghanistan and a seafood joint to name a few. I wonder if all those other choices are just distractions to the star in this mall. No matter, this is the place we will be revisiting, preferably on a Monday or Tuesday when sushi is 30% off. 4.25 artistically plated Unilocal

A wonderful experience all around! We looked at the reviews before going and thanks again Unilocal!
Our appetizer was spectacular from the taste combinations to the presentations! It truly was a sensation (an avocodo one — see pix!!! — ). The raw tuna was encrusted and perfect atop a large avocodo. Whatever sauces they used on it was really good as well. I would absolutely order this again (and again!)!
We also had two sushi rolls. The scallop one was really really good and fresh. The tuna one was as well but not as superior as the scallop.
My main dish — what a shocker for me — an udon dish. Chicken to be exact. The noodles and sauce were perfect. Nice veggies — zucchini, broccoli, asparagus and sugar snap peas (I gave to Vince). There could’ve been a little bit more chicken. ONLY ONLY ONLY slight ding on my part.
Vince’s soup was both beautiful and tasty. He even had leftovers!
Can’t wait to return!

Disappointing. I feel like maybe the rave reviews are from people who don’t eat sushi that often? I ate here for the first time today and was really craving good sushi. Kind of a bummer cause it wasn’t that great. It’s not cheap and the wait was very long.

Great sushi, eat it occasionally from the lunch menu. Staff is very nice and no wait on pick up orders.
Not a big fan of the miso soup here though.

I have lived close to this place for some time now and have always wanted to try it. Finally got the chance to try it and was extremely disappointed. I had the Lobster tempura roll and a miso soup. The Lobster roll tasted like chicken and also in the roll was a hard chunk of carrot asparagus and iceberg lettuce. The miso soup was fine but its hard to mess that up. Service was friendly at first but then felt as if I was being rushed out towards the end. I left starving and one Roll and a soup usually fills me up. I don’t understand why so many people like it here. For the price I’d recommend going elsewhere.

First time here and was not disappointed. The sushi was very good and the desserts were delicious! Will definitely come back next time.

This place came highly recommended and the previous feedback is great. However, I was extremely disappointed with what I ordered. I picked up a to go order and tried the Crazy Roll and the Spicy Tuna Roll. Neither had any flavor to it. The spicy tuna was more like a mushy paste with absolutely no flavor or spice. I ended up tossing both rolls after trying a couple of pieces. The service was great, both on the phone and during pick up, so I might try this place again and try something else. Hopefully it was just a bad night for spicy tuna.

I love Akira! The king salmon roll is my favorite special roll but I’ve never been anything less than completely satisfied with anything I’ve ordered. I regularly dine here with my sushi loving friends who all tell me that the sushi they have elsewhere isn’t as good after eating at Akira. On a normal night, service is very quick. When they’re incredibly busy like they were over the holidays, the worst wait for our food was about 45 minutes but the staff was very attentive and apologetic and it was definitely worth it. I can’t said I would’ve waited that long for anyone else’s sushi. The food presentation is always beautiful. I would love to give this place five stars but sometimes the staff hurries you to order and to leave as soon as you finish. There is one gentleman (I really should remember his name) who always gives outstanding service and thanks us for coming back.

Great way to celebrate New Year’s Day with the family. The hibachi was great — right amount of food and flavor to bring us back again. Our chef was entertaining, the restaurant clean, the hostess very friendly… a truly enjoyable experience. Opt for the combo, the chicken & filet a beautiful medley together.
I could say more, but suggest you come in and try it on your own.

Friendly staff and delicious sushi every time. Even their house salad is always fresh and the dressing is consistent and great. Haven’t tried their hibachi entrées but I’m sure they follow suit. Best place for sushi in south jersey IMO

This is the place to go! Sushi is a hit, and the teriyaki or hibachi meals are great. Always a toss up for me to get sushi or the udon noodle dinner. It’s a clean, not to upscale place. No complaints at all. Recommendation — Ask for Japanese soda (melon flavor).
Great place, Great Food, Great Service, Great Décor.

We love going to Akira. Great food, friendly staff and reasonably priced! The servers give good recommendations and are very nice!
Akira has a dining room and then a separate area for hibachi. We prefer the dining room and they take reservations for both. You can order hibachi food from the dining room!
Everything is great– from sushi to hibachi and any of the main dishes we have never been disappointed. The fried rice is awesome and you get tons of food no matter what you order. The hibachi has the right amount of flavor and comes in a nice separate dish so the sauces don’t all run together.
The sushi is some of the best in the area. Very fresh and it doesn’t take forever. They are really easy if you need to make an accommodation or want to add spicy mayo!
There is 30% off sushi on Monday and Tuesday. The place can get pretty crowded especially on a Saturday or Friday night so don’t forget to make a reservation!

ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT HERE,
great sushi for a great price and great service. This was our 3^rd time here and the sushi is always delicious. Our server Tiffany was perfect and could describe every menu item in beautiful detail, down to the ingrediantes and how even the sauces tasted. Can’t wait to go back, definitely worth a visit

Went with my husband for a quick lunch. I hadn’t been there in years and it was the first time for my husband. We did feel a little rushed by our server to order, but other than that the food was good. They had key Japanese staples. We enjoyed the fresh sushi and the hibachi was delicious.

I have ordered take out about a dozen times, and have eaten-​in three times. Eating in is definately the way to go– when I’ve gotten taken out, I’ve repeatedly gotten my order made wrong, which you don’t find out until you’re sitting down to eat. Twice it was a mistake that made the food inedible (allergies). I don’t like having to drive back to a place to deal with thier mistakes, and its happened multiple times now.
I have found the sushi to be very middle of the road– it’s expensive, no doubt about that, there are much less expensive places that still have great food. The special rolls are varied, but they aren’t cheap– if you do come Mon/​Tues, for the sale, it’s much better.
After my final take out with another mistake (I can’t eat jalapeño, I was very clear…) — I stopped ordering here. There needs to be someone taking phone orders that speaks and understands English CLEARLY. I’m not trying to be rude. It’s very frustrating when you can’t get an order right, multiple times.

My husband would give this place a 5 because he loves all of the specialty rolls but me, I like my sushi simple. No glitz, glam, saucy-​ness needed. In my opinion, I feel their specialty rolls are a little heavy on the sauce and too sweet. The sushi is extremely fresh and the service is always on point. Our favorite thing to get that we both can agree on is the sushi pizza. OMG!!! Drool… And the spicy kani salad is delicious. Akira is our go to sushi place where we live. They have 30% off sushi on Mondays and Tuesdays so take advantage of that and BYOB is always a bonus.

Delicious dishes! Beautifully made sushi, fresh and delicious. We started off with spicy kani salad, big plate, very good. Your usual miso soup and tea. We wanted to try a different roll so we got two special rolls which were the fantastic roll and smokey. Your usual California roll as well. The dish came out pretty creative, check the picture out. Also BYOB, which is a plus. Overall, very good. A bit pricey but then again what good quality sushi isn’t?

I’ve experienced both the Hibachi and the Restaurant part of Akira. The Hibachi is honestly w/​e not much of a show, I’ve seen better at other places.
The normal restaurant has a cool/​fusion vibe with neon lights, huge screen tv (playing normal tv shows like Bob’s burgers, etc.), elegant style tables, chairs, and utensils. Would be helpful if the waiters/​waitresses were more fluent in English (would be easier to describe the sushi). Other than that they were polite and attentive.
The food is pretty good, on my latest trip we got the Hibachi style chicken and 1 special roll (Big Mac roll) and a scallop roll. Between the 2 of us, we left very full and satisfied.
Big Mac roll is quite expensive ~$ 20 however it is huge and has a complex variety of flavors (the Mango slices and crunchy strips on the top blend nicely to contrast the bottom softer part of the sushi). The Hibachi chicken was average, no outstanding flavors or anything. It came with Clear soup and salad. One of the best Clear soups I’ve had, didn’t leave a bad aftertaste at all. Scallop roll isn’t my thing but my partner seemed to enjoy them quite a bit.
Good place to enjoy delicious sushi/​special rolls with friends, celebrate a bday, or to spend a date. The atmosphere allows for all that and minimal noise level outside of the other patrons at the restaurant.