Akasaka

I have never been in this place before but I had a BOGO lunch menu item from my Memphis City Savers Coupon Book (gotta use them all up by December!!). First thing I noticed about this place was how beautifully decorated it was. A place doesn’t have to be pretty for me to enjoy the food but it’s always nice! I took a few pictures of the fun stuff I saw because it was just cool.
Our hostess, Stephanie, was amazing! We requested a booth and she got it cleaned for us very quickly. She also did us a huge favor: helped us pick out sushi. My friend had never really tried it (except for once with her Dad a long time ago) but she was willing to try some if we got it cooked. Stephanie got a pen and marked all the sushi that was cooked. At some points she had to read the description (which we should’ve done but we there were so many options we were a bit flabbergasted as to where or how to start looking). We rubbed off the ones we didn’t want for w. e reason and once we narrowed it down she stopped again and answered our questions about different things we didn’t know (such as what is the sauce that comes on it?) We loved the Samurai roll that we ended up getting. She was so helpful and I just wanted to give her a shoutout here and now: THANKS, STEPH!
Our waiter (I forgot to ask his name) was also super helpful. He informed us that the coupon only applied to lunch items, not the specials that we had been looking at and had chosen from. He even opened my menu to the right page for me to show me the difference. He was kind about giving us another few minutes to pick from that menu. He also informed me that the gratuity included (noted on the coupon) meant we didn’t need to tip him since that meant tip was included in our total. I always get confused about that so I’m glad he told me that.
Okok, the food:
We got the Samurai Roll. We chose it because it had shrimp, didn’t have anything too unusual or foreign to my friend, wasn’t spicy, and was affordable. We both loved it. I found I preferred it with a little bit of low-​salt soy sauce than by itself but that’s just me.
I was in the mood to try something new but when I saw Fried Rice for the Brazen Fool I knew I had to get it. I’ve only ever seen the Brazen Fool at Lee Khan’s and I liked it there so I wanted to try it here. (NOTE: Ask for it spicy if you want it to really be spicy! They toned it down after getting complaints so it’s only mild now). I enjoyed it but since I didn’t realize they had toned it down (my waiter told me after I got it and mentioned its lack of heat) I had to use Sriracha sauce to give it some kick. But hey that’s ok because I like Sriracha. I also got clear soup but it was meh. It’s lost its taste for me ever since I realized it was just chicken broth. I chose it this time because my friend got the salad and we wanted to try both.
My friend got the Hibachi Chicken with fried rice and the Akasaka salad (the usual ginger-​dressing salad you find at most hibachi place). It had a different sauce than most places because it also had apple in it. It tasted really good and wasn’t as overpowering as it sometimes is at other restaurants. i only had a sample of her hibachi chicken but it was delicious. They also have a Sriracha Hibachi Chicken so I will try that myself (my friend isn’t as fond of spicy as I am).
I think the only reason I didn’t give this place 5 stars is because when I glanced at the dinner options I saw it was super expensive. It didn’t blow me away as being so much better than anywhere else to merit the price (though I could be wrong). I will return for sure but I think I will try to stick to their lunch menu and sushi.
Try: The Sriracha Hibachi Chicken (lunch menu)
Loved:
Samurai Roll
Fried Rice for the Brazen Fool (try it spicier next time)
Hibachi Chicken
Liked:
The Akasaka Salad (comes with Ginger-​Apple dressing)
Eh:
Clear Soup

Overpriced and bland. The service was lacking. They were playing a local top-​40 radio station in what is supposed to be an upscale Japanese restaurant. And the food itself was lackluster. The lights were flickering, even though the skies were mostly clear.

After arriving to a nearly empty restaurant, we had to wait 15 minutes to be seated because they didn’t want to «overwhelm» the new waiter. We waited another 20 min to finally receive our appetizer of «Crazymame» which just turned out to be edamame sauteed in some sweet, goopey, out of a bottle sauce (ick). They also forgot to bring out my boyfriend’s salad, after discussing the fact that he ordered it twice. Finally, the sushi was an odd texture… I’d never had crunchy sashimi until my visit to Akasaka. The spicy tuna roll was average. I’m not sure what my boyfriend ordered, but by the faces he was making as he chewed, I don’t think it matters as it was bad, bad, bad. To end on a good note… my beer was cold? Oh, and I’m generously giving them 2 stars as I was thrilled not to have food poisoning the next day.

The food in Memphis is always a treat until we got to Akasaka. They served us rotten lobster. Terrible service and absolutely no atmosphere Despite the fact that we were the ONLY party in the whole restaurant for the entire two hours we were there they wouldn’t turn on the music because they have televisions (?) so we just sat there in silence eating our million dollar rotten lobster for our moms birthday party.
It will go down in history in our family as literally «the worst meal ever at the worst restaurant ever».
go somewhere else!

Awesome weekly specials for almost every day of the week. My favorite as I have mentioned before is the fireball shrimp … AMAZING!!! I will think about that dish randomly throughout the day it’s that good! Also, the bartender makes one of the best Malibu bay breeze’s ever! If you like sushi this spot has some amazing fresh and well priced varities! The staff is very friendly even when having to deal with crazy 4 year old twins! Big screen tv’s and never really packed so always sit right down and dine! I LOVE this spot!

Japanese hibachi restaurant in Germantown, TN… It fills the missing void but it is pricey for the area considering almost all entrees are $ 20 + and most patrons of Germantown are families with kids and this equals big ticket.
Now that’s out of the way, the food is really good and within reason of most hibachi restaurants with sushi. I have had the steak, scallops, and shrimp off the hibachi table and it is good. I have also tried several of the sushi rolls and they are just ok.
If you eat here stick with the hibachi table and take a crew with you. It is good and fun… For sushi there is a much better sushi restaurant directly down the street. The wait staff is very nice and this place has a great selection of beer and a full bar.

Where to begin…
We went here tonight for my future father in law’s 58^th birthday. We arrived at 6:30pm. We had a party of 22 and a reservation was made way in advance. We had three hibachi tables and after we had ordered, we were told there were only two hibachi cooks. This was first.
It took 45 minutes for our cook to come out and begin cooking. The food was okay but pretty bland.
We got through with our meal and hat to wait TWO HOURS for our check. They claimed their computer system crashed. We had to calculate our own meals. We were honest and included everything plus a gratuity we were going to add ourselves for the waitress.
The lady behind the counter wanted to check our math just in case we weren’t honest. Then on top of that, they added a mandatory 18% gratuity. They offered no discount for our trouble. We even got an attitude from the owner as if it was our fault.
We didn’t leave until 10pm.
Absolutely absurd and we will NEVER EVER eat here again. No effort was made to rectify the situation or compensate us for their horrible service. What a shame too because we were excited to try this place. Shame, shame, shame.

Nice décor but… the experience just isn’t worth going back for if there are other options. The sushi was good but not great. The assortment of menu choices was uninspired and almost all the entrees started at $ 20+. I’m not usually hungry enough for $ 25+ including the $ 2.50 soda and a tip. As an aside, I noticed their lunch ‘special’ is $ 13. Really!!! That’s a «Special»?
My apathy is not so much on the price, but the menu, quality, and experience must be justified. Considering the place was barren the whole time I was there and it always seems slow when I drive by, should the owners take a hint?
All I can say about service was… I had to get up and find someone to get my food from the Sushi bar. I knew it was ready because the Chef kept hitting the «It’s Ready!!» bell every 15 seconds for a 4 – 5 minutes. I assume the server wasn’t out front because there was no one else to wait on. Probably playin’ a little X-​Box in the back room.
I had my iPad with me. The restaurant had a wifi signal but the server didn’t know the password. He said they usually suggest people just log on to SportsCuts’s wifi.
3 stars from me means, «everything is safe, and reasonably clean, but nothing I would suggest to someone».
I wish them luck and a modified menu soon.

not the best sushi I’ve ever had, but it was good. You can’t beat the lunch prices. 4 rolls for $ 1 – 2. Their ginger salad was VERY good, though.