Akari

This place fills up quite quickly so I suggest making a reservation! The menu is quite extensive which some might find a bit overwhelming. They have a large selection of sake and the décor of the restaurant is really cozy. The staff is a little slow though. I’m a big fan of sushi and whenever the opportunity arises I always order the soft shell crab roll. This place however was a disappointment as it was very bland. I suggest asking the staff what they recommend rather than just choosing a bunch of different plates! I’ll be honest that I have never returned but if you are craving sushi at fairly low prices and a nice atmosphere it’s a nice place for it!

No doubt this place is more than 5 stars! I only walked past it the other day and decided to try this place as it looked quite good. However, when I went I was really positively surprised. The food is incredible! Had sushi and a tofu salad and loved it even though I usually don’t particularly like tofu. The staff in there were really friendly and genuine and the atmosphere was great! Definitely recommend this place!

We went there without booking a little bit past 6:30p.m on Saturday. I was quite surprised to know we had the last one table left. The décor inside was not Japanese but European pub style and all stuff were not Japanese. We were desperate for raw fishes so ordered Sashimi first.(I was too desperate to think about taking the picture before eating!!!) Apart from Sashimi, every dishes were amazing. I felt like being in Tokyo!!! I recommend Hamachi Kama if you’ve never eaten, I am sure You would like it!!! They served it with a sauce like ponzu and lemon. I recommend you eat it with them :)

Really rather good. Unagi a little too sticky. Avoid the unfortunate three person table around fireplace. Asahi on tap very welcome.

This place is perfect if you are looking for a great Sushi experience in a relaxed, informal setting. Service is always friendly, though can be a bit slow when the restaurant is full. Food is exceptional — would highly recommend the Saba No Bo, Nasu Dengaku, and the Miso Cod among others. Making a reservation is a wise move — they are usually very busy for good reason. We are regulars here and will continue to be.

Great sushi. Reasonable prices. Have popped in here a few times when I was working in the area. Shout out to the salmon avocado roll & chicken katsu.
Annoying that they aren’t open for weekday lunch though and don’t do delivery.

Guys. I’ve found it. Actual, quality, Japanese food in London at a reasonable price. They said it couldn’t be done, but it is done.
Akari is located in Dalston in a converted pub. Call for reservations. We came on a Friday night at 6pm and it was packed. It seems like it’s one of those places that are always going to be at least a little busy.
And it’s so easy to see why. The menu is epic and everything on it, delicious. The sushi. Delicious. The sashimi. Delicious. The chicken katsu? Best I’ve had since Japan. The Gyu Tataki, or seared, sliced, sauced steak? The best I’ve had anywhere. Literally, anywhere.
And the aubergine. My god, don’t get me started on the aubergine.
The service can be a little slow, but settle in, you’re in for a hell of a meal. And then the real issue is, you want to order everything on the menu. Don’t, you’ll never finish it all. Or actually, do, and live like a king for a second. It’s worth it.

Oh akari! You are my new fav J restaurant in London. We had some delish dishes — must get the carpaccio, chicken nan ban (has this yummy sauce on it — kiddo loved it!), hamachi with salt, and soft shell crab roll fried to perfection.
We had a reservation at 7pm and they told us before that we needed to be out by 9. No prob, but jeez they bring the dishes out too fast. It was food overload! Probably only thing I would say to do — slow down and let us savor the food!
Kid friendly with high chairs, plastic bowl and utensils. Sweet!

My sushi standards are very high after being spoiled by Genki Ya in Boston. But Akari is genuinely the best sushi place I’ve found in London. Went here on a date with my (now) husband and we regularly make the trek there (living in South London now) because there’s no other place like it. The staff is friendly, the service is efficient, but the food is where they really shine. My standing order of edamame, gyoza, rainbow roll and spice tuna hand roll is always delicious. The fish is very high quality and so fresh. The rolls are impeccably made. I literally can’t say a bad word about it. Go try it for yourself!

All my friends were raving about this place so I wanted to check it out. I’ve only ever had a takeaway here. Got some salmon sushi, tofu salad, salmon teriyaki and gyoza. Was very disappointed with it all! Tasted like airport Japanese food. The sushi rice was super cold, the salmon teriyaki was such a small portion and very «meh» flavour. Gyoza totally forgettable. Will try again and eat in as so many people have said how good it is.

I never walked out of a restaurant with an inexorable smile until tonight.
I asked the waiter to recommend me their best sashimi plate. She told me that ‘people usually ordered’ the assorted sashimi, but after trying to explain it again to her, that I wanted to try their best, not just the common fish you can eat in most sushi places, she asked the chef. The chef told me to try the ‘Saba No Bo sushi (Authentic Kansai west Japan style marinated mackerel sushi)’(5 pieces £8.20). So I ordered it, and the assorted sashimi small (2 tuna, 2 salmon, 1 yellow tail, 1 sweet prawn, 1 scallop, 1 sea bass £13.90), just to compare the tuna and salmon quality with others I have tried.
The assorted sashimi arrived a few minutes after the Asahi beer that I ordered. I don’t have that much experience in Japanese food, but I believe it was fresh, and it was worth what I was paying, but nothing special.
Then all changed. They gave me one of the best sushi plates I have ever tasted. As I said before, I am not an expert in Japanese food, and I have never been in Japan. But I have tried a lot of sushi places in NY and some of the best places in Spain (with Michelin stars), and the Saba No Bo sushi was if not the best, one of the best plates I have ever had, thank ‘god’, the opportunity to taste.
So I asked the chef, if it was possible to order to take away that same fish with the same spices but as sashimi, because they had it in the menu without the spices (5 pieces £7.20). He made it for me, putting also some rice, to prepare it, which resulted to be almost the same that the sushi plate, and for the same price (£7.20). And when he gave it to me, he told me, as I noticed, that he was putting in an extra piece of fish.
The result of all this, was what I said, an unstoppable smile as I walked out.
Coming back for sure!

We walked into Akari on Friday night hoping to grab a table for two and was delighted Akari could accommodate us (we were starrrving)! The tables are all really big and you will have lots of space between you and the other customers if you dine here. I got sushi which was fresh and tasty and my boyfriend got gingered beef which was also really good. We had goyza to share (would have preferred if this wasn’t deep fried but still nice), glass of wine and a sake.
The waiters left us alone except to fill up our water and bring extras ginger which we really liked as we didn’t feel rushed.
Overall an enjoyable meal, I’m not raving about it but I’ll definitely be back! Solid performance Akari!

You have to order the sushi in here it is so fresh it’s unreal, in fact all the dishes we ordered where just incredible. You would never think that this place of such quality would exist on essex road, but very happy it does.

This place is great. Great fresh sushi and sashimi for a reasonable price, udon noodles, traditional Japanese chicken & beef dishes. We’ve been 3 times and mostly just binge on sushi and sashimi platters, but definitely try some other dishes as well. They serve Ashai on draft (so much better and colder than on bottle) and have a few sakes as well.
In my experience, the service is nothing to complain about and always has been great.
Another great thing about this place is the venue. Hosted in an old pub, they barely changed the setting and so it’s something different compared to most Asian restaurants.
If you crave sushi and don’t want to spend a fortune in London; this is definitely the place to go!

Good japanese place in a converted english pub setting. I only had sushi and a soup both was very good. Service was good, too. Prices are average for London. I´ll be back when I crave Japanese.

My boyfriend and I have come here twice to celebrate and it’s definitely not the last time we eat at Akari. Good and reasonably priced sushi is hard to find in London, but this restaurant is perfect for fresh fish and Japanese traditional dishes.
Besides the delicious sushi and sashimi they have, they have amazing rolls and meat dishes, making the menu very well-​rounded. It’s hard not to order everything!
The second best thing is the unique fact that the joint used to be an English pub. You get to see London buses constantly whizzing by while you eat with wooden chopsticks… it’s a really unique experience that every resident/​tourist should try.

When you first enter, Akari appears to be a traditional English pub rather than a japenese restaurant. I ordered the gyoza (dumplings) for starter, which I absolutely loved. Very tasty, lovely and crisp on the bottom, and deliciously soft on the top. I then had the chicken katsu for a main dish — the deep fried chicken was beautifully succulent inside, with a lovely crisp coating. The sauce and tanginess of the mustard were great.
The food here was very good, and also reasonably priced. I didn’t try any of the suchi, but my boyfriend did and seemed impressed. I would definitely recommend Akari.

I really dug this place… Japanese food but not formal (a bit of a Western twist) in a great pub setting. There is a lot to like.
The sushi was excellent – really liked the hand rolls and a friend of mine ordered some seared tuna dish that was off the charts. Seaweed salad which had a bit of an east-​meets-​west spin was also quite good.
Book ahead – this place gets packed and you can only have the table for 2 hours.

Went last night to check out what all the fuss was about. My husband loved his sushi, and from what I know about sushi (as a non-​eater of it), it did look quite good. The tuna was a lovely shade of pink, but not the electric colour of tuna that’s been filled up with preservatives to keep longer. Quite reasonably priced, as well.
I had a pork dish with ginger sauce that was nice, but not amazing. I’ve definitely had better. I also had a lovely glass of white wine. Their house wines were a bit nicer than most. We ended our meal with ice cream– he had the matcha flavour and I had the black sesame. They were both gorgeous. The matcha was the beautiful deep green you get when there’s a lot of tea powder present, and the brown sugar syrup complemented the bright grassy flavour really well. The black sesame ice cream was a lovely, if unexpected, flavour. Nutty and savoury with the brown sugar syrup giving it just a touch of sweetness. It was quite rich, and I think it would be perfect for someone who likes a less sweet dessert.
Overall, if you’re a sushi lover, you’ll love Akari. Jury’s still out on the other dishes. I’m going to try a few more before I cast final judgement on it. The service was very inconsistent, as well. We had three waitresses over the course of our meal, and only one of them was any good. The other two were hurried, impatient, and edging on rude. They were also really slow, taking ages to clear our dishes and bring our desserts and bill. I will definitely give them another try, but mostly because there aren’t many other options for good Japanese food in London.

BEST Japanese I’ve had in London.
Honestly, I’ve been in this fair city a year and have had nothing but rubbish ramen and crappy chain sushi. When I list the things I miss about home (Auckland), it’t it a bit odd to say I miss all the fantastic Japanese joints the most? LDN is meant to be on top of its game when it comes to food, but so far no dice.
Until last night, when the boy and I decided to wrap up and head to that funny looking pub with a Japanese sign just up the road from our place. Hello Akari!
It was busy, but we booked half an hour before (thanks Unilocalers for the tip!) and were whisked straight to our seats. Right next to some presumably famous football player — because people kept walking up to this chap and thanking him for being a living legend. Um okay. I totally digress…
But we were very happy because the ex-​pub is beautiful! And tastefully decorated! The kitchen is smack in the middle, where the bar would have been, so you can have a nosey and watch the head chef rattle off orders.
I had: nasu dengaku — or sweet miso covered aubergine — which was so so good. In fact I LIED about how amazing it was so I could scoff it all without sharing. The kitsune soba was yummy and felt very healthy. I also had read amazing things about the sushi so partook in a cucumber and avocado roll which was totally banging. Can I say that about sushi? Yes, yes I can. (By the way, these were all vegetarian options if you, like myself are that way inclined).
Boy had: miso pork katsu, sui gyoza (pork dumplings in soup) and some tasty pickled vegetables. He reported that all were excellent.
We didn’t stick around for dessert but we were pretty full! Total for 2, plus 3 pint of Asahi, including service was just under 50 pounds. Well worth it — save up your lunch money (eschewing Yo Sushi et al) and go!