Restaurant Akari — Restaurant in Hamburg

I recently dined at Akari and unfortunately, the experience left much to be desired. As someone who has lived in Japan and enjoys cooking Japanese food, I was particularly disappointed. The Hiyakko tofu lacked flavor, and crucial elements like tamari or ponzu were lacking. Moreover, it wasn't served chilled on ice as expected. The Tonkatsu was bland, and the batter was excessively thick. The Tonkatsu sauce failed to capture the authentic taste of Japan. The pickles were mediocre at best. The rice didn't match the quality of Japanese or Korean rice, which was a letdown. Additionally, the portion sizes were notably small considering the prices.

Furthermore, the matcha ice cream fell short of my expectations. It lacked the deep, high-quality matcha taste I've come to love. Additionally, the absence of chopstick holders was a noticeable oversight. To add to the disappointment, the natto was not served with rice, a standard accompaniment in traditional Japanese cuisine.

I also tried the various meat dishes my friends ordered, and I must say, the taste was generally not reminiscent of authentic Japanese flavors.

I believe there's substantial room for improvement, especially in terms of authenticity, portioning, and attention to detail. I hope Akari can take this feedback to heart and work towards delivering a more satisfying...

Actually, to me as non-Japanese person with 1 year experience in Japan, I found the food very authentic. As of today I could not find a more authentic Japanese food in Hamburg. The portion (be it small to some) is also what I used to in Japan, but the service is unfortunately not (good). When the restaurant is full, the service is very slow, the dishes were brought almost one by one and the worse thing is that 1 dish has been forgotten to be served while on the receipt. This has never happened to me not only in Japan, but in any other restaurant either I've been in. If this would be the first time happening, okay, but I do remember the time before when I tried to book 2 seats and nobody picked up the phone that day in the opening hours. I've tried several times. No call-back either. So I went there without a reservation and I got 2 seats. Weird... This is also something, that would have never happened to me in Japan either. Therefore, even though I liked the food, the service is often very 'non-Japanese' to me. :( Feeling...

Schade, etwas enttäuschend.

Sehr freundliches Personal, nette und saubere Atmosphäre.

Aber, das Essen war eher geschmacklos (ist das Salz alle gewesen?).

Hähnchenspieße vorweg (Yakitori). Wirklich eine kleine Portion (zwei winzige Spießchen für 8 Euro). Das Fleisch war auch eher fettig und labberig. Die Soße aber lecker.

Die Misosuppe dazu war ok, aber auch etwas fade im Geschmack.

1x Chicken Curry als Hauptgericht: das Hähnchenfleich war etwas fettig, aber die Soße war lecker. Die Portion war angemessen (aber 19 Euro wert? Nein).

1x Gemüse Tempura als Hauptgericht: wie soll man davon satt werden? 1 Scheibe Zucchini, 3 Scheiben Paprika, 1 Scheibchen Aubergine und ein halber Champignon. Alles in einer faden Panade (wieder: wo ist das Salz?). Die Tunke dazu auch kalt und ohne viel Geschmack. 17,50? Ach nö.

Also, ich hatte mich echt auf diesen Besuch gefreut, weil ich ewig nicht mehr japanisch essen war. Aber ich muß mir wohl ein anderes Restaurant suchen.

Mir geht es nicht ums Geld. Klar, ich kenne die Argumente derzeit: "alles wird teurer, und die Lage und bla bla bla..". Ich bin auch bereit für gutes Essen mehr zu bezahlen. Aber das hier fand ich einfach nicht...