AKA Restaurant & Lounge — Restaurant in Braintree

On a whim, I decided to go out for dinner on Monday and found that this restaurant was one of the few open, and its good reviews made me curious to try it.

From the outside, the building looks quite old, and you might not guess there’s a charming restaurant inside. However, the interior is a delightful blend of nicely refurbished old features and modern touches. Everything is well-decorated, clean, and presented with care.

The restaurant is located right on the high street, without parking out front. However, Lucy, the kind lady inside, explained how to find their off-street parking behind the restaurant. She even provided a printed satellite image with directions, which was very thoughtful. If you're driving, it's worth checking Google Maps' satellite view beforehand, and there's also a back door for convenient access.

We didn't have a reservation but noted their bookings page showed plenty of availability, so we assumed it wouldn't be too busy. Indeed, for a Monday evening, it wasn’t packed, though a few tables were occupied.

We were promptly seated, and Lucy informed us that we had arrived just before their drinks offer expired, so we ordered drinks before looking at the menu. The cocktails, priced around £7-10 each, were delightful. The G&T had a noticeable gin presence, and the non-alcoholic Pina Colada was perfect.

For our meal, we chose vegan spring rolls as starters and Yaki Udon and Teriyaki Fried Rice for the mains. For our 4-year-old, we ordered sweet and sour chicken with rice and a fresh salad. The portions were generous; my partner mentioned she would have been satisfied with just the main course, although the spring rolls were among the best we've tried. Overall, we were pleased with the meal, and all three dishes justified their price.

What really stood out was the atmosphere. Despite the older building, the place had a warm and welcoming feel. The staff paid great attention to detail, were polite, accurate, and non-pushy. They were also very friendly to our little one, offering a free lollipop and engaging with her about her food and experience, patiently waiting for her responses.

We enjoyed our time there so much that we even ordered dessert, which we usually skip. We opted for the cheesecake of the day, which was a generous portion served with a scoop of ice cream, well worth the price.

Overall, we left very pleased with our experience. Their 5-star reviews on various platforms are well-deserved, as they certainly lived up to expectations.

P.S.

A nice touch was that they didn’t include a service charge in the bill, allowing us the option to add it ourselves. This approach earns them an extra star in my book, as many places these days automatically add a service charge. They truly earned their tip, and we were happy to leave...

So here is the thing, this is a wonderful building. Obviously an historic pub at one stage, little historic notes can be found littered throughout. A “defunct” but working bar, signage that allude to the history of smuggling, low ceilings and a somewhat haphazard layout that has been defined over time. However the business now is polar in colour, the older highlights of a once public house gem are hidden in a camouflaging white / off white / cream colour. However, this is an Asian fusion restaurant and modern via its very nature, so regardless of what it was. It was not used and it is, what it is.

The welcome is warmer than the wall colourings and really represents the Asian culture well. The team are attentive, ask all the questions and deliver all the answers in a manner that great Asian restaurants are well known for and it is appreciated. The service is efficient and I can only assume that on any other night, this serves them well to expedite service and of course, food.

Tonight is relatively quiet and we would expect this on a Tuesday. There are plenty of team around. Although it is arguable that they are needed and they are not easily described as busy. They adorn the entrance and when not actually engaged with guest activities, loiter and wait for the moment in which they are once more engaged. This could be a good sign of efficiency. It could be there is too many team on. Lordy, I said it, I am getting old.

The food was fresh, hot and desirable. The three of us ate well. The food came out fast, was composed of the flavours you would expect from fusion dining and we were checked back on as was expected from a liberally staffed restaurant.

I do not believe the business would falter under pressure of a busy weekend. Once again, via the stereotypes of great delivery. The great Asian restaurants of this fair isle tend to step up when the pressure rises. However, at this time I cannot say for sure!! This alone is another great reason to visit AKA Restaurant & Lounge. It was really quite good when we visited and we would like to go again… maybe on the weekend, with a party of us. I think the business would cope. It has the venue size, the team in place, a great menu, good food. All in all, yes it works and it works well. Now if I could just see some more of those touches that make that beautiful venue, beautiful again, a step further from monochrome. The word I am looking for is defined as warming in nature, I sought an aesthetic hug from my surroundings maybe… just to...

SO DISAPPOINTED! We were pleased to find a place that has Japanese food on the menu in Witham. We’ve had a couple of take-out meals from there during lockdown which we enjoyed. For me, it was their Chicken Yakitori & Chicken Kara-Age. So I was very much looking forward to a sit-in meal. I warned them that my partner was vegan when I booked which didn’t seem to be a problem. So meal was a big disappointment: (1) Chicken Yakatori removed from Menu (2) Chicken Kara-Age not available (3) Roast Duck Cantonese style was so over cooked as to be impossible to chew (and I like my duck crispy as much as the next person), so I had to leave it (4) my partner was told there were no vegan items on the menu, so we had to go through a long question & answer session to ascertain that there were actually items he could eat. I don’t think they understood what vegan meant though he did try to explain. We didn’t make a fuss, we just won’t...