Akasaka Northampton — Restaurant in England

Very, very substandard.

Before I write this I want to point out there were some very good things at Akasaka, but some bad things happened too.

We had: Kimchi (excellent) Edamame beans (excellent) Octopus balls (very good)

Eel sushi (very good) Mackerel sushi (ok) Scallop sushi (ok) Tuna sushi (very bad) Salmon avocado roll (very bad)

Chicken Katsu curry (excellent)

Bottle of Sanerre (OK) Fizzy Sake (very bad)

I should point out that the service, was for the most part, also very good.

The tuna was off, and the sake was sweet and perfumed and not nice at all. We made this known early on.

At the end of the meal I went up to the counter to query the items that I was not happy with. The waitress tried to mumble that the sushi is 'like that' and over the course of the conversation told me it comes in every other day, as well as coming in weekly. Similarly the sake, which she said was meant to taste 'like that'.

The most galling thing, is that I am the customer, I am paying for these items and if they are substandard I should be able to tell you, and we can negotiate. But I felt like I had to fight to be heard, there was no apology (apart from one nice waitress) and no attempt to placate me, it was all done extremely begrudgingly. The waitress asked if the sake had been drunk, which it had clearly not, I also had to point out that the menu stated the alcohol content to be 14% when it was actually 6%.

I have the constitution of an ox, but I defintely felt off later that night, and this was confirmed to both my wife and I the morning after. I would only recommend if you want to play Russian roulette with your stomach.

I see there are lots of positive reviews on here, and I am genuinely happy for these customers and Akasaka, but I don't want to take the risk. I will not be coming here again. I prefer Sakura.

(After telling the waiter the sake was horrid my wife asked for a gin and tonic but we were told that was not stocked as it is not typically Japanese. There sushi is not typically Japanese either, it was an embarrassment, I am certain it had been frozen and thawed out. Maybe it's a mistake to call it sushi and charge the prices...

Really poor experience at a usually great restaurant! Bit into a sushi roll only to find a wire in the middle. The staff couldn't say what it was or how it got there. We asked for a replacement platter that was safe to eat and for it to be removed from the bill. Once the bill comes, staff suddenly contest this and refuse to refund the item. After much back and forth with staff, including being asked to not leave until a manager could be reached on the phone, I left the restaurant in tears of frustration after paying in full. It was a special meal that was completely ruined and could have been easily rectified with better communication and a bit of care. I'd usually expect the manager to immediately come to the table after something like this and alleviate concerns / apologise - not the case.

There was no concern whatsoever that a foreign choking hazard was found in the food. Couldn't speak to a manager and no response to emails for a month now. Hate to be negative but reluctantly sharing my experience as dread to think what could have happened and staff need more support to handle matters like this in the future. Such a shame as one of our favourite restaurants and usually brilliant food. Hope we finally get a response and...

As this restaurant has been established in Northampton since 2017 and we have never been, we decided to give it a try. We booked a table for 9pm on a Saturday night and were greeted by a happy and helpful member of staff. They showed us to our table which was right near the front door, which felt like it was in the waiting area so we declined that and asked to sit further inside which was no problem. When seated the waitress said "we shut at 10", so we knew then we had an hour. Thanks. The decor is a bit bland but spotless. The large tiled floor makes it feel cold and was really slippery to walk on. There were 3 other tables in use and seemed quite empty. The service was a little quick as they wanted us out within the hour and whilst we were eating they were clearing up around us which made us feel uncomfortable. I ordered the beef bulgogi with boiled rice and my wife had the chicken teriyaki with boiled rice. Both meals arrived quite quickly, tasted fresh and were nice. The portions were not too large and just right for us. We decided against staying for any desserts. The total price came to £43.90 including a glass of wine each, which I think is quite reasonable. Overall the experience was good and we will probably...