Akahana Asian Bistro - Charlotte — Restaurant in Charlotte

A group of friends and I were grabbing dinner before going to a show. We get seated and there’s tension and confusion on who was waiting on us which left our whole table puzzled. We ask a question and the server goes to answer it and comes back we order. I order 2 pieces of Salmon Nigiri and a chicken fried rice. The waitress asked if I wanted a full size or a side. I said side of chicken fried rice will be good.

Our food comes out. I have 1 piece of nigiri. And I got a side order of just rice no chicken. The waitress then comes and tries to quietly talk to me but my whole table could hear her. She said “ I took it upon myself to only do a small side of rice because you don’t need that much food. Along with a bunch of other back handed comments basically fat shaming. I can’t remember as I was trying to wrap my head around the fact that this lady was telling me I was fat and she didn’t want to give me what I had ordered. She was saying something about changing it and mumbling other things I just picked up my phone so she would stop talking to me… After a few minutes of me sitting there trying to process what just happened I grabbed another waitress and explained what happened and asked if she minded getting me the chicken I had asked for. The manager came over to figure out what was going on. At first he seemed to not believe what was being said but did apologize for what was said. The manager did offer to get me another sushi and chicken I accepted as I just wanted some protein. He comes back after talking to the waitress and she had tried to play it off that there was some miscommunication. I said no there was no miscommunication I ordered a side of chicken fried rice and 2 pieces of Salmon Nigiri and she said took it upon herself to change my order. Everyone at the table agree and said that’s what she ordered. At that moment he finally believed us and gave us reassurance that that is not acceptable behavior and they will no longer be working with them but I’m not sure that’ll happen. I hope so. I will say he did bring me a bowl of chicken but that chicken was partially raw and slimy. ( I think trying to rush it as my whole table was finished and ready to leave. ) I’ve never had that awful of a meal...

Decided to give Akahana in Charlotte a try before a show at Ovens Auditorium at the recommendation of our friends. Honestly wish we hadn't.

The atmosphere still has a very pandemic feel - a weird hostess stand setup with tables and high-chairs creating a bit of an alley which makes it awkward to follow the host to your seat.

Nothing in the restaurant felt "clean." Plates, silverware, glassware all had really bad water stains. The silverware was inconsistent (we had different size forks, I had plastic chopsticks while my wife had wooden ones) which isn't critical but just a peeve of mine. The bathrooms were certainly not clean and the toilet seat was broken. The restaurant just seems like it is not well maintained.

As far as food goes, the tuna tataki we had to start was good, however the sauce definitely has a strong wasabi flavor. The house salads were good, and we enjoy a lot of ginger dressing, but these had so much dressing the bottom of the salads were basically a soggy soupy mess.

My wife had the mixed vegetable stir fry with chicken. The sauce was sweet and had a great flavor overall.

I ordered sushi. The salmon and salmon belly were fresh and tasted good. The eel was served cold both on the roll I had and also as nigiri. Typically prefer this to be served warm. Ordered the $30 Poseidon roll which tasted good, but likely carries that price tag because of the BOGO deals they run on rolls. (My other $18 roll was free, so $30 for two rolls).

Our server was very nice, but there were long periods without us seeing him where drinks needed to be refilled or plates could have been cleared. A manager/owner seemed to make the rounds a couple times and was very friendly as he stopped by each of the tables.

Overall, our experience was just "meh" - but at least outranked our one other experience at Akahana (Fort Mill) where we once sat completely ignored for 30 minutes and ended up walking out.

For $150 tab for two after tip, I would have preferred going to one of several other sushi spots which are cleaner & tastier. I won't be back, not for spite, but because there are simply better...

This restaurant came highly recommended from various people I have met in Charlotte for having great sushi. I've since been to this restaurant twice and found the food to be aggressively underwhelming. If you've had good sushi before you will be woefully disappointed by the quality of Akahana. Their sushi is on par with what you might find sitting around in a gas station for a week. It was dull, lifeless, flavorless, and missing many of the ingredients listed in its description.

My most recent sushi purchase from Akahana, which I assure you will be my last, was placed over the phone using the online menu. We ordered a Dragon roll, Crunchy roll, surf and turf roll, vegetable tempura roll, and side of steamed pork dumplings. When I picked up the order we discovered the menu prices online did not match the prices they charged on pickup. I pointed this out to the hostess and she proceeded to show me their new menu and adjusted prices, offering only "I'll be sure to let the manager know to update them online." So I paid the greater sum and went on my way.

Upon greater inspection when I got home I saw the $7.50 dumplings were six tiny shriveled up flavorless pieces. The sushi was composed of overcooked rice and as I stated before missing several listed ingredients in the rolls descriptions. I found myself trying to dip each piece in more and more soy sauce and wasabi in an attempt to give it any sort of flavor. I finished maybe half and threw the rest away.

Do not look for sushi here. Maybe their other dishes have some redeeming qualities but as far what I've had it is all tasteless, overpriced, and better can be...