Akira Ramen & Izakaya — Restaurant in Columbia

During my recent visit to Akira Ramen & Izakaya, I experienced a delightful culinary journey that transported me back to a traditional Ramen shop in Japan. Despite a single minor inconvenience, the overall experience was memorable and satisfying.

Parking: Parking at Akira Ramen & Izakaya was slightly tedious due to its busy location, particularly on weekends. Finding a spot took some time, so I recommend arriving early to avoid delays.

Ambiance: Stepping into Akira Ramen & Izakaya immediately reminded me of the charming Ramen shops in Japan. The interior decor, with its authentic touches and cozy atmosphere, made me nostalgic for my time in Japan. The warm lighting and traditional Japanese elements created a welcoming and intimate dining environment.

Service: The service at Akira Ramen & Izakaya was exceptional. Upon entering, my girlfriend and I were immediately greeted and brought to a table by the friendly staff. Their attentiveness and efficiency set the tone for a pleasant dining experience.

We started our meal with two appetizers:

Gyoza (Pork Dumplings): These dumplings were very tasty, with a perfect balance of savory pork filling and crispy exterior. They were a great start to our meal. Takoyaki (Octopus Balls): The Takoyaki was super delicious, with a rich flavor. My only wish was that they included a bit more octopus in the balls. Despite this minor critique, the dish was spot on and very enjoyable.

For our main course, we chose a variety of dishes:

Tonkotsu Shoyu Ramen: This dish was outstanding. The broth was made to perfection, rich and flavorful, and paired well with the tender noodles and other components of the dish. It was a comforting and satisfying bowl of ramen that hit all the right notes. Akira Roll: The Akira Roll was impressively large and featured lobster tempura that was well-cooked, neither chewy nor overcooked. The flavors and textures were well-balanced, making it a standout dish. Salmon Roll and Tuna Roll: Both rolls were fresh and delicious, showcasing high-quality ingredients and expert preparation. The simplicity of these rolls allowed the flavors of the fish to shine.

Conclusion: Akira Ramen & Izakaya offers an authentic and enjoyable dining experience that captures the essence of a traditional Ramen shop. Despite the minor inconvenience of parking, the exceptional service, nostalgic ambiance, and delicious food make it well worth a visit. I highly recommend Akira Ramen & Izakaya to anyone looking for a taste of Asian cuisine in a welcoming and...

Nice Ramen shop to stop by and they actually play J-Pop. The food is good, but the service is sub-par from grrat in anyway. The atmosphere would be perfect with some smiles at least. My prices are estimates, but it was a total of 50.00 which is fairly good for how much we ate.

Serving Huge issue with me, the staff and even cooks needs to learn/train to hold and pull dishes. My server held the plates with his thumb on the center, I had to wipe it clean. Then serving our fries, same server, nearly is touching our fries with his finger becuase how he is holding the plate, absolutely NO! Then I see the cooks grab the Ramen bowls with palm in the inner bowl, it was just not sanitary that way, its basic food training. They need like a SafeServ certificate or something… No high quality restaurant would dare serve food that way.

Service - Staff need to smile a bit, I don't care how your day is going, but if your going to work, at least put some effort into it, especially if you want tip. It goes a long way, 100% of my tip amount comes from service, if you show me you care, you get tip, if not, you getting less than 10% or nothing. No one chatted or talked, no nice greetings or anything, didn't feel warm.

Chicken Broth Ramen with Kara-Age Side (15.50) - It taste like chicken broth ramen, I liked it a lot as it was good, noodles were good, toppings were just right. The Kara-age was good too, but they used more fattier pieces with mine.

Akira Ramen (14.50) - I partner enjoyed the pork broth ramen, simple and nice ramen, soft and tender. If your a ramen lover, you should be fine here.

Salmon Lover Roll (13.50) - Very generous portion of salmon, loved it. Lots of salmon and good mixture of fancy ingredients.

Fries (6.00) - It tasted like french fries, so uts good enough.

Everything is good here, just the service...

DO NOT COME HERE! The food was bland and weird tasting. And the service was BAD!! There are other ramen spots with better food and better service!

The chicken karaage tasted like it wanted to be fish. The fries and the sauces for the fries and chicken karaage were bland. There is only pork options for ramen so not a good idea if you’re looking for something else. The chicken karaage ramen would be plain if you order it. It is just watery soup broth. The only ramens that have flavors are the pork because of the soup base.

The hostess/waitress was rude and seemed like she didn’t want to work or serve us. Was not given a name but I wish I could give their names. One job was split between 3 teenagers. I don’t even know if they were real employees or just apart of the managers family. No name tags, and they were NOT trained in customer service. The girl took our order, another guy delivered our food and another guy took our payment. The first girl and guy had an attitude while serving and taking our order. The girl dropped our plates down on the table and quickly left the table. She Did the same with the cups and water. As if she was too good to serve a table. No customer service skills whatsoever. They were dismissive, short with speech, and in-personable. They acted is if they were so busy even though the place was empty and they were standing around talking to each other in casual conversation. I Had a talk with manager about my ramen that I didn’t initially like. His tone and delivery was irritable. That is not how you treat a paying customer who wanted to change their order. I felt as if I couldn’t ask for a different ramen even though I didn’t like it.

The last guy taking our payment was nice though and he should probably...