Aki Steak and Sushi — Restaurant in Mont Belvieu

TL;DR - poor meal timing/planning, atrocious service, zero attempt made (or knowledge) on customer service conflict resolution

I typically don't leave bad reviews but since I've been heated about my last visit to this place for the past few weeks, I decided to go ahead, air my grievance and move on. Seriously, I've never experienced this at any restaurant in this price-point ever. (or even a "cheap" restaurant for that matter...)

This place has been my mine and my husbands favorite local place for sushi. We have been coming here since the beginning and have always had great service and great food. We never have any issues with the price points and usually end up spending over $100 for just the both of us every time we visit, but we will never be back.

This time, we were the 2nd customers in as we arrived close to opening. The only other table was a larger party, which I want to start off with stating - that was fine. We ordered an appetizer to split, 1 hot meal for him, and 1 specialty roll for me. The appetizer and singular meal were bussed out 1st...no sushi. That was an issue considering the roll was my meal and it is highly irregular for any meals to be delivered split at any restaurant we have ever been to as it is bad etiquette to have one person eating their meal while the other person simply waits.

I inquired about my sushi, I was told it was coming right up and not far behind. We both picked on the appetizer until it was gone, no sushi. My husband ate HIS meal, no sushi. I look over and the chefs are all focused entirely on preparing a huge "sushi boat" party platter for the table ahead of us, no one is working on my roll. Here is where things get tense.

I once again, ask the waitress where my food is at, she gave me the same response. We ask for the check. She then has the audacity to ask if we wanted the sushi to-go....I express how irritated I am not that there is a large order ahead of me, but that I was not given a heads up about there being a delay, so I could change my order to avoid this issue and the waitress tosses the bill book on the table and walks away (excuse me?)...minutes later my plate arrives and at that point I am too heated to eat. I tell her to just trash it, we pay our bill (the sushi included) and leave.

Not once did this girl ever offer a solution. Not once did she get a more seasoned waitress or manager to mediate this issue. Not once did she offer to void that one item from the bill BEFORE it was made (when I was clearly, vocally upset) and not once did she offer to remove it once I told her I didn't want it. As far as I am concerned, the business is better off with that $20+ than she is, because that was exactly the tip we leave on a $50 check because that will be the last dollar...

My wife and I have been twice so far and both times were fantastic! The first time we went was during their soft opening and then again about three weeks after. We had appetizers, sushi, and dessert both times. All the food was very delicious, but the real reason I'm writing the review is because of the service. The first night I was immediately impressed by the friendliness of the front of house manager, Dante. It was a soft opening so he was working the floor with his younger staff members and helping them learn the ropes. He greeted us and took care of us basically the whole night. I couldn't help but notice and love his management style. He waited tables, trained staff, bussed tables, and took care of normal managerial business with ease. He never missed a beat. He introduced us to the sushi chef that was making our food, an older man named Kato. If Dante wasn't taking care of us, then Kato was. He made our food, refilled our drinks, and answered all our questions about the sushi even though he was still making other people's orders. The second night was almost identical except the restaurant was far more busy. Even though the people kept pouring in Dante and Kato, who remembered us from last time, kept checking on us and making sure the place was running smoothly. Our actual waiter on the second night was a young guy named Jeff, and he was also fantastic. He was extremely polite, very helpful, and kept our drinks and plates full. Jeff took care of us just the right amount. He wasn't overly checking on us and also wasn't leaving us thirsty. These three staff members really impressed me and paired with good food means Aki will be a staple in...

If your restaurant is not prepared to make high quality ingredients for Togo orders, then you probably shouldn’t have it on a Togo menu. Overall experience of food was 3 out of 10. Gyoza was decent, still chewy and the sauce was extremely salty. The A5 Wagyu Nigiri was not it at all. The wagyu was so fatty and chewy I couldn’t even bite a piece off. I had to use my fingers to rip it apart. Wagyu should melt in your mouth, that definitely did not do it. The Salmon Sashimi was decent maybe the best thing we had but you can’t really mess that up. The hibachi combo was decent, but your portion sizing? Really? And the chicken was so dry like if it had been sitting around for a while. Maybe about 3oz of steak? Ridiculous. And the Kona Kampachi, where was the foie gras? I couldn’t even taste the foie gras oil that was supposed to be in there. Overkill on the cilantro, and again, the fish was so dry. I also got the Special Crunch roll (did not get a picture of that), and it was not special at all. I know it doesn’t come with sauce, but maybe you should start adding it because Again, DRY. Not even the avocado could save it. You have Foie Gras and A5 Wagyu on your menu. My expectations were very high and was unfortunately let down. We spent $170 on a meal that was not worth $170. This place definitely is hyped up more than it should be. So...