Akira Ramen & Izakaya — Restaurant in Rockville

First time going and the food was delicious. Gyoza was fantastic and the ramen was hearty, flavorful, and well proportioned. I'm not a ramen expert by any means, but I would definitely come back. The guy next to me ordered these pork loin buns that he highly endorsed. I was stuffed when I left. It was salty, but I've never had ramen that wasn't, so I had nothing to really base it off of to be honest.

Nice place, cozy, trendy styling. Akira Ramen is in a high traffic area, so be prepared to wait. I went at lunch, so I had to wait like 45 minutes, but a guy who came much later than me got inside in like 5 minutes. So it was merely timing. Although most of the reviews accurately ding them for being slow. I sat at the counter and watched everything. Plenty of wait staff, and cooks, but everything just moved slower than it should have based on the amount of people there. I say the biggest issue is that the place is small, and the customers want to sit and hang out. Can't ding them for that right? Ramen places are supposed to be small.

The staff was friendly, especially the hostess. She did a good job keeping up with high influx of incoming customers on a pen and paper notepad. They could really do well with an electronic order system with buzzers or an sms notification system. Unfortunately they just don't have the space. People would put their names on the list and go outside and leave due to the wait time. Only knock against some of the staff was that they weren't as attentive as the could have been. It's only ramen, so there's only so much they could do, but they could pay more attention to levels of your beverage. Maybe it was just my waitress.

All in all, an enjoyable experience. Looking forward to going back. Will probably update my review based on whether or not my experience with speed of seating and attentive...

This is the first time I’ve been here. Though, I’ve been to Maruman Ramen in Fairfax, and a couple in California. So, I have some basis for my review.

First, you can tell by entering in the restaurant that the only way they can make money is to overcharge because of lack of seating. It is simple math that if you can’t have a lot of customers in your dining room then you have to make it up elsewhere. Well, they are sure making it up by charging over $13 for a bowl of ramen.

Pork buns. Get rid of the lettuce. Use something else like spring onions or something. The lettuce takes away the flavor and makes me feel like I’m eating a tiny pork sandwich. Also, the pork is not as flavorful as Maruman. Two tiny pieces for $6? I’ll pass on this next time.

Ramen: The size is tiny. The bowl is medium size but they only fill it up half way with salty and fatty soup. When I make soup at home, I try to skim the fat before serving. They don’t skim any fat here. Maybe they add an extra ladel of fat to the soup for an oilier tast. The noodles are ok, but not really the consistency of other ramen places. There is hardly any meat and the egg they use must be extra small. I’ve never seen eggs this small. The taste has a bit of salty MSG flavor to it. I’m writing this with a headache.

The fried chicken pieces have lots of fat and skin. The meat is chewy.

Service, ok, but they don’t check on you. You have to flag them down for everything.

In summary, I came here to try it. I don’t know if I will be back because it is pretty expensive for what you get. The flavor is not so good that you crave it... Maybe those people who live walking distance will provide the necessary patronage to keep this place alive. But, there are too many options for those who have a car.

3/5, and...

We had initially dined at the Akira Ramen in Columbia and were so impressed that we were determined to visit the Rockville edition the first chance we could get. And we are so happy that we finally made the time! Two appetizers: Spicy Tuna Roll and the Agedashi Tofu. The tuna was wrapped inside of avocado inside of tempura. Spicy, yes, but not so as to mask the flavor of the tuna. The tofu was fine, if bland, but, hey, tofu, right? The Kid had Chicken Kutsu, which was breaded and fried chicken breast served with cold soba noodles, a dipping sauce and a selection of sides, including crispy lotus root, which was a delicious revelation. The chicken was perfectly cooked and the soba noodles were worth the price just on their own. The Missus (bless 'er) was all about the King Dragon Roll with tempura shrimp, avocado, eel and tobiko caviar. It definitely was a successful blend of flavors. She also ordered the Tantanmen Ramen which was not as successful, as the broth tasted as though someone had a bit of a heavy hand with miso or sesame broth, resulting in the ramen being quite salty. We had had this dish at the Columbia location and loved it, which is why we ordered it here to see if this would be a consisent dish. Although disappointing, it won't keep us from trying the Tantanmen one more time, however. Lastly, I thoroughly enjoyed the Rockville Roll, consisting of a whole grilled squid stuffed with eel, smoked salmon and creamed cheese. For me this was a winner- as pleasing to the eye as it was to the palate. The smoky of the salmon, eel and salmon was an excellent counter-point to the richness of the cream cheese. Another Item to be ordered on a future visit. All in all, Akira Ramen and Izakaya is fast becoming a family...