Akira Sushi & Steak House — Restaurant in Sanford

My wife and I have been here at least 10 times since they opened and are still happy with what we get. We have sat in their hibachi tables and regular dining areas, had at least half the entrees, a good chunk of the sushi dishes, and appetizers leaving happy with everything purchased.

Their sushi dishes are very well proportioned, taste amazing, and come out in a beautiful presentation. Everything smelt fresh and was made in a reasonable amount of time, even for a restaurant that just opened.

Their main dishes were very well prepared, came in satisfying proportions, and just looked really nice. They were even able to accommodate for some of my wife's food allergies and special requests on one of her dishes as well!

By far my favorite was their Hibachi grill area. The table we sat at was in a horse shoe layout and looked like it was designed for two chefs to serve up to 18 guests. My wife and I came later in the evening and were entertained by the chef and absolutely loved the food. Everything was cooked to perfection and had very generous portions given to us! Remember to tip your chef!!

The overall atmosphere is very calm and modern. I really liked the decorative lighting and choice of decoration. The staff has been quite attentive to us, giving us constant refills, making sure everything is of good quality, and just generally entertaining to be around. The night we came later in the evening we even heard some of the staff in the back singing a little and it just made us smile.

In short, just go here. It looks nice, the seats are comfy, staff is nice, food is outstanding, and the price is just right for what you are getting. We will be back and are going to bring our friends and family with us. If you have a large group, do the hibachi grill and...

Bit of a mixed experience here, but more positive than negative. Arrived a couple min after 11am on a Saturday and the doors were locked and the lights were off. I called the restaurant and no answer. Annoying. Around 11:10am I was ready to go somewhere else when a car pulled up with three people in it, who rolled down their window and told me they would be open in a few minutes. True to their word, the restaurant opened a few minutes later. Once inside, I ordered the AYCE, which features appetizers, hibachi, and sushi options! One thing I really liked was the selection of sushi rolls, many of which included cream cheese! I ordered a salmon cheese roll, a tuna cheese roll, a Godzilla roll, and a double salmon roll and they were all very tasty! Well rolled and fresh! I was basically full because those rolls were quite large, but I wanted to try the hibachi sirloin steak, and it was better than I expected, tender and flavorful, with no fat or gristle! One other slightly annoying part of the experience was while I was waiting for my food, one of the employees (maybe someone’s kid, he seemed really young) went around the entire dining area with a broom and dustpan, and loudly slammed the dustpan against the floor every time he moved 6 inches, so I just heard him loudly sweep for about 10 minutes, an activity that someone who knew what they were doing could have done virtually silently. He also got weirdly close to me, and came within inches of literally sweeping...

We ate on the hibachi side of the restaurant.

The service was pretty decent except if you asked for something "extra" (lemon for your iced tea, soy sauce for your sushi, ingredients for the fake Krab so you might actually be able to eat it). It then took a bit to get what you'd requested, if you got it at all. The staff was very nice and brought us a few extra things to try (which was why I was asking about the krab, as I'm allergic to shellfish). I never did get an answer and gave up.

However, I found almost every single dish that was served far far too sweet! The white sauce tasted like they put 3x the amt of sugar needed in it, the noodles were cooked with teriyaki sauce (also very sweet) as was my salmon. The "ginger" salad dressing tasted more like 1000 island (and again, super sweet). About the only thing that was actually better than the competition was the filet and the soup and the ginger sauce (for the meat dishes). They actually knew how to cook a steak as ordered (medium rare), and the soup had some real flavor with a good many mushrooms in it. We also had a Philadelphia roll, and it was fresh, but presentation was lacking (left cut but stuck together so impossible to separate using chop sticks).

My husband also felt the same way. He loves the white sauce elsewhere, but he barely touched any of his sauce, and the noodles were plain awful. It was a disappointment as we were really hoping that we'd found an alternative to the...