Akinori Sushi — Restaurant in Sierra Madre

As soon as we walked into the restaurant, I was impressed by how clean and welcoming the place was. The atmosphere was pleasant, and our waitress was very friendly, which made for a nice start to the evening. I was also intrigued by what seemed to be freshly made wasabi, which, paired with the soy sauce, gave me high hopes for the meal ahead. Having been to many sushi spots, my husband and I were excited to try Akinori's after reading some great reviews. Unfortunately, the experience didn’t live up to the hype, especially considering how expensive it was. The first dishes we tried (salmon and golden eye nigiri) were disappointing. My husband thought there was way too much lemon on his, and I ran into a bigger issue: my sushi rice was falling apart. Sushi rice is supposed to stick together, not crumble when you try to eat it. Next, we had the salmon skin handrolls, which were even more of a letdown. The skin was over-fried, making it tough and hard to chew, and there was barely any rice in the roll at all. The tofu was actually the highlight of the meal—it had a nice texture and flavor. The dragon rolls were okay, but nothing special. After that, we decided to cut our losses and head to another restaurant, feeling disappointed with both the quality of the food and the price we...

Newly open sushi restaurant located in Pasadena. Since this is our first time here, we mostly went with what the chef recommendations. The food doesn’t disappoint. The rolls were great! The chef did not held back on the ingredients and the size was generous; they also weren’t overly sweet like many other places. However, our favourite had to be Chef’s Omakase dishes. It has a good mixture of white fish right up to the fatty Japanese Uni. If Uni is not something you want, the yellowtail belly is something that you cannot miss. If you are not having sushi, they also have ala carte items. We tried the miso baked BlackCod and it was simply wonderful! It could almost melt in your mouth.

Overall a very pleasant experience! The food was fresh and delicious. The chef and staffs were very welcoming and accommodating. I would...

Dined at Akinori tonight (it soft opened last week). My group and I loved the different dishes we got. They are serving beer and sake right now, along with sodas and tea. The shishito tempura and karaage are excellent appetizers. Easy to share as a group of 4. We tried the kiss me roll, which is an option for vegetarians who want unique flavors and textures without the fish. We ordered the salmon skin roll, yellowtail, spicy tuna, negitoro, and a red snapper. The red snapper was notably delicious in our group, and we would highly recommend it. The food overall was great, and the cuts tasted fresh.

The place itself is exceptionally clean and minimalist, but has a comfy feel to it. The service was great, and the staff was all welcoming.

This is a gem for East Pasadena, and I'm excited to come...