Akira Back — Restaurant in The Colony

Akira Back is modern Japanese restaurant by former professional snowboarder and Michelin Star chef, Akira Back. They currently have over 14 restaurants across the world in the biggest cities and have plans to open up many more. In the Dallas location, they have valet, but you can also park for free in their large private parking lot. The restaurant itself is beautiful and highly energetic with loud house music playing. We went with a group of 8 of us and were guided to our table by the hostess.

For drinks, we ordered:

Cocktail +Samurai In The Garden (Mars Iwai 45 whiskey, Yellow Chartreuse, strawberry peach shrub, lemon, basil, and cardamom) for $19 - 4/5 +Fashionably Late (truffle butter-washed nikka coffey grain, shiitake demerara simple, chocolate bitters, and salt) for $23 - I’m a huge fan of truffle, but I wasn’t feeling it in my cocktail. I was told I could send it back for a new drink if I didn’t like it, so I ended up getting a normal Old Fashioned afterwards. The general manager, Shane Martinez, came to the table to inform me they have been experimenting and tweaking this cocktail to get the perfect ratio of truffle, but it was still too much for my taste even if they are using a very high-quality truffle. He was nice enough to let me try a new truffle cocktail, as well, that he added a bit of salt to lower the truffle flavor. However, it was still much for me. I would say try this drink just to see what it’s like, but I personally wouldn’t order it again. - 3/5

Mocktail +Leilo And Chill (lychee, lemon, ginger, and tango berry leilo) - This drink was a bit sweet for me. - 3/5

After we got our drinks, we ordered some food:

Cold Menu +Ab Tuna Pizza (umami aioli, micro shiso, and white truffle oil) for $25 - This was by far the best item on the menu. If you’re going to order anything here, make sure you get this one. - 5/5 +Salmon Tiradito (grilled peach, yuzu lemon, and cilantro oil) for $23 - 5/5 +Yellowtail Serrano (tomato salsa, garlic, cilantro, and citrus soy) for $25 - 4.5/5

Hot Menu +Grilled Octopus (potato foam, salsa verde, and chipotle sauce) for $25 - We were told this grilled octopus was amazing, but the plate we got was overcooked and chewy. - 3.5/5

Sushi/Sashimi Platter +Chef Akira’s Sampler (14 pieces of chef’s selected sashimi and nigiri plus one of chef Akira’s signature roll) for $79 - This was all really delicious and fresh. The roll they gave us was the “Hot Mess” which was composed of shrimp tempura, sashimi poke, avocado, soy paper, seaweed, and spicy ponzu aioli. If you want to make your life easy and want to try a bunch of different fish, this sampler platter is a safe bet. - 5/5

Overall, I really enjoyed my experience at Akira Back. The service was excellent and the atmosphere was fun. The music is a bit loud, so it’s not be a great place for a quiet, intimate meal, but it’s fun with friends to get a bit tipsy and enjoy amazing food. Apologies to Shane Martinez for annoying him with my thoughts on truffle in cocktails! Maybe I’m wrong, but does truffle work in a cocktail?! You be the judge and let Shane know if I’m crazy or not! Either way, I would highly recommend checking Akira Back out for a...

Food was amazing in taste however service could have been so much better. We came for my birthday dinner January 6th and had the most obnoxious waiter (he had an accent, had to give a speech with every dish, wouldn't stop pushing us to try to get us to order more, and would not let us eat our food and visit with one another). When first arriving he would not let us look at the menu ourselves. His greeting to us was 15 minutes long alone and was trying to get us to pay $200 a person for a multi course dinner. We would try to order and he would try to convince us to do the multi course per person dinner instead (even though he was told multiple times no). Instead of bringing everything at once they brought each dish separately. After every dish we couldn't even take a bite before the waiter would come over and ask how it was. I couldn't even visit with my family and friends because every 5 seconds this waiter was at my table trying to recommend we order something else. Two of the people with us were recovering alcoholics and he continued trying to push the bar menu after told multiple times we dont drink. Plus I felt very rushed how every 5 minutes they were coming trying to take plates. They even took a plate we were still working on after being told not to take it. I don't think I will be back. The food was great however the waiter ruined the...

We were a party of three all having the chef’s seasonal tasting menu.

The servers were nice. The food was ok. The price was consentual robbery.

When ordering a chef’s tasting menu you’re paying for culinary creativity and higher end ingredients. The ingredients on half the courses were straight up taken from the regular sushi bar, like the shredded daikon or yuzu sauce (among others). Many of the courses indistinguishable from common take out. One example was a course of fried crab over spring salad leaves and onion. It tasted fine but where’s the creative value? Then the chef tries to use “fancy” ingredients like waygu, truffle, or foie gras to cover for the lack of creativity.

On top of this the chef’s questionable taste is evident everywhere! From the fake candles on the tables, to the generically tacky club music, and his obsession with putting his name on literally every plate, including in the foam of a dish.

At the end we felt ripped off. That’s why I’m writing this review, to warn others thinking of going. If you go, go with correct expectations: it’s an expensive strip mall sushi chain. Get a couple things a la carte and call it a night. If you want a tasting menu, go to a restaurant with a chef.

There are a bunch of options in the Dallas metro area that offer way higher quality tasting menus at...