Akasaka Sushi & Japanese Steak House — Restaurant in Virginia

Came in here after work one day, last week, on 6/13/23. Usually I only visit once or twice a year, on my birthday as a special occasion. I was disappointed to hear that they'd only do the hibachi show as a group of 2 or more people, and not if you were alone, or nobody else was waiting. I don't really understand this methodology, because they are still paying that chef to be on the clock, they are still paying for the same food to be prepared on some other cooking implement in the back, and they're still taking in the same amount of money from the food sale at the end of the day... Color me confused.

Moving past this, I decided not to wait and was sat at a table in the corner of the restaurant. The decor was nice, as always, and the tables were clean. The place was well-kept and all the staff were polite and quick to respond to any needs or requests presented by myself and other patrons.

I ordered the steak and chicken meal, with fried rice. The meal comes with a salad, with peanut-based dressing, and a nice cleansing chicken soup. Both of the starters are common, no matter what meal you get, and both were very enjoyable and up-to expectations from this location. Same great food, same great taste, as always.

The steak was cooked perfectly, as was the chicken. The steak was soft and tender, with a nice light seasoning. The chicken was perfect, and had a nice soy flavor with it, and a lovely appearance, with some sesame seeds. The rice was always my favorite, because of the amazing blend of flavors, and it continues to impress every time I come in. If I ever want a fantastic meal, this is where I come, usually just for the rice, and soups.

The only faults that I had during the service was when the server offered to refill my drink even though it wasn't even 1/3 of the way finished. I had taken maybe 3 sips of it. I just remember thinking 'Jeez, I hope I don't get charged a refill price for that tiny amount'. Later as the service got busier, there was a time when he failed to notice my drink was empty as he was passing in and out of the section, but it was only by a few minutes that I was 'out of drink'. He noticed and quickly refilled it. I won't fault them too hard for that. It's one of those things -- do you want your server staring at you all meal waiting for the drink to go half-down, or do you want them to fully leave you be until the drink is fully drained? haha.

All-in-all it was a great meal, with amazing flavors, and a wonderful experience. The only painful part was the prices. For the steak, chicken, soup, salad, fried rice, 2 drinks, and tip, I was down $41, just for the food. Like I said before, the server was very good, and I left him a fair 21% tip, for his time. In the end, $50 out of pocket for a nice...

I simply love this restaurant. I like Japanese food; and this place offers both the Hibachi steakhouse cuisine along with sushi. The sushi chef, the owner, is a very amicable gentleman. The restaurant is operated by Koreans, but they do a great job with instilling quality in products and service.

What do I mean? The restaurant personnel pay attention to what you order. I have not once, in the 10 years I have been going to this restaurant ever had a meal that was incorrect; maybe others have, but none in a group associated with me.

Quality in food? The sushi ingredients (raw fish, squid, octopus, and etc) are always fresh; because the owner has a business/personal policy of ensuring the ingredients are not older than 2 days. Tonight, I found he goes through 1/2 of a large filet of salmon (that's a pretty large piece).

They have special rolls they make that are written on little white dry erase boards. My only complaint is that with my eyes, I don't just require reading glasses to read what they are, but I need them brought to me. If you like spicy, try the Dynamite Roll , I love it with the jalapeno slice(s) and the dab of Sriracha sauce. Furthemore, they will take a 'named' roll, and allow you to adapt the recipe (perhaps drop seaweed, or change tuna to salmon).

The prices of all the typical sushi and sashimi are pretty decent, and the specialized rolls; they are worth the cost (in...

I used to love going to this place but not anymore.

Extremely slow service. Took 20 minutes to get seated and another 20 minutes for a cup of water.

Server The servers don't speak English well. They mis-ordered my food.

Food Food quality overall went down. Price went up a lot. But i hated how they stop serving noodles for hibachi dinner. They didn't even explain why. The fried rice was so undercooked. So raw and hard.

Portions In my table, some customers ordered kids hibachi and i saw the chef distributing the same amount as adult menu which means less food for people who ordered adult menu.

Environment It's so loud inside. Hard to talk to the person you sit next too. The birthday songs are so so so loud and the music was on like every 10 minutes.

Chef I don't know the chef's name. But when i come for hibachi you know it's for the show too. But this chef didn't say anything though out the dining. The only thing he did was simply onion train. No throwing eggs or catching shrimps to the mouth. It was simply too boring and i felt pressured to leave early.

Pictures They take pictures with polaroid for birthdays but i felt it's little creepy they the restaurant keeps the pictures, not handing out to...