Akira Restaurant
Japanese restaurant · South Kensington ·
Upscale Japanese restaurant with sushi & robata grill highlights
Upscale Japanese restaurant with sushi & robata grill highlights
"There’s no doubt about it, Akira is beautiful. Unfortunately, the food is, well, just food. Actually, it’s very expensive food. It’s all served on big rocks and in bento boxes, which we guess is supposed to impress. It doesn’t. And nor does it justify the frankly stupid prices. The sushi is perfectly fine, but some of the more innovative combinations (orange ponzu) just don’t work. If you want some imaginative and expensive Japanese food, just head across the road to We haven’t been here yet, but want you to know this spot exists." - Team Infatuation
"Japan House promotes all things Japanese, so it’s appropriate that upstairs there’s a stylish, buzzing restaurant celebrating the country’s cuisine. The open kitchen is the focal point of the room, which offers both counter and table seating from which to enjoy the extensive selection of Japanese food. There’s a wide range of sushi, but it’s the skewers from the robata charcoal grill that are the highlight – such as asparagus wrapped with bacon or chicken and shiso meatballs." - Michelin Inspector
"Located on High Street Kensington, this high-end Japanese spot pairs conspicuous comfort with food that earns breathless praise: a delectable sea bream appetiser precedes a robata omakase presented as a ‘vast box of treats’—a gastronomic advent-calendar of small delights. Highlights include meltingly soft wagyu accompanied by deliciously superfluous sushi; even a somewhat unnecessary pudding of custard with green tofu is framed as a forgivable blemish. The critic also notes the restaurant’s extravagant attention to comfort (including a top-notch, roughly £1,000 toilet), concluding that here it’s possible to eat as well as one sits." - George Reynolds
"What It Is: A seriously upscale restaurant sitting on the upper floor of Japan House at High Street Kensington Perfect For: Corporate Cards, Wasting Your Time And Money There’s no doubt about it, Akira is beautiful. Unfortunately, the food is, well, just food. Actually, it’s very expensive food. It’s all served on big rocks and in bento boxes, which we guess is supposed to impress. It doesn’t. And nor does it justify the frankly stupid prices. The sushi is perfectly fine, but some of the more innovative combinations (orange ponzu) just don’t work. The Verdict: If you want some imaginative and expensive Japanese food, just head across the road to Yashin Sushi. If you want to spend a pile of dough to eat okay food in a stunning room, come here." - Sam Collins, Oliver Feldman, Heidi Lauth Beasley, Jake Oliver, Eileen Twum
"A first-floor restaurant inside the new cultural space where the Duke of Cambridge enjoyed a lunchtime meal during the official opening; the visit included a lighthearted moment when he asked a group of schoolchildren if they liked Chinese food." - Guy Pewsey
