Japanese Restaurant Aki

Great Japanese food for a great price! The restaurant have a Western style look but Japanese taste to the food. The early bird special is such a wonderful deal. The mentaiko chazuke and garlic fried rice is the two favorite dishes of mine. The yakitori also taste amazing. The only downside is service is a little slow and have a long wait until the food comes. Other than that it is a great place!

Was looking through Unilocal to find someplace new and came upon this place. AWESOME!!! There’s nothing else to describe this place, but awesome! Everything we ate was excellent! The agedashi tofu is to die for — we drank the broth it came in as a soup once the tofu was all gone. We had hearts, gizzards, liver, chicken, pork belly, specials and more — all gone it was so good! The green tea crème brûlée was also excellent and huge! Everything is great! A go-​to place for us from now!

I went there again a few days ago. Looks like they changed their menu. I took pics and just uploaded them.
Just adding to my other review a negative and a positive for this restaurant is that they offer everything. Sushi, nabe, Yaki tori, tenpanyaki, and their daily specials. It’s difficult to choose for a party of two.
Also I ordered sushi and garlic rice which took much longer than expected. Which was a problem because I wanted to eat the garlic fried rice with my Yaki tori. I understand that they are small but I hope they figure out a way to push the food out more efficiently.

The food, ambiance, and friendly staff made my first dining experience here a great one! I can’t wait to go back and try other popular dishes. The price is also very reasonable. Gotta have the green tea crème brûlée!

Came here with the wife on date night after reading reviews. We both really enjoyed the experience and plan to bring friends next time to try more of the yakitori options.
The restaurant is really easy to miss and parking is tiny and shared with the place next door. We parked on the street behind Walmart.
The atmosphere is clean, modern and inviting. Our host /​server was pleasant, efficient and helpful with recommendations.
Overall food quality and taste were excellent. The yakitori took a while to come out even though the restaurant wasn’t very busy. I guess it’s one guy cooking all the orders.
The absolute star of the meal for me was the agedashi tofu. It was the best I’ve ever tasted (even though I’ve only tried a dozen or so), and I would have happily slurped up 2 bowls as my meal. I’m a raging carnivore, so that says something.
They need to expand their iced tea options (only a thick, canned (I think) green tea was available. The draft beer was ice cold and crisp.
My wife and I left the restaurant very satisfied and eager to come back with friends and share our «find.»

Saw this place on Unilocal and was intrigued to go because of the green tea crème brûlée. When we got there, all the parking spots (there were like 8) were filled so we ended up parking at Walmart and walking over. Once we got inside, the waitress told us that only the bar area was opened. When I asked her what was the wait time for a table, she told me that she didn’t know which personally is not okay with me. I’m a hostess so it’s not fine that she was unable to even give me an estimate on the wait time. We settled for sitting at the bar area and then five minutes later, a table left so we asked to move.
Like other customers that reviewed this restaurant, the service was slow. There was only two servers, which is understandable since the restaurant isn’t too big, but they took forever to take our order. No recommendations or explanations about anything were given. We ordered the hamachi and salmon, assorted yakitori, fried baby tako, aki’s original okonomiyaki, black sesame ice cream and the green tea crème brûlée.
Hamachi and salmon: Thick slices which I like. The salmon was really fresh but the hamachi tasted too fishy.
Assorted Yakitori: We ordered the one with 9 so we got to try different ones on the menu. Most of them were good but there was a chicken with some weird sauce (super sour… I think it was a wine base) and liver which I personally do not enjoy.
Fried baby tako: Super yummy, definitely recommend.
Aki’s original okonomiyaki: Super good as well.
Black sesame ice cream: Yummy! A must try if you’ve never had it before.
Green tea crème brûlée: I had high hopes for this because I’ve had it for the first time when I was in Vegas at Sen of Japan but I didn’t enjoy Aki’s one too much. I thought it had way too much green tea powder in it, making it too «green tea» for me.
After eating everything, we wanted the check which took forever to get because for some reason, the servers avoided eye contact. When we finally got it, we waited forever for them to take the check back and run the credit card. I understand that rushing to give someone the check may seem like you’re rushing them to leave but we were done with our meal and was ready to go already. Overall, the dining experience was okay. I wouldn’t return unless one of my friends wanted to go.

My fiancé and I stumbled across this place while in the area searching for a Japanese restaurant to eat at. We had no idea this restaurant existed, and we were pleasantly surprised. We had been to Wal-​Mart across the street about a gazillion times, but didn’t know this gem was right nearby.
We had the squid special, okonomiyaki, and the yakitori sampler. Everything that we got was good. I’d have to say that for the yakitori I’d recommend the teri rather than salt, because the salt tasted dry vs the teri. Also, I’m not a super big fan of okonomiyaki since it’s kind of too saucy for me, but my fiancé really liked it.
During another occasion we came here with a few friends and we had the yakitori as well as the tan tan nabe. i didn’t really expect the nabe to be that great but I actually thought it was very flavorful. We also got a couple of pupus from the happy hour menu as well as a pitcher of beer to share amongst all of us, which saved us some extra money there… always a plus!
Overall I really like this place. Food, service, and ambience are good, and the prices are reasonable. The prices are even better when you go during happy hour (if you order drinks and/​or pupus). I think they have two sets of happy hour times… I wanna say 5−6pm as well as a late night happy hour. can’t remember the times, sorry.

Because of my job, I don’t get to eat until late at night, and their happy hour starting at 9:30pm works for me! The food is great and very affordable price! Never have to wait to be seated. I wish the happy hour started at 9:00pm.
Their Karaage, Gyoza, Agedashi-​Tofu are some of my favorite and don’t forget to try their curry rice! Very tasty!

This place was surprising when you walk in. There is such a nice feeling of room and openness when you step through the doors and past the host area. It reminded me of being in an airplane hanger, but a really nice Japanese restaurant in a very nice hanger.
Their happy hour is pretty amazing. Must go for happy hour! The chicken karaage didn’t look super impressive, but it was really juicy and crispy. The cheese sticks are a must if you love cheese. well there is nothing better than a cheese stick, or melted cheese.
The best thing to get is the green tea crème brûlée. wow. this is the real joy to your meal. you can always skip all the food and head straight to this. then eat your meal. Either way this is something that goes great with any meal you have.
The service was pretty good, but they did forget some of our dishes. so we just needed to remind them of the few that needed to come out. Overall this place is pretty good. I love the big open feel of it, the food and service!

Been here 4 times and still seems to amaze me. Everything is good here. I have tried the Loco Moco which was completely different and amazing than regular loco moco, garlic fried rice is a winner every time, miso chicken, okonomiyaki, garlic shrimp, and my new favorite Nabi Nabi. The Bacon wrapped skewers was pretty dam Ono along with the black sesame ice cream!!! One of the best Teppanyaki places in Hawaii. And it’s good priced!!!

Better late than never, SO my close bro and Elite Unilocaler Joseph Joel choose to eat here based from Unilocal.I gotta say his choice was on point, this place is a hole in the wall located on Makaloa Street. Located on the side of Walmart, parking is very scarce if you’re planning to come here. Don’t let the parking get in the way of eatting here, cause the food is amazing. If you’re lucky enough you might even score a parking spot right in the front of the restraunt.
Once seated, youre greeted by the friendly hostess. Your attention gets drawn to the unique décor. From the cool artwork on the right to sheik chandelier hanging. Also the woodwork that occupies the dining room kinda reminds me of Sand Island, don’t you think. You get to choose to where you wanna be seated, the seats and dining tables is classy. Whats cool is that the cooking area is exposed to see, from the yakitori grill to the teppan yaki flat top.
This place doesnt need reservations, dress casual. As we both place our orders for yakitori, you get to pick from salted to teri sauce refering to seasoning. Pricing for assorted yakitori is decent, starting from $ 2.00. We ordered chicken meatball, chicken breast with pizza cheese, bacon wrapped tomatoes, quail eggs and my all time fave choice is chicken breast with mentai mayo. Mentai mayo is like «WOW’, mayo with a kick that has cod rowe in it.
We tried other items on the menu from: Ahi poke, garlic fried rice, kim chi pork, rib eye steak service a side order of fried mash potatoe, breaded fried oysters with tonkatsu sauce, misoyaki butterfish, agadeshi tofu. Through out our visits we had those items, each time was even better.
We both were surpised when they had «OKONOMIYAKI». Okonomiyaki is a Japanese savory cabbage pancake where the word okonomi means «what you like» or «what you want» and yaki means «grilled» or «cooked» (Thanks Wikipedia!). IN Japan, the pancakes is street food. Once served from the flat top, its drizzled with tonkatsu sauce along with mayo. Topped with a small amound of bonito flakes, seems odd cause you see it moving.
To end the night with dessert, the green tea crème brûlée and black sesame ice cream is must to have before payin the bill

We walked past this restaurant so many times but never tried it until recently. The inside is much more spacious and nice than how it looks from the outside.
We went there before 6:00 pm and ordered the loco moco from the early bird special menu, the yakitori assortment with 9 sticks and the garlic fried rice. For the yakitori, you need to order a minimum of two for the same item so we decided to get the assorted dish. You don’t get to pick your own choice but you can tell them if there is anything that you don’t eat.
All were good especially the loco moco with the curry sauce. My hubby loves the sauce. We will definitely go back for the loco moco.
My sister also went there based on our recommendation and ordered the tan tan nabe. You have to order a minimum of two so it is $ 15×2. She liked the food but my brother in law felt the price is high for the amount of food they got.

It’s kind of hard to find this place and they have very limited parking spaces. Since it’s close to Walmart, I just park there.
They are not busy at all every time I go there.
Their food is really good. Especially $ 6 agedashi tofu. Garlic fried rice is also good.
If you order a shochu bottle but can’t finish it, they will keep it for you until next time you drink there.

Decided to try this place last night and I am so glad we did. My first impression was that I was underdressed because it looked modern and classy, but there were other people dressed casually in the restaurant. We were seated quickly and shown a «specials» menu on a white board. At first I thought it was the happy hour menu because the prices were so reasonable. Happy hr included beer, vodka and tequila for $ 3. Happy hr food was also $ 3. We decided on chicken karaage ($ 3), yakitori items — chicken meatball, gizzards (the bf’s choice) and pork belly ($ 2 a stick), soft shell crab ($ 7), sushi set ($ 26) and the green tea crème brûlée with ice cream ($ 8). Total with a pitcher of beer $ 73. It was really enjoyable and totally worth it. The only think I wouldn’t order again is the soft shell crab

I went here for an early dinner tonight. This place is sorta a hidden gem and located on Makaloa St right behind Walmart and next to a by me drinkie bar. Parking can be tough to find but after 6pm street parking is free. I remember this place when it was Kai lounge back in the day. This place would be cool lounge because of their nice interior. They have a decent happy hour here which is $ 12 per person for complete dinner meal. Other than that come here and try their skewers! They also serve nabe here too and alcohol. Staff is very friendly. This place def has potential!

Happy Hour! Go during happy hour! I got the $ 12 happy hour special and was so happy with my meal. The flavor was good and there was enough food to fill my tummy. Of course they have other items on the menu too, but everything I’ve ordered from here has always been good. I seem to land here on Sundays when all my other go-​to restaurants are closed.

All i can say as i am feeding my face with one of the best grilled salmon I have tasted in a long time is Oh Em Geee!
A friend told us she had a new secret place and at first she didn’t want to tell us about it as she doesn’t want it to become crowded. I am actually hesitating writing this and thinking about erasing this and not even post it so no one comes in and that we can come here anytime we want to without waiting a long time to get a seat. I guess I owe it to the Unilocal community to post this, or do I!!! hmmmm…
Nomnomnom. Sorry I had to try some sashimi as it melts in my mouth. The sashimi special platter $ 20 came with 3 pieces of salmon, maguro, hamachi, hotate, ama ebi. All pretty good cuts for $ 20.
We all got the Early Bird Special (5 pm — 6 pm) two choice dinner plate which comes with daily salad, miso soup, rice, and you choose 2 entrees from grilled salmon, mackeral, chicken karaage, croquette, curry or daily special. All that for just $ 12. From this I chose the grilled salmon and chicken Karaage. As I wrote in the beginning, the salmon was grilled perfectly and the Karaage chicken was the same. It also came with two pieces of crème cheese and salmon summer roll which made me smile as my taste buds opened up and my endorphins were singing give me more, give me.
Got to taste a sliver of my dad’s miso butterfish and it just melted in my mouth. I went for another piece only to hear my dad say «eh get your own.» You would figure he would let me since I was paying for dinner but oh no!
After all this we were stuffed. The waitress came by and asked if wanted dessert and we all hesitated but I saw green tea crème brule $ 9 and I love green tea and crème Brule, so we had to order one. It was a pretty good size but under the scoop of ice cream, yes I said ice cream I noticed the top looked burnt and when I tasted it, I was right… it was a little too burnt for my taste. But the inside made it all go away. Still they shouldn’t have burnt it that much as it should be a nice glaze of caramelized sugar and not blackish.
I would of gave five stars but the parking lot is small and they burnt my crème Brule.
We will be coming back for late night happy hour within the next couple days as they have cheap bar food and cheap drinks.

Overall, the food was good. I had the garlic fried rice… And if you’re a garlic lover like I am, you gotta try it. Had a couple orders of yakitori (there is a two stick minimum order for each type of meat you want to try) at $ 2-​$ 2.50 per skewer. Not bad. Also ordered the sushi plate, which was $ 20. Not worth your money. I wouldn’t get it again. It also took 30 – 40 minutes for the sushi plate to come out. How ironic, the plate with raw foods came out after all the hot foods.
The wait staff was friendly, but service was slow.
Parking isn’t that great. There are a couple of stalls in front. Good luck finding an open stall. There’s metered parking on the street if you’re okay with parallel parking.
Overall, food as good. Would’ve given five stars but the wait for the food was a little too long for me, especially for a sushi plate.
I’d go back to try their tan tan nabe. Heard it is good!

It’s too bad this place is located in a weird area… or I guess in a bad location because the food here is pretty good. They have sushi, nabe, yakitori and other food items. They have it all… almost!
Considering where it’s located, when you walk in you are pleasantly surprised to find a nice and quiet restaurant. Well it was pretty much empty when I was there. Sad because this place could have so much potential!
I tried a few of their yakitori which was good but I really came here for the tan tan nabe. It was like eating tan tan ramen but without the noodles and a ton of veggies. I enjoyed it and was very full and satisfied by the end of my meal :) This would be a great late night spot to go to as well since they have a late night happy hour.

Of course if it’s a new Japanese eatery, I’m going to have to try it. This location has seen many restaurants come and go… Macrobiotic, Kai, Yakitori Yoshi and Yoshi. So here’s hoping that Aki does well. Aki brings the best of both Yakitori Yoshi and Yoshi. You can get the robata grill, nabe and even sushi here. The happy hour specials are a great deal.
Didn’t get to try the nabe like I wanted to but I did have some of the yakitori items and it’s pretty close to what you would get from the old Yakitori Yoshi or Kohnotori. So it was pretty good. The sushi I had was also good and the prices here are fairly reasonable. I’d check this place out. The ambiance is also nice with the new age modern interior design and crowd.
Parking may be difficult but it’s easy enough to get away with parking at Walmart and heading over for some grub. Have at it.