After our afternoon at Bentspoke Brewery we went looking for somewhere for dinner and luckily were able to get a table outside at Akiba, which was obviously a popular spot for a Saturday night feed! Akiba does modern Asian food and is matched by an impressive drinks list including some very tasty cocktails (which we only sampled two of!).
One of the most impressive things about Akiba is that they have menus to cater for pretty much every dietary requirement you can imagine – vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, nut free, egg free, garlic & onion free – the list goes on. How impressive! Our waitress was very helpful, talking us through the vegetarian options and giving us advice on how many dishes to order, and order we did! Unfortunately it was pretty dark so my photos aren’t fantastic, so you might have to take my word on how delicious the food was!
Mum & Dad started with a serve of the prawn & chicken dumplings served with ginger & black vinegar dressing ($10 for 4). The filling of these was apparently very tasty, although the dumpling wrappers were a little inconsistent in their thickness, making some parts better cooked than others.
Next up was the vegetarian version of the fried rice ($20) served with snake beans, tofu and chilli fried egg. This was a delicious version of fried rice, full of flavour and a good kick of chilli. The egg was perfectly cooked, adding some oozy yolk goodness to the dish. The crispy parts of the rice were probably my favourite element, particularly with some of the egg yolk stirred through!
The next dish was a mixed greens dish from the vegetarian menu ($9), topped with fried shallots and peanuts. I’m a sucker for steamed Asian greens so these were right up my alley, and they were simple but delicious. The shallots added some excellent crunch and this dish provided some excellent lightness to our meal. I’ll never turn down some greens!
The other non-vegetarian dish of the evening was the teriyaki kobe beef ($33) served with shiso and black sesame. Obviously this isn’t one I tried myself, but both my parents thoroughly enjoyed it, and it certainly didn’t hang around for long!
Next up was the miso eggplant dish (~$18), also from the vegetarian menu, which was served with crunchy soba noodles on top. Miso eggplant is always a favourite of mine, and this was up there with one of the tastiest I’ve had in recent times. The miso sauce was sticky and well balanced in flavour and the eggplant itself was cooked really well. The crunchy soba noodles were a little tricky to eat (particularly with chopsticks!) but added some excellent texture to an otherwise fairly soft dish texture-wise. A winner of a dish!
The last dish of the evening was the soba salad ($12) served with bamboo shoots, yellow bean and sweet & sour sauce. This was another fantastic dish, with lots of different Asian veggies mixed through the soba noodles and a delicious sweet and sour sauce. All the veggies still had a little bite to them which worked well with the noodles, and the dish was topped with a crunchy cracker which really was the cherry on top!
Whilst it wasn’t a cheap meal, we definitely left feeling very full and satisfied and the food was really delicious. The fact they have considered so many different dietary requirements is also a plus, it’s always nice not to be an afterthought on a menu that’s for sure! Even though they were busy we were well looked after and our food came out without much of a wait at all. A successful evening all round!
I’d recommend giving Akiba a try if you’re round Canberra way!
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I Spy Plum Pie is Liz, an early 30s kiwi-born, Melbourne raised girl who is passionate about the environment and sustainability, food, exploring and learning new things. Join me on my journey to a happy, sustainable life!