Met an old friend for lunch at Akemi I had the chicken and soup. Good food. Good service. Good atmosphere

Went here to celebrate a friends birthday, I had never been in this area of Berkeley but it is located in a very cute spot. The restaurant is very lowkey and the restaurant provides a good atmosphere that welcome people. The food was delicious and everything tasted fresh and had good portions! I recommend adding the strawberry yuzu spritzer! Really good! My friends tried the lobster ramen and it was a really good size of lobster that came with the food and the broth had a lot of great flavors. Overall nice spot and I am happy to have discovered this new area.

I booked the reservation on the past Sunday at 6 pm, via Open Table. When I called to make the appointment last Saturday, the receptionist was unable to take my reservation because it was very busy at the restaurant, she told me to make the appointment online or call an hour later. I had to read through the website to find it on the "About" section mentioned about make the reservartion via Open Table. I wish the OpenTable link could add to the front page of the website to make it easier for booking. Nice ambiance, like the salvaged wood for the tables and seats at the reception and bar are. We sat near the kitchen and facing the long sushi bar. There were a fruit fly over our table before our dinner, glad it was gone when the food served. The sake samplers were best for those who like to try different sake but don't have to order the whole bottle. My husband and I shared the Akemi sampler, it was only $18 for three kinds of sake. We shared the following food from the menu: Chicken Karaage, California rolls with real crab meat, sushi nigiri of Uni ($23), Hamachi yellow tail, Blue Fin Toro fatty tuna, Tai red snapper. Tonkotsu combo with mixed Tempura, Ikayaki grilled whole squid. I would stick to the sushi, good quality fish was fresh and delicious, good thickness of the fish slices, the sushi rice could be better because it was a bit mushy. The combo was a good value. The grilled whole squid was a disappointment, it was skinny and did not look and tasted like grilled (please refer to the grilled Hokkaido squid at Ippuku, I could encore on it). No complaint on the service, it was decent overall.

Really great Japanese restaurant. Love their sushi and rolls. We got reservations for family on a Sunday night and was perfect. Service was great and food delicious.

Anyone say sushi? I can tell you I've had Akemi on my list for years! Located off Solano Ave in Albany/Berkeley. Sometimes it's hard to find good quality sushi and Akemi filled my needs. Agadashi Roasted squid Spicy edamame Chirashi bowl Ebi Toro roll Full and satisfied They also have Omakase for 100.00 Winning

What a nice change of pace for Japanese restaurant that I hadn't been to before. We were greeted at the door by Tina, who has this very outgoing and nurturing personality. She immediately directed us to a table of our choice because we came in early and we're wondering why the place wasn't full of people after good reviews. Later I found out why. The place wasn't full because they had just opened and by the time we left, it was full on a Tuesday night night. Looking around as we walked in, I noticed that the place was elegant and understated, which is a blessing because sometimes you go to specialty restaurants, and they have just too much clutter on the walls in the cupboards, then in the niches. It's well lighted big windows, but because of all the dark wood you get this feeling that is sort of a romantic atmosphere, everyone was smiling the staff and the chef all greeted us when we walked in and the great customer service continued throughout the meal. We got a great window seat. So it was fun to watch the activity out on Solano Avenue while we were waiting for our food. Tina suggested some great things to try that were specials on the menu and they were very very tasty. So I would recommend when you go in. Ask if the chef has a special for the evening or if there's a special dinner plate for the evening. We were very pleased with everything that showed up at our table . Looking back at what I had for dinner tonight. I was very pleased to try a pork belly tonkatsu Ramen, which was delicious. I was very surprised that it had the white sauce. I should say white broth, and it was a nice change of pace for me. We also had the chef prepare a six piece special sushi for a plate just to have a little taste of something special. One was Uni, When was exquisite octopus that had been marinated, and then slightly roasted, and the last item was this wonderful Sushi made from a delicate white fish. Our entrées were the pork belly, Tonkatsu Ramen. I also made sure on a cool evening like tonight that I had some hot sake with it. Though hot sake is more of an American tradition. It was sort of fun to have it on a cold everything we ate and wonderful flavors. Everything looked very, very fresh. It was very clean in the restaurant, and it would be fine to have this experience shared with friends again on another occasion. They will see us soon.