Aki On West 4th

I have eaten here a number of times. The food is delicious, the service is friendly and professional. I will continue to eat here again.
As far as the chef is concerned… he may not be Japanese, however
he did train under the previous owner for 10 years before taking over. He was trained well.
Don’t turn your nose up because of his race, there are many Asians throughout the US that are working as sushi chefs, whom are not Japanese.

Came here with a friend last month and there was no air conditioning! This place is also a tad small.
Ordered:
Tuna Mille-​Feuille — Wasn’t too crazy about this, didn’t like the contrasting sweet taste
Eel Napoleon — This was delicious, couldn’t get enough
Spicy tuna roll, spicy scallop, eel avocado, and salmon avocado. Each of the sushi was really fresh.
We didn’t order dessert because all they had was ice cream, but I wanted to try some of their special desserts.
Disappointing experience, but I’d come back again just because the food was good.

Everything about the meal and experience was just great… Exceptional really! A cozy spot and a great place to go to be able to have a real conversation without having to yell over loud music or other noisy parties. The waitstaff and chef were extremely nice and friendly. It was more expensive than average but in my opinion well worth it for both the food and overall experience. The presentation of the sushi was also creative and thoughtful, I loved it! Can’t wait to go here again!

Overall sashimi and uni was of good quality! The agedashi tofu was a bit too salty, I’ve had better. Couple of the appetizers were exceptional, such as the spicy yellowtail. I did leave a little hungry, not sure if portions was smaller than usual or I was exceptionally hungry that day. I think I would need to try again for consistency. It has been one of the better sushi places I have had within that vicinity, more authentic too. It is a bit pricey for the décor but usually the case with better sashimi quality.

Ludicrously small, rather expensive, but imaginative and delicious. Having lived in Japan, I can honestly say that this place has high quality fish, but more than that Chef Siggy’s Caribbean experience makes his imaginative takes on sushi simply awesome. Ideal for a date situation — very intimate and classy, but not stodgy.
I have no idea what’s going on with the experiences that other reviewers complained about. I have seen Chef Siggy himself preparing food every time I’ve gone there. He is Japanese and so is the wait staff. I cannot speak to the nationality of the kitchen staff, but the food has consistently been top notch.

Came with some friends for before a night out in the West Village.
Having lived in Japan I’ve eaten a good share of Japanese food /​sushi in New York and in Japan. Aki definitely meets the bar in terms of freshness and delicious preparation. We tried the fuji apple & tuna app as well as something called Titanic, which is yellowtail sashimi wrapped in thinly sliced avocado and with some deliciously acidic sauce (like a ponzu if I remember correctly). Both were absolutely delicious. The sushi platter came with a nice selection of different fresh fish. The sushi chef knows what he is doing– yum.
Some of their dishes have a Caribbean /​other twist, but I believe the owners are Japanese and they have recently brought in some interesting foods that are currently trending amongst foodies and chefs in Japan. One that I noticed is the use of koji seasoning in some of their dishes, which is said to enhance flavors and umami in a natural (not artificial) way. The vegetable sushi platter came with a good selection of farm fresh veggies prepared with this new koji seasoning. I tasted a few and the ones I got to try were really good — the seasoning seemed to enhance rather than cover up any of the vegs real flavor. Definitely worth a try.
For sure I’ll be back to Aki again sometime soon to see what they are up to next!

I had an early dinner here with my friend last night, we ordered the unique prix fixe. It comes with soup, three appetizers, today’s special, entrée and dessert $ 40. I think it is very reasonable! I ordered vegetable sushi for entrée and they were very tasty even thought I am not vegetarian I enjoyed very much! The waitress said they use handcrafted and probiotic condiment called shio-​koji that makes enhance flavor of sushi.
The restaurant is tiny but cozy atmosphere. waitresses are very nice and friendly so you feel like you are invite your friends apartment. I will be back here soon.

As a native New Yorker, Im accustomed to fine dining where portion is sacrificed for quality… but this place took it to a new level. Tremendously overpriced for the area and for what they serve. Be prepared to spend around $ 100 for 2 to avoid leaving hungry.
Had a dragon roll that was fantastic, maybe the best Ive ever had. The mackerel special was disgusting. The sewed salad was great but just 4 bites.
This place won’t last.

Aki changed owners in December 2011. Ignore all reviews before then — it was better! They still have some interesting items on the menu that aren’t found at all Japanese places, but the prices are too high.
How Aki has changed: simpler presentations, less variation, cheaper ingredients, reduced menu. For example, instead of different types of dumplings they’re now all identical; instead of a selection of small eggplant slices, now there are two big soggy ones.
How Aki has stayed the same: tiny and crowded; everything looks the same, except it’s getting shabbier.

Came here for a birthday dinner. Not a place I’ll be returning on my own accord.
One word: overpriced
Two words: nothing special
Three words: where’s the beef? (just kidding)
But in all seriousness, the sushi/​sashimi didn’t taste any different than what I could get at another Japanese restaurant. Presentation is key here and even bringing out their menu is a wasted piece of work. How did they show you their specials of the day? They hung tags on a table top ornamental piece that resembles a tree and on one side it had the name, the other side is a picture of the food. If you can’t understand what I’m talking about, imagine one of those picture frames that is shaped like a tree and off the branches are the photos of family members, but instead of shots of parents laughing and smiling babies are pictures of food and their names. W… t…f???
Food wise, sushi was average and the desserts were decent. Space is limited. Why? Because it’s a friggin’ hole in the wall and the door swings into a seat whenever someone comes in. And guess where I sat. Yup, you guess it. Hello back pain!

The good:
–Sushi tasted fresh– the spicy scallop roll was good, but the salmon and fluke sushi was better. Stick to the straight fish
–They offer brown rice
–The service is attentive and nice.
–The location is central to nightlife.
The not so good:
–The sushi chef is not Japanese (or Asian at all for that matter)
–The hot hand towels smelled like dirty mop water, which means they don’t wash them, they just stick them back in the heater.
–I could see the kitchen workers handling the food without gloves

I love everything about you, Aki.
Inventive, original, delicious and conveniently located in a teeny tiny space on West 4^th.
The Vegetable Tapas are a must, as is the Tuna Mille Feuille.
And for you locavores — Siggy, the chef, uses mostly vegetables that he grows in his rooftop garden! Siggy also spent a chunk of time in Jamaica, and you can definitely see the influences on the menu. Totally unpretentious and unique.
This is Japanese food done right.

I was so happy to find out that Aki started lunch and it’s macrobiotic!
I ordered Bento box that had a choose of Miso Soup or Salad With Tofu Dressing and Vegetarian Roll (Cucumber & Burdock with brown rice) or brown rice and Pickles and 1 main for $ 7.95 or choose 2 for $ 9.95.
I opted for choose 2:
Brown broth of Aka (red) Miso was salty but satisfying.
Cucumber and Burdock roll sounded wonderful but I though the burdock had too earthy muddy taste. It definitely needed some flavor.
Many interesting main dishes to choose from. I opted for choose 2 main dishes with…
Sashimi salad — pre drizzled spicy mayo on several very fresh Sashimi worked very well with the salty dressing and gave a good flavor to Mesclun salad.
Sushi 3 Pcs — small tuna and salmon Sushi were fresh but nothing special. Gunkanmai scallop — clump of rice that has a strip of Nori wrapped around like a vessel. It was a small and cute but it wasn’t fresh but eatable. It was my very first time to have Sushi made with brown rice. How did I like it? I didn’t.
For second main dish, I chose Sweet Potato Pasta from many interesting choices like Tofu Pizza, Quinoa Salad, Tofu Salad w/​corn soup, Kenchin Roll (stuffed Tofu & vegetables with Yuzu salmon) or Soba salad.
This Sweet potato Pasta — so called pasta here wasn’t made from wheat flour or buckwheat. Instead, no carbohydrates and high fiber «thread-​konjac» known as Shirataki in Japan. This noodle is also known as a diet noodle from obvious reason. Clear cellophane noodle like pasta (?) was stir fried with onion, bean sprout, scallion & Kimchi with Japanese sauce. Kimichi flavor was over powered by bean sprout unfortunately. It wasn’t for me. I’ve never liked cooked bean sprouts.
The warmth of this noodle dish was placed next to Sushi and worried me tremendously when I opened the delivery bag. I put the box in the refrigerator immediately. If you decided to choose this dish and or Miso soup, make sure to take out fresh fish to your refrigerator even few minutes.
Very healthy Aki’s lunch box offers no meat but healthy fish or veggies only. Excellent lunch choice for something light and healthy.

Came here last night impromptu with my foodie gf… looking for a good local Japanese place in my hood. Glad to have found this little Japanese eatery WITH an island flair :)
We didn’t need to make a reservation at 8pm on a Thurs. night but we were lucky because we were only two. There are… maybe 4 tables and one small sushi bar with 5 spots or so.
Service was polite– very authentic to the Japanese. They gave us hot (*hot*) towels to wash our hands, refilled our waters (the tap water tasted weird though), and didn’t rush us out after the meal (and no we didn’t order alcohol or dessert). Our waitress explained things really well. We embarrassingly picked at food, even before we got new plates! (They gave us new plates for every course, and put our chopsticks gingerly on their stand)
The waitress brought us a crazy display of specials– forget the menu, in some kind of artwork display with pictures and all– ha! Enclosed was the much talked about uni and scallops in a champagne glass, white tuna Carpaccio… can’t remember what else. But everything looked like fruit and fish (my fave!)
They do have a pre fix for some $ 30 which is like (don’t quote me, yes I’ve gotten too lazy to look up menus. shoot me) 2 apps, an entrée, and then 2 desserts and miso soup? We didn’t get that. nor did we go for the traditional stuff like tofu or edamame. INSTEAD WE GOT:
1. The Eel Napolean app– much raved about on Unilocal,it’s a fried eel fritter, on top of sweet potato (or yam? purée), with potato chips sticking on the side, and one layer of golden fried tofu. Filling, and fried but finger licking good. A must for eel lovers– hot, cooked and yummy. — $ 12 (I think)
2. The tuna– meuille– feuille (can’t say this nor spell it) which is tuna ceviche, with sliced apples, roe, and a dried up apricot. So refreshingly good. You can taste the freshness of the fruit and produce. Loved the shriveled up apricot. The roe gave the dish a nice «popping» texture. I would definitely get this– $ 10 (I think).
3. The Caribbean roll-​mango, avocado, yellowtail. Clean flavors. Maybe a bit sweet but yes as someone pointed out, it might have been a bit bland. I also for some reason, did not feel like it was packed tightly. As if the rice wasn’t super sticking on. Not a bad roll by any means though– healthy.
4. What wasn’t healthy but extremely good was the banana roll– which was fried banana, and spicy tuna. (Or maybe just tuna– but pretty sure there was a thick mayo sauce in it). Decadent as far as sushi goes, and delish. The fried texture was great, and the flavors really worked well together.
I should also mention they gave us an amuse bouche/​palette cleanser– not sure what it was. a freebie… in the beginning. It was two unique bamboo shoots (?). Didn’t know if we got an explanation even. It was good though– crunchy and a bit salty.
We passed on dessert– but there was some good looking things. Tofu panna cotta, I remember, catching my eye the most.
Dinner came out to $ 25 per person, pre tip. I loved it and would come back with another Japanese food fan.

There were a few misses but I highly recommend Aki to all the foodies out there. Why? Because the chefs here executive the food well unlike the other –fake– fusion restaurants out there.
Get the Pre fix dinner $ 29.95 which consists of:
Akadashi miso soup/​salad w/​tofu dressing (lettuce, pine nuts, fresh corn, and carrot — get this one!)
1 appetizer (pick from 20)
1 entrée (pick from 7)
1 dessert
This is what we ordered between the 4 of us:
Drinks:
— Green tea au lait (cold)
— Passion fruit beer — tasted more like a cocktail but delicious. Made with passion fruit jam.
Appetizers:
— Eel napoleon — sweet & mushy from the pumpkin and eel but appetizing.
— Tuna mille feuille — one of their signature dishes; very light and fresh.
— Spicy tuna tartare — «regular» tartare in a good way
Entrées:
— Spicy chirashi — not really spicy and LOTS of salad which I enjoyed. I’m pretty sure one of the sauces had yuzu in it. Definitely not your typical chirashi.
— Aki combo roll — best to share it with others. Some of the rolls might be too overwhelming/​weird to finish.
* Dinosaur roll — crispy shrimp = awesome
* Banana roll — hmm?
* Caribbean roll — good
— Sushi-​Sashimi Combination
Additional:
— Squid Spiral — we asked for soy sauce but the dish is already flavored oh so wonderfully. They give you a good amount of uni but the price is a little steep ($ 15)
— Fried oyster roll — yummmmmms
— Jamaica Roll — I was hoping for a robust Caribbean chicken piece but I think they took out some of the main ingredients.
Dessert: so good… thumbs up on the presentation. Simple yet pretty.
— Green tea tiramisu — mmM mouth-​watering. No seriously, never knew green tea and passion fruit went so well together.
— Tofu panna cotta — no panna cotta here, more like a combination of anmitsu & tofu fa. I love it.
— Strawberry mousse — a little tart but creamy and light.
— Purple yam cake/​tart? — reminded me of a yokan. Coconut milk, purple yam and chestnut paste.
Cons: This place is extremely small! There are maybe 5 tables and a counter that would seat 6 people. We had to sit right next to the door … my mom’s chair was literally inside the restaurant and out the entrance. In addition, service is slow because there were only 2 – 3 chefs and 1 – 2 waitresses. However, I oddly enjoy these types of restaurants so I give Aki 4 stars. I’ll be back to try the uni coco & titanic !!!

No guys. The only thing I liked of this place was the service, which was sweet and welcoming.
I rarely complain about everything, but here I couldn’t find anything I liked of what we ordered. The miso soup was bitter. The salad was dry and old. The sushi we had didn’t taste fresh. The dumplings were plain and tasteless. Maybe I happened to drop by on an off night, but the quality of the food was so mediocre that we were laughing about it. Hard to believe. The all-​u-​can-​eat-​sushi places I know in the area are waaaay better than this place (and cheaper).
I have no reason to go back unless the cook changes.

Solid food, though I’ve only ever gotten take out. Average food, maybe I’ll be stop by one of these days to eat in, and i can write more.
But regarding my take out. Food was fresh and delicious.

I’ve been a patron for many years now. Each and every time, I leave with a renewed admiration and love for Aki — food and service combined.
I recommend the tasting menu worth $ 65. This allows you to select ANY 4 appetizers + sashimi (which I always opt for) or sushi + dessert. Trust me, this is the way to go. There is also one for $ 55 which starts off with 3 appetizers. But why hold back? You won’t regret it. One order of tasting menu is actually enough for 2 people…
Here’s a list of appetizers I’ve enjoyed:
Tuna Mille Fuille — tuna with avocado and apple or pear
Uni Coco — uni with some scallops in coconut milk
Eel Napoleon — a stack of fried tofu, eel, pumpkin
Shinoda Bag — beancurd stuffed with chestnuts, enoki mushroom and tofu. this bag sits on a delicate broth
Titanic — a mound of mashed avocado, crabmeat, cucumber and wasabi tobiko
The ankimo special and another dish, I cant remember what type of fish for the life of me, served with yuzu sauce and whole peppercorn (refer to previous pic upload) are also very good.
The sashimi is fresh and just the right size. Not the monstrous portion you see at other establishments trying to compensate for the grade of fish. And if you come often enough for them to remember you *cough cough* You will get extra pieces! (plus appetizer ha!)
P. S. The place is tiny so make a reservation
P. S.S. Drink the yuzu ginger tea

Since Greg and I are about to move into the neighborhood, we decided that it’s our mission to find the best sushi restaurant in the West Village.
So, in celebration of a few bits of very good news, we decided to go somewhere delicious.
I read other reviews for this place, so I thought it would be great. It was just OK. I feel kinda bad for taking Greg here, he had talked about wanting to go to our favorite restaurant, Fish, for their lobster special, but I convinced him that we should try a new place. Oops. Good to know though.

1^st Problem: The place is as small as a dime! Be prepared to sit ON the table next to yours. You know what they say about NYC apartments, well, this place is the size of an extra-​mini studio.
2^nd Problem: There were only 2 other parties in the entire restaurant and yet it still took our waitress about 15 minutes to greet us & take our drink order.
3^rd Problem: Very small menu and pretty pricey for what you get. Greg & I shared 1 app, 2 rolls and Greg got a beer & I got a sake. It came to $ 65. I know NYC is expensive, but for those prices, I expect to be impressed.
The only thing that I would definitely go back for was their Medium-​dry Hot Sake. It was delicious and I left the restaurant with a cozy, warm buzz.

Aki is one of my favorite places to get sushi in the city. The restaurant is very cute, even by village standards. The service is excellent, and the waitresses are quick to refill your green tea cups.
I was able to take advantage of the prix fixe special, and had for dinner the spicy tuna tartare, Aki roll combo (Caribbean, bananaboat and dinosaur roll) and the tofu panna cotta. While the tofu panna cotta did not taste anything like panna cotta (it was more like a sweet tofu), it grew on me and I ended up liking it!