I’ve done both the private dining room and the down stairs under ground restaurant and loved them both! If I had to rate the underground restaurant I would give it 4 stars out of five, the food was really tasty but it wasn’t all 100% to my liking. But that’s just my taste buds! I would though recommend booking the upstairs dining experience, part of the private dining I could see this and wow! Looked amazing!Also the private dining has light projections and this 8 course dining experience which was so good!(Note I was invited here on behalf of the cafe to review via my blog - review is true of experience)

Had one the best experience last night at this restaurant, trying out their Kojin 8 course menu in the upstairs dining area. Everything was perfect from booking to the end.It was for my friend’s birthday, and they have definitely gone above and beyond to make it such a wonderful dining experience for both of us.The service was exceptional and the food was just amazing, and beautifully displayed.Compliment to everyone from the chef, front of house, waiting staff and the reservation/marketing team.Thank you.

The food was amazing! Everything tasted great and it’s perfect for a special occasion or small functions. Personally I think the the dessert could be better for the added price. And the staff was a little slow and had to get their attention a few times to order. But overall it’s a great place to eat.

Came here for Mother’s Day. The food was good, a little over priced for what it was. My husband and I find find a lot and in all honesty they couldn’t offered more and the food could’ve had more flavour. However the service was good.

The food is fresh and delicious, we went for the tasting menu. Service is excellent and the atmosphere also great!Recommended for celebration or dating!

Upstairs restaurant 138pp. 20-25 minute wait on every course, terrible experience. We weren’t even hungry but ended up starving all night. Was there for 2.5hrs just consistently hungry. Got there just before 8pm and the steak bite was served a bit after 10pm, did not intend to have to move my car from paid parking, good adventure while waiting for the food however. Been to various fine dining Japanese restaurants and in comparison, the food was disappointing to say the least. Otoro was not great at all. Only the Catch of the day fish was okay. Place has cloak but was not offered when seated. Service was alright but not great.My friends who have had the same menu upstairs said the food was prepared quickly unlike ours, so i’m not sure why ours took so long. Perhaps the lack of trained staff?Open to try the downstairs 55pp bar menu as the food should come out much quicker, logically.

I have to say this has been one of the best tasting menus Ive had in a long time.The set is $65 per person for 3 small and 3 large dishes, serving size based how many people at the table, we had two of us for our anniversary date. And you can always get a few extra dishes for a very reasonable price.The food is brought out in a very smooth transition with watch kept at our pace of eating.We ended up having 5 small dishes, and 3 large, plus dessert, with two large glasses of wine and a cocktail for the missus, it only cost $265. Now some might say that was expensive but we got pretty expensive wine for ourselves.The portion sizes were perfect and the presentation and taste was absolutely amazing. Anyone who complains about the price or the size I highly recommend you see what other places charge for this level of experience.All in all I am so happy I didnt follow any of the negative reviews and came out here for our special night and look forward to coming back again

The food is amazingThe menu is varied. I have tried all menu from charcoal grill set menu, chef table, lunch bento and recently new set menu. The price is surprisingly cheap for its top quality.Cons: the lighting is too dark in dinning room

Its a cool place if you like black, all black interior, including staff.Too busy and not enough staff.Foodwise, your typical Japanese offering, nicely presented.

Wonderful foodGreat valueGood serviceHighlights was the beef and the tooth fishLoved the Japanese beers as well

The best night I have ever spent on a fine dining restaurant with great 7-course dishes, friendly staff and cool interior.

Had their set menu and that was incredible! All food cooked beautifully and we love it.Staffs are friendly definitely will come back!!!

Amazing Delivery food , best experience both quality of the fish and taste!!!would highly recomanded

We went to underground bar last week, the experience was great.The sashimi was fresh, the sushi is awsome.The beef tataki is super tasty, and miso chicken was something speical.Friendly staff and cocktails are great, will be back soon !

One of the worst dining experience Ive ever had in Melbourne.* 2 good things:- Good photographer for the website- Good interior design* Many bad things:- Supervisor/manager (I think, since he wear different clothes) swearing and joking with staffs during service. And also very aggressive while making drink. He constant throwing stuff, shaker and ice which made very loud noise.- Food is way below average. Bland and no flavour, zero presentation, portion is super small compare to price. I felt like the chefs put little to no effort to all dishes that they made.- Toilet is broken and dirty.- Cocktail, again, no presentation and lack of flavour. If they dont know how to make their own signature cocktail, just stick to the classics.

Had a very pleasant evening here tonight. The food was delicious and fairly priced for the quality. I liked their $65 per head menu where you get to choose 3 small plates and 3 large plates, and we also got a soft shell crab sushi as an add on and it was fabulous. The kitchen is located central and you can see how authentically they grill their seafood and prepare the food.I would have said 4.5 stars but when the bill came and I realised we were charged $15 for a sunday 10% surcharge I thought that was a bit poor. We are spending $170 between two people at a restaurant, we shouldnt be looking at a Sunday charge.Overall I will go back and would definitely recommend but if youre the kind of person who would get annoyed by a Sunday surcharge as well, avoid this place on a Sunday.

I had the tasting menu. Carpaccio was the best. Sashimis were also impressive. Rice with foie gras was my least favourite. Nice ambience, friendly staff.

Got charged nearly $30 for 10% Sunday surcharge on top of the already premium prices. Per state law (Consumer Affair) any surcharges must be clearly visible on the menu! During my booking and on their menu there were no mentioning of any surcharges. The Manager then took a while to show us it was somewhere under the terms and condition section in their website. It is deceptive and illegal by hiding fees from customer. Should we start locating and reading terms and condition of each restaurant before we dine? I cannot imagine how many people got ripped off by all these surcharges. Why do they need to hide them instead of putting them clearly on the menu? I am happy to pay the $30 if it was clearly shown on the menu or advised by the restaurant but now this is purely cheating. And it doesnt stop here, during my booking it clearly states it was a la carte menu but when I arrived only set menu was offered. Even as of this review you can still select a la carte reservation that never exist. I have saved a few screenshots for proof. Easily one of the worst and most dishonest restaurant in Melbourne. I spend over $320 for 2 people and has to waste my time writing this review so people dont fall for this.

Amazing food and service. The Chicken Karaage and Toothfish were the highlights of our meal! Staff were attentive and professional. The cocktails were a perfect addition to the meal as it complimented the food served. Would definitely recommend and visit again!

1 star because I can’t leave 0. staff were terrible.They closed the kitchen on us early and didn’t bring out the banquets we were subsequently forced to pay for in full.Left hungry and unsatisfied.I recommend looking elsewhere if you want to enjoy a night out,

Went here for dinner tonight to celebrate both my friend’s birthday. Opted for the Kojin Set Menu upstairs. I was a little hesitant at first reading the reviews. I think the reviews were very unfair. My experience was really good. We got there early and went downstairs for a cocktail. The bar staff was lovely and gave us free samples of alcohol that we never heard ofjust so we could try it.Went up stairs for dinner and the food was great. Staff were professional and friendly. We were looked after by Fletch. Really lovely person and gave us extra truffle shavings! YUM!!They gave my friends a lovely birthday surprise. Really happy I gave this place a go despite the reviews.The booking also clearly states the 10% surcharge on a Sunday so that was not a problem. Bonus as the City of Melbourne is doing the 20% food rebate. Fletch gave us instructions to easily claim it.I personally wouldn’t pass up on this place due to the negative reviews.

Very disappointing experience.The essence of Japanese culture and dinning experience is SERVICE. Which this restaurant is most definitely lacking. Our food arrived prior to our drinks, so we kindly enquired with the staff and was told ‘do you want us to microwave your sake?’With the open kitchen view, one would suggest that they use utensils to plate the food instead of flipping a piece of beef by hand ten times with guests watching.At the near fine dine price charged, the dishes were very very average.

Pros: staffs, atmosphere, cleanliness, vibe.Cons: price, quality, portion.I took my partner here for Christmas Eve dinner, a hefty price tag us expected at $95 per head not including drinks.However, if youre charging a premium, then you would expect the portion or quality to reflect that.We didnt take many photos because theyre not the same as what appears on their Instagram.What you see in pretty much every photo available is one dish per two people. Not one dish per person.We went to hotstar chicken on Bourke Street after this meal because we were starving.It was a good experience, but would not recommend to come here if youre hungry.

Decided to come here on a Wednesday night after work. Ordered the tasting platter plus one side dish since my partner and I dont usually get full from these things. Was surprised to see that we were dying from the amount of food. Highly recommended ordering the tasting menu when youre here, everything was delicious and beautiful. Waiters were very nice as well.

Meal at the subterranean bar, wonderful fresh flavours, perfect lighting, attentive waiting staff and a sufficient wine list. Hard to pick favourites from a meal that impressed with every new plate landing on the table. Robata scallops, truffle fried rice and the Rib were standouts. WILL be back and will also try the more formal upstairs, though love the setting in the cellar.

I came here for dinner last night with a party of friends and I was the only vegan. They had a vegan menu for me which was nice to see however while the food was fine I didnt find it enjoyable enough to warrant coming back again. After trying future sushi, there are so many great plant-based alternatives to choose instead of Akaiito for the price tag.

Happened to join its soft opening and turned out supremely delights. Food is with top notch presentation but also delicious. Recon the garfish tempura is the best in the town. Fusion Japanese modern decor definitely sparkles right after entrance.

My daughter and I both ordered the 8 course dinner. The food - every course - was perfect in flavour and presentation.. The setting upstairs and the service was again nigh on faultless. We enjoyed delicious mocktails and warm sake.We have tried the best Japanese restaurants in Melbourne. This is for sure one of the very best. Do yourselves a favour and enjoy the 8 course option at this outstanding restaurant.

Had an absolutely amazing dinner at Akaiito tonight! Delicious food and a place to definitely come back to! Thanks to Fletch and the rest of the staff for making such a memorable night!

For the price it was incredibly disappointing. We ate at Komeyui a few weeks before and they are worlds apart for similar prices. I would recommend making the most of your money and trying somewhere else. The snacks were quite bland and overall the whole thing lacked luster. The tooth fish was definitely a stand out and kudos for this dish, one to remember. The desert sadly was consistent with the experience and nothing grand when you are paying that much. The venue it self was quite beautiful with a nice ambiance, whilst the service was a bit inconsistent.

New yakitori/sushi restaurant in town, food was tasty and reasonably priced. For anyone looking for a tasty sip, they have an extensive list of beverage with se vintage Japanese whisky in store. A few of the staff were in training when we dined but they were super friendly. Will go there again.

Booked for 8pm seating was told to wait for 10 minutes due to previous guests arrived late. However we waited for 45 minutes instead! The foods were tasty with great presentation otherwise. ( found two chipped bowels) The service and the management of such situations could be improved.

Save yourselves the hassle and do not come here on a weekend. They are short staffed which is fair however the staff showed no sense of care, duty, or empathy. The waiter took our drinks order, which didn’t even go in their system, waited 20 minutes for another waitstaff to retake our order and then another 30 minutes of realising the drink was not coming. It was a whiskey neat, which should have taken all but a minute to pour.We left after over 45 minutes of waiting with very poor service and not a single apology from the staff upon exiting.

Had an absolutely amazing experience.Great selection of food and amazing vibe.Ordered the- Wagyu Steak Tataki- Yuzu Scallops- Hiramasa Kingfish- Ika Karage- King Ebi- Soft Shell Crab Maki Roll- Wagyu Steak 36 Days Dry AgedMassive KUDOS to the staff.Really appreciate the level of respect and consciousness.It was not one of those isntances where, when youre eating with food in your mouth, you are asked how everything is.We were not being pestered continuously. No, far from it.The staff are very cognizant and situationally aware. They wait for the right moment or pause in conversation, before politely asking to clear the table/check-in with everyone/arrange the table for the next set of dishes.Very professional and unobstructive to the dining experience.

Great vibe and atmosphere. We did the set menu downstairs which was decent value for $55. Food was tasty - rated the scallops and ribs. The seating was awkward and became uncomfortable quickly - half seats sharply angled in a way that forced you to lean back but the service was great.

Visited Akaiiti last night for a birthday dinner and had a lovely time.We had the in season set menu, the food was very fresh and exquisite - compliments to the chef.The service was good although very slow in bringing us our second round of drinks. The first cocktail (lavender one) I had was amazing. The second however, the mojito, was extremely salty and undrinkable.Overall, it was still an amazing dining experience in classy venue with incredible dishes. Definitely recommend for anyone that loves Japanese!

Have been to the resturaunt twice and both have been good experiences. The ambience and setting is lovely, waiters and staff were great and food is tasty. Have had better Japanese food but this is definitely worth a try. The tartar and toro salad were definitely the standouts.

If this place was only rated for its food and chefs, it would have gotten 5 stars. The produce was great, serving sizes were okay, and it is clearly marketed as an upscale/occasion-type place so it was on the pricier side. Food came out at a steady pace.The service though was absent most of the time. We were greeted at the door - the chefs saw us and called out for someone to look after us. It then took a while to get menus, a ridiculously amount of time to get bottled beer, and any time we wanted to their attention there was no one on the floor. It was in the middle of a dinner session with a few other diners, but no one at all floating around.This place has so much potential and it is clear that a lot of thought was put into everything from decor to the business cards, but the service really lets this place down. Wont be back and not recommended.

Food and service was amazing. Best Japanese in town. Have already been twice since opening as the menu was quite extensive and wanted to try more things. Highly recommend the sashimi, beef tartare, waygu, prawn yakitori just to name a few.

I had a memorable experience celebrating my birthday at Akaiito last night. Everything about this venue makes your visit truly worthwhile. The ambience, the taste of every dish, the charming service. Akaiito is a must!

It was really delicious food that came out in a random kind of order - we enjoyed each dish individually. I did find it strange that the drinks arrived sometime after the 3rd dish arrived and Id been sitting there for a least 30 min. The service is very attentive and if you enjoy that its great, however Id go so far as to say it interrupted our conversations a little too much. Price is standard Melbourne prices and very reasonable for what we received in terms of size of the meal. I would definitely call this a repeat visit place.

The robata omakase included 12 items plus dessert. Fresh produce, beautiful decor, attentive service and comfortable ambiance make this one of my favourite restaurants in Melbourne. Thank you Chef Winston and Hikaru for the wonderful night.

Good environment, nice staffs, quality food and reasonable priced.

Ordered delivery. Was initially disappointed as it was late and I thought it wasnt coming. It did arrive and all I can say is it was worth the wait!!! For delivery, outstanding quality!!!Ordered the omikse box. Wonderful sashimi, nigiri and rolls. The scallop sashimi was to die for. And excellent chicken karaage!! A saviour during lockdown.

Been told by a friend to come here. The place is beautiful. Perfect for a date. Tonight we had delicious beef tartare, prawn tempura, gyoza, ox tongue, duck, wagyu fried rice, and the beef ribs. They were all tasty, except the gyoza .. I’ve found it was pretty average. I do wish the portions could be a little bit more generous. We had to pay $42 for 3 small duck breast which was listed under larger portion category. That was very over priced. Small selections of wine by the glass. Services were pretty good. Overall, it was a lovely experience. It took a little while to deliver the bill to us, not sure why .. Anyway it’s worth it to give ago :) Oh they don’t do split bills. First fine dining restaurant that I’ve been without allowing customers to do split bills

Invited to try the feed me menu at Red Thread which is situated on the bottom floor of Akaiito. The first thing that captures your eyes in this dimmly lit venue is the glowing feature art of a massive red thread across the entire ceiling. There is also quite the sizeable underground bar stocked with a vast array of spirits. The feed me menu is a selection of their favorite dishes which includes fresh sashimi, duck leg san choi bao, kushiage (fried skewers), gyozas and wagyu fried rice. Each dish was cooked well with my favourite being the wagyu fried rice. The bar serves up some amazing looking cocktails and mocktails for any non alcoholic drinkers. Overall I had the perfect dining experience here and would recommend this place to start a night out or the perfect place for a date night.

The menu was confusing us with 3 small + 3 large per table and $55 per head at the beginning. However, the portions are very small. The tap beer is not even full on, refer to the photo. All these minor issues could be better for charging these prices. Well, a lot of the other authentic Japanese restaurant around. I probably not gonna come back.

Amazing new restaurant in town to join the iconic flinders lane full of some of Melbournes best restaurants. Akaiito did not disappoint. Food was absolutely amazing and presentation was spectacular. Would highly recommend trying it out. The venue is gorgeous with the standout light feature that wraps the ceiling and the atmosphere is great, you see the chefs working away in the Centre of the restaurant.The Gindara Saikyo-yaki glacier 51 toothfish is a must try.. so mouthwatering. The edamame is is also a must to order while waiting for your mains, best edamame I’ve had with just enough saltiness. Another favorite is the sous-vide short ribs. The sashimi is so fresh and just melts in your mouth.You really get the full experience and the staff are amazing... great service!!!!

Very fresh sashimi 😍nice food！nice service!

Last weekend I had booked for 8pm and it wasnt until 8.30pm that we got seated. Had previously requested for a high chair over the phone but the request was ignored as there was no high chair when we go to our table. Once we were seated we had to wait a good 20 minutes until we were given the drinks menu and have the omakase explained to us. Service was poor as I expected better from reviews. Food was nothing spectacular so dont waste your time dining here.

Came here for the private dining.. and unfortunately it just didn’t quite hit the mark, especially for the price. To be honest for half the price it probably doesn’t meet the required standard.The issues:The service was not up to par for this standard, perhaps a lack of training?The food is ok, but nothing that special considering the price.Until some of these things improve, I’d suggest saving your money at a tried and tested fine dining restaurant.But if you are here: they do make good cocktails 🤷🏻‍♂️

Great seating and ambience. The food was delicious, we ordered $95 p/p ‘Akaiito experience’. A little over priced for what you get in terms of portions and food choices. Wooden chopsticks provided and service was only ok.Love the gorgeous Red Silk feature. Overall, my partner and I enjoyed our experience given the great vibes and ambience.

We had our Christmas eve dining here with their 7-8 course set menu which is probably $95. The quality of each dish is alright but honestly not worth the money at all. The portion is horrible even if you want to play by fine dining standard. Starter was supposed to be a crispy snack dish but its just hard to chew cause its already cool down. The oysters are so small it might surprise you where can they find such small oyster in Australia. The sashimi dish for 2 are only 6 tiny pieces of different kind of fishes. They only give you one dipping plate to share between 2 people. The steak is probably a bit too well done or the texture of the meat is just bad. The fry fish dish for 2 is only a small slice with hidden bones that you have to share by yourself.Staff are nice but not very attentive, they never refill our water. I dont even understand why they have lots of staff in such a small restaurant but some of them always seem to be in a hurry, the way they put a plate down a marble table making a loud noise like they dont even care what they are serving or who they are serving to.To sum up, it was a bad experience cause I didnt even feel satisfy nor full when I leave the restaurant. Definitely not coming back.

We were so excited to try Akaiito and were surprisingly SO disappointed. Service was terrible. Food took ages to come out and when it did it was cold. Quality was underwhelming. The ribs were all fat and fried rice seemed stale. Really not worth the price. Don’t waste your time or money.

We had the $55 pp. set menu with 3 small and 3 larger dishes. Portions were definitely on the smaller end so we ordered some sushi & sashimi (see photo). Was very fresh but you can definitely get similar dishes elsewhere for a more reasonable price. They had limited but friendly staffs- delayed service, potentially because of covid... decent food, great atmosphere.. but theres better options imo

I’ve been to quite a few modern Asian eateries in Melbourne and Akaiito is my favourite so far. I had the tasting menu and it was absolutely divine. For $85, you’re truly paying for quality and really delicious eats. You won’t feel stuffed after, but definitely content. My favourites were the oyster, wagyu tartare tacos, smoked edamame, sushi selection (so good!!), sablefish and I loved the soufflé dessert.The atmosphere is so beautiful with the robata chefs at the centre.

I highly recommend Akaiito, the service was impeccable and the wait staff were very attentive with my dietary requirements. The Bar Manager Lionel makes amazing cocktails! The oysters were the standout dish for us. Dimly lit and perfect for a date night, cant wait to go back.

Good ambiance and service, but their lunch hot pot was bland…perhaps their degustation set during dinner time would be better…

Disappointing...1. Service is no where up to standards. Even for a normal restaurant let along fine dining...2. Food was ok, not worth the overcharged price however.3. Total mix up on our allocated table, and we were moved around.4. No one to greet us, or the escort us to our seats.5. Was charged for something we didnt order...

Having being brought here for a special occasion, I had no idea what I was in for. I was a little concerned to start as it was explained to me that it was robatoyaki and that maybe not much food. Boy was that the wrong impression to have. There was so much amazing food cooked in front of us and delivered with a great explanation of what we were having. (Omakase). Sam our chef was very attentive and we enjoyed the conversation. Drinks a little underwhelming but the food was definitely the star and highlight. My favourites included the slow cooked smoked duck, the Wagyu beef and the new Zealand hapaku.. totally recommend this dining experience. Get in before it becomes too popular.

Underwhelming! Well presented on social media and well plated meals. However, the food certainly does not match up. Looked very promising, but definitely under delivered. My wife and I have been looking forward to try the food here over the last week - especially the skewers, us being fans of yakitori.Service was slow, despite a non busy weeknight. Food was average. Nothing to shout about, especially for the way this restaurant is priced.The ebi and marron were the dishes we enjoyed the most, and the broccolini was a big shame. Overall nothing to shout about. Nothing that stood out for us.Unfortunately, we wont be back.

Really cool place, service was awesome and food was delish.

Great night back in March.

Food was poor. Service was substandard. Nice interior and great drinks. You should only charge those prices when your food tastes as good as it looks

Two stars is generous here as this establishment was incredibly lacklustre. The only reason Im giving them two stars is that the food was above average and it is a restaurant at the end of the day. Unfortunately, apart from the food Akaiito missed the mark by a country mile. The website and email confirmation showed a price of $110 only to find that the chefs selection menu was $138 per person when we arrived as it was seasonal. Okay sure. Dishes start coming out and we notice that we are missing an uni dish and a lobster dish so we enquire with the staff only to be told Oh sorry we gave you the wrong menu heres the new one that was printed out today with the same price but with the notable exclusion of the uni and lobster dishes thus presenting even worse value. Really Akaiito? To top it all off the atmosphere is best described as musky if you are sitting away from the open kitchen which seems to be the newest section of the upstairs restaurant. The bathrooms were not particularly clean and do not have signs which is interesting. Staffing seemed to be inadequate with only two servers in the dining area. All in all, for the money there are literally hundreds of establishments you can patron in Melbourne. Akaiito has frankly not made enough of an effort here to make it anywhere near the top of your list. Skip this place and go to Komeyui, Shoya or even Nobu instead. You can thank me later.

Worst service ever.Over priced.First time seeing a chef to put on a note on a dish(raw beef).Ruined our Christmas Eve.

I never write reviews but I just want others to be enlightened by what I had to experience at Akaiito. I wish I had read the reviews before coming here, the service and food are not worth the money at all. The food cant even make up for the horrible service and long waiting times that my group of friends and I had to experience last night. The booking system is terribly flawed, we booked for a standard menu and was somehow seated for the Kojin menu-and had almost lost our reservation and dinner for the night because they didnt have any other seats for us, so instead they seated us at the bar table. The waiters and waitresses took forever to take our order, and once the food came out-they brought us the wrong things and didnt even give us cutlery or napkins to eat with! I work in hospitality myself, is this not simple hospitality etiquette? On top of all of that, we were charged for a Kingfish main that we didnt even order nor eat. To say the least, we will never come back ever again.

A new Japanese restaurant in Flinder Ln , still quite on dinnerWe went there last Wednesday for my Hus birthday . Food was good, but need something more special.Price 110$ per head for Tasting menu .Highly recommend everyone to tried Japanese Mushroom rice , very delicious.

Great food, lovely atmosphere and amazing service from Fletcher!

A delightful Friday night dinner with my partner, a new venue Id been hearing of through friends. It is a delightful little place tucked away on Flinders lane. Beautiful interior as you enter with a big custom made feature that is a red ribbon and works its way throughout the venue. We sit down and have a chat with the helpful wait staff who are also very polite, accommodating, offering to take our coats and umbrella prior upon arrival.We ordered the tasting menu and to our delight the whole menu was extremely delicious.The Oysters fresh, Tartare tender and so many flavours, Sushimi made with premium fresh fish, the edamame just the way we like it. The Tsukune, Wagyu Negi-ma and momo bainiku all perfectly cooked.These dishes all came out together and very quickly so the timing was good.The Glacier 51 toothfish had been marinated in miso for hours upon hours and served with a lovely citrus caviar. It was so tender and perfectly cooked, possibly my favourite dish along side the Tsukune.2nd last were the mouth watering Lamb ribs with mint and plum sauce. The meat was falling off the bone and so tender!a Last moment unexpected change on the tasting menu had the signature dessert replaced with the Equally delicious Lemon Myrtle Souffle accompanied with vanilla ice cream.It was so light, fluffy and fresh.it is a new venue and has small kinks but that will work itself out, regardless My partner and I had a very lovely night.we will remember our fantastic winter evening at Akaiito and appreciate the experience provided by the chefs and wait staff.

The most incredible food and atmosphere! Not only is the food at Akaiito exquisitely presented, but it is also mouth watering. Their sashimi platters are a must and their modern twist on classic Japanese is definitely a success. The restaurant itself is intimate and sleek with an open kitchen, letting you watch their highly skilled chefs at work, as well as an underground bar with a selection of exclusive cocktails that have been perfectly created and curated by their impressive and highly skilled bartenders. Overall, Akaiito is definitely a must visit!

Having been to Japan many times over the past few years, I was extremely excited when I found Akaiito on social media. I thought its time for Melbourne to have at least 1 authentic Japanese restaurant. However, my experience did not live up to my expectations.I went in on a rather busy, and lateish Friday night. The restaurant was full, with just a few tables empty. We waited 20 minutes just for our water and menus to arrive, which is unacceptable. Our first course (tuna came about 15 minutes after we ordered. This was acceptable, however, they got our order wrong. We ordered the otoro tartare but was served the beef tacos? The wait staff quickly took the beef dish away and was not in any way apologetic. We ordered an assortment of dishes including nigiri, skewers and the beef fried rice. The sushi nigiri was just alright. The grilled meatball was horrible. I love the texture and sauce, but it was loaded with flour and I could not taste the chicken at all. As for the beef fried rice. It is unique and very oddly tasty.We left shortly after finishing up our meal. For a fine dining restaurant, there was no form of good service whatsoever. Our sparkling water was not filled up at all during our entire meal. Worse of all, it costed us $17.40, just on water. I also woke up many times over the night for water - I highly suspect their food contains a lot of MSG, which explains why the fried rice is so tasty. I do however recommend to check them out, just for once.

New restaurant in cbd Melbourne. Great food interior and service. Door was a bit hard to find. But overall 5 Stars.

Loved the food and service was great

Very disappointed in Akaiitos set menus. Our group chose the larger $95 feed me menu and unfortnately all left hungry.The dishes and flavours were good however the portions of every single dish were exceptionally small for the price paid. We also had an odd number of people and some dishes were not portioned correctly to accommodate for the extra person.Service was decent with some servers who were nice and attentive, and some not so much. The interior and design of the restaurant was modern and trendy, with the overall atmosphere being nice and moody. The best dish was the seared scallops. Unfortunately, I would not recommend the set menus or for those planning for large groups.

Amazing experience here - I tried the 8-course Kojin set menu and everything was so delicious (even the butter for the bread was amazing lol). My favourites were the Robata Toothfish and Eye Fillet - so good!

Beautiful interiors with open grill bar concepts. Staffs are very helpful and attentive to details. These are dinner set menu for $55 per person for two diners. Portion size is small even though I understand this is quite a Japanese fine dining. But they are for sharing on table. Personally not feeling full at all after 2 hours seating! Taste and texture are impeccable!

We went to visit the Tsukiyo Room at Akaiito with a group of friends and had the most memorable night out that took us to Japan without leaving Melbourne. The highlights were definitely the table projections that reminded us of TeamLab in Japan and the melt-in-your-mouth Robata Fish as part of the Kojin Menu. If youre visiting with a large group of friends and youre looking for a unique experience, I definitely recommend checking out the Tsukiyo Room!

Booked the table at 7pm!ordered $65pp 3 small dishes and 3 large dishes for two people,Two people share, add 15 slices of sashimi, the food is fast, the dinner time is 40 minutes to finish, only the food is fresh but the large dishes that disappointed me are very small, ordering a fried rice is only 3 to 4 tablespoons! The large dishes toothfish only serves one person!feel like eat appetizer,This dinner is not full,The price is not worth it! Other Japanese restaurants can have more advantages than this one

Up coming. Food pricing is affordable for this level of dining. Portions are generous. Drinks are pricy but acceptable. Youll leave happy and satisfied.

Overrated, overpriced, overcooked

I can honestly say, Akaiito is the BEST Melbourne restaurant I have been to, by far!⠀A stunning venue, amazing wait staff and 11/10 dishes. EVERY SINGLE DISH made us happy dance haha.⠀We decided on the “Akaiito Experience $95pp Feed Me banquet”, this gave us a taste of akaiito’s finest dishes.⠀⠀Choosing a favorite dish is impossible, but if I had to, definitely order the following (all pictured):⠀* Robata Scallops – ABSOLOUTLY INCREDIBLE! ⠀* Wagyu Tataki – Insane⠀* Truffle Fried Rice – I don’t know how rice could be this good⠀* Gindara Saikyo Yaki (Black Cod with Miso) - YUM⠀⠀HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMEND – The most perfect restaurant for a birthday, anniversary or special occasion.⠀Follow me on Instagram for all your Melbourne food finds & reviews. @Tasty.Melbourne

Overpriced, overrated & awful food. Disappointed!

Highly anticipated but sorely disappointed. We opted to be seated downstairs and chose the $55 izakaya menu. For the most part, the food was actually delicious with our favourite being the lamb ribs, followed closely with the beef Tartare. What spoilt the whole experience was the extremely poor service we received. We were ignored for most of the night with the male host (bartender?) being extremely dismissive, obnoxious and made us feel extremely unwelcome. Well, message clearly received, we wont be returning. AVOID.

Had a great evening at Akaiito... The food was delicious... I love the Robata style of cooking!Its a fairly simple setup, $55 per person and then you choose three small plates and three large for the table. Everyone shares.Throw in some sides or sushi/sashimi to make sure you leave nice and full. Food was fantastic... Its fine dining so your paying for quality and service over quantity.Nice atmosphere, staff were super friendly and efficient. Will definitely be back!!

Had a private dining experience but wasn’t up to my expectations at all for the price.Food was okay - some dishes were great, some nice little bite sized dishes to start were lovely. The sashimi omakase wasn’t particularly amazing, including the o-toro we ordered which clearly was not fresh (might have been frozen to me).The biggest fault was the service. I was not taken to my table but was told by the hostess to “walk over around the corner” by myself and find my table. We had a set menu and the dishes were placed haphazardly between people, not directly front of the customer so we couldn’t tell if they were to be shared or individual (they were individual), or was placed directly on top of a dirty plate (?!?!). We also ended up eating the o-toro with a fork instead of chopsticks as they didn’t give us any. Dishes were not taken away, and water was not topped up regularly, but constantly got asked if we wanted more cocktails. I believe the staff need some adequate training to consider themselves a fine dining experience at such a high asking price at almost $200 per head.

Calm decor, beautiful food, great booze. Fletch was a legend and looked after us well.

Beautiful restaurant decor with amazing presentation of food and attention to detail. Would definitely go back, service was fantastic and so was the food.

Our experience at Akaiito overall was fantastic. The food was excellent, the service was wonderful and the staff went above and beyond to cater to our group’s dietary needs. Highly recommend.

EXTRAORDINARY service and food. Mia and her team went above and beyond to cater to our dietary needs and were super friendly.All dishes were outstanding with highlights being the oysters, edamame, tuna tataki, lamb ribs and king fish. Yum yum.The $55 choose 3 smalls and 3 mains is great value for the quality of food.Highly recommend and would return again.

Amazing food!Special Thanks to Fletcher - his customer service skill is amazing !

Amazing food, staff went out of their way to cater for a few dietary requirements in our group. Every question we had they were more than happy to find out the answer. Cocktails were unique and well suited to the food and atmosphere. Can’t wait to come back again!

My partner dined here last night and he and his friend and woke up with food poisoning! Very disappointing for an expensive restaurant

Pretty good place for food but the service was lacking; unorganised and late sitting to tables.

Great seafood highly recommended will visit again soon.

Visited Akaiito on Wednesday and the ambience, food, and service were wonderful. Our family enjoyed every dish that was recommended - especially the dish with the deep sea tooth fish (soft like butter!) and the truffle fried rice. We had 10 people with 6 sentaku set menus and a few add ons (we had the nigiri platter and a few sushi rolls for mains), and the portions turned out to be just right! One thing I must say though - the lotus chips & chicken karaage were so good we nearly ordered another bowl of each and accepted that we were going to be full with just snacksWe also really appreciated the fact that there were very decent options for vegans/ vegetarians for the sentaku menu as Fletcher has recommended for us! My in-laws loved the food!Drinks wise, I must say that the cocktails all complimented the food very well, my favorite would have to be the one tasted like an alcoholic lychee boba tea hahaOverall everything was wonderful, we enjoyed our night very much. Thank you Christine, Lionel, and Fletcher who have helped us have a wholesome family gathering!

For food I would give 4 stars. The scallops, king fish collar, and scampi are really good! However customer service was so poor! The girl at reception was nice but too busy to serve us. The Asian lady was rude! The wagyu steak was served cold and we asked if it was because of the aircon or was meant to be cold. She took the dish away and replaced with a slightly warm one without saying anything. We even said thank you politely. Just disappointed with their customer service as we bare saw any staff on the floor when we needed them.

The food was delicious, especially the ones with miso marinade. The seafood was fresh and high quality. We all left satisfied and full. The service started off slow but picked up after the first dishes arrived. We ordered the sentaku menu + 10 additional dishes (7 nigiri, 2 sashimi, 1 maki roll) + bottle of sake + 2 cocktails. The bill was $150 p.p. Final verdict: A great spot for dinner dates. We would definitely come back for our nigiri fix.

My boyfriend and I went to Akaiito last night and we had a wonderful time. The waygu tataki, tuna tartare and the tempura prawn maki were absolutely amazing! Oh and the waygu fried rice was also to die for. The interior was designed so well and the restaurant had a great vibe. We also really liked the specialty Japanese beers. We will definitely be going back to try more of the menu and take our families as well!!

Good value food and amazing dinning experience. We were on a set menu to start wiz but still have option to buy additional sushi sashimi items on top. The nigiri and oyster were super delicious and fresh. The waitress was very helpful to explaining the dishes in stylish dress. Nice food and great service!!!