Akira Hibachi in Solon

I just enjoyed a very pleasant meal tonight at Akira Hibachi in Solon. When I was younger the idea of eating “raw fish” was not appealing, but I became hooked on it while living in Germany of all places. Did you know that Düsseldorf has a very large Japanese population? I had the best green tea ice cream there and have never been able to find a comparable green tea ice cream since.

I have eaten at a lot of sushi places in Cleveland, and I have to say Akira Hibachi is at the top of my list for sushi as well as hibachi. Sure, it is within walking distance of my home (lucky me), but the sushi is consistently fresh and delicious and is worth the drive. You can tell that this independent restaurant is a labor of love, because Anna the owner is almost always present, greeting guests like old friends and circulating through the dining room and stopping at the tables to chat.

The hibachi chefs have a sense of humor and really put on a show, and you definitely walk out of there full and happy. The hibachi offers a nice mix of meat, vegetables and rice with flavorful dipping sauces. The grilled shrimp appetizers are nice too – but not if you are out to dinner with a vegetarian (on second thought, you get your dinner companion’s appetizer, so I recommended it!). Hibachi entrees come with miso soup and salad.

Tonight my neighbor Kim and I spontaneously decided to go out for sushi, which to be honest happens quite often. I had delivered batch 4 of a rather large translation project today and wanted to celebrate. I had tried the Iidako Nigiri last Saturday when I ordered sushi to eat at home after my training walk for the Breast Cancer 3-Day, and I was craving it again. It did not disappoint.

I always start my meal with a martini there. The Cherry Bomb (featuring Three Olives Cherry Vodka) is always delicious and refreshing. My friend Kim ordered a Sam Adams. Akira also serves Kendall Jackson Chardonnay, which pairs really well with sushi. We are creatures of habit, so Kim ordered the seaweed salad and I ordered the miso soup and house salad. The miso soup has fresh seaweed and generous cubes of tofu in a delicious broth. The ginger dressing on the house salad is light and refreshing and can be quite addictive as well.

We tend to order a la carte because we have our favorites. Tonight I ordered two orders of the Iidako (baby octopus) Nigiri, the Philadelphia Maki (rolls with seawood with salmon, cream cheese and scallion), and the Rainbow Roll Futomaki (double size maki roll of tuna, whitefish, salmon, yellowtail and shrimp wrapped around the California Maki). Kim ordered the Tobiko (flying fish roe) Nigiri, Lobster Maki (lobster, lettuce and tobiko) and the Nama Sake Nigiri (fresh salmon). Other favorites on the menu include the Cloud 9 Maki (sushi roll with shrimp, mango and sour cream), the Volcano Roll (with shrimp tempura, conch, tobiko and spicy mayonnaise)  and anything with the Toro (marble tuna). Akira is one of the few sushi places that serves Toro. The toro is sold at market price and simply melts in your mouth. If you are looking for a treat and it is on the special board, I suggest you try it.

Sushi newcomers might want to start with smoked salmon, shrimp (always cooked) or crab stick and work into the raw fish selections. You may soon find yourself happily dining on Unagi (eel, which is rather sweet and quite delicious) and Iidako. It’s the pickled ginger and the mixture of wasabi, soy sauce and sushi. I crave it constantly.

Online reviews of Akira (and past personal experience) complain of slow service, but we have noticed that the service at Akira has really improved. Our servers have been extremely attentive the last few times we have been there. Our server was surprised how fast our sushi was up.

When we left at 7:30 there were lots of folks standing in the foyer still waiting to be seated. I have no idea if they were there for the hibachi or the sushi, but business was definitely booming on both sides of the restaurant. We were in and out in an hour, which we appreciated since we were both exhausted from a busy week.

Now if only Akira served Benihana’s Lobster Roll (big chunks of lobster meat served with melted butter instead of soy sauce and $20 a pop – talk about orgasmic!) I would never have to go anywhere else…

Contact info:

Akira Hibachi
6025 Kruse Drive
Solon, OH 44139
440-349-6850