Japanese Izakaya Akatsuki

Fresh and good tasting food as well as friendly service. We ordered 3 different udon and all are great, would definitely recommend!

We went there on a whim, saw it on Yelp and it had good reviews and it was close to us.The food was delicious! We started with the Seaweed Salad, fresh and crisp, the dressing had a nice flavor. We also had the Grilled Beef Tongue, it sounded interesting and it was marked as an Akatsuki's Choice. It was great, tender and flavorful,a good choice. We also had the House Hot Pot, of course the Akatsuki's Special with Yuzu and Salt and the Udon Set. Just know that the mochi comes in a big chunk so if you're sharing, be sure to split it. All great!!! Not sure if this was a factor, but when we ordered the Hot Pot, they moved us to a booth, I'm pretty sure because of the size of the Hot Pot and stove (they cook it at the table) so we needed more elbow room.The service was great, good attention and fast. No complaints! The ambiance was good and clean bathrooms!All in all a great experience, I would go again just to try one of the other Hot Pots or the Udon. A table adjacent had curry and sashimi, those looked fantastic!

Nice little hole in the wall for good authentic Japanese food. Workers were very nice and attentive. Restaurant was clean and not too busy.The crispy tofu was so good I wish I got another order! Yellowtail sashimi was nice and buttery, a must try.

I have nothing to say about the food, as it was to my expectation. What I didn't particularly like was the gratuity amount they charged us, and how they charged it. We had a party of 7 adults there for lunch. Naturally, I'm expecting gratuity to be added to the bill since we have a party larger than 6 people - however I was not expecting they would charge us 20% gratuity for lunch. If I'm not mistaken, customary gratuity for lunch is somewhere between 15-18%. If that custom has changed, please let me know so I can revisit my dining out habits. If not, then their forceful action of 20% is in my opinion - aggressive and unethical. In addition, my understanding is that gratuity is calculated on the subtotal amount - before taxes. The 20% gratuity was calculated on the subtotal + tax. Definitely not cool how they try to exploit this privilege. As many have stated before me, tip is optional - not mandatory. I've always been a habitual tipper. I understand and support the tipping culture - however, there should be a line drawn between right and wrong. This is just wrong - I'm sorry.

The food is good and delicious. I agree with one of the Yelpers that it gets packed and only a few servers that could make the wait longer. But, it wasn't that long go us. I love the inside of this classy restaurant.Now about the pricing. We went there for lunch. It was a bit high for a BentoBox which cost $33! Most Japanese restaurants that my family goes to would only charge (at most) $21 to $27 for a Bento box!!

This is a classic and reliable Japanese Izakaya spot in Gardena! They're known for their mazeudon where they make their own noodles from scratch. The flavor of the noodles and toppings were so good and umami rich, however my egg was overcooked, which definitely made a difference to the overall texture and flavor. I would still get this again and hope that the poached egg actually comes poached next time.'Besides the noodles, they have kamameshi for dinner and I got the salmon and ikura dish that was made fresh to order (which is why it takes 30 minutes to prepare). The other appetizers they have like the karaage, mackerel, and gizzard, pair well with the beer and sake that they have too. They also have katsu and hot pot entrees to order, along with sashimi and other specials, showing how this place really has it all if you're craving delicious Japanese food! Highly recommend checking it out the next time you're in Gardena!

Authentic, lots of types of options to get (unusual tempura sizes), unique things on the menu which says a lot.Service is good refilled water a lot/etc, seating is cozy booths in a relaxed setting. It does feel a little tight and I'm relatively thin/fit so it felt a little cramped getting in but sitting it was ok. If you're larger you may want to pay attention to where you're seating.They were out of the beef katsu curry which had an interesting sauce so that was disappointing but everything we ordered tasted good.Japanese wings were decent 7.5/10Tempura 7.5/10Spicy Mazemen (Dry Udon) 8.75/10 (flavorful, at my spice limit which I consider now like a 7/10? Hot, but not crazy or anything. Too much for those who are low tolerance)

When I first walked in, this cute place is nicely decorated with Japanese decor abd it was tastefully done. Not busy for a wed evening but they did have some customers.We ordered all the recommended dishes from their menu.Curry was just ok. The other rice dish came out on a hot stone with salmon roe. Simple but flavorful. Pass on the karage. My alllllll time favorite was the dry homemade udon with their umami flavoring. Omg I can't stop thinking of this.I want to come back here and just have a bowl of that myself lol.Heard soba noodles were homemade here also. Def worth the drive for the udon alone. I don't think I've ever had anything like it.

The service sometimes could be a little slow but that's only because they have three servers while this place is constantly packed, so they're doing their best, be patient!Be ready to order your drink first and decide what to eat later while they bring your drinks. Food comes rather quickly and it's delicious so waiting a little shouldn't be much of an issue plus they make an effort to bring your drinks quickly.Their curry with chicken cutlets was delicious and big so come hungry!Udon set with tempura is a good deal so don't order these two separately, get the set.Their chicken karaage is very crunchy and thin, definitely something to try while sipping some cold brews, unlike some other places where the karaage is so bulky that is hard to eat it.Parking sometimes is full but there is plenty of room in the street too.Large group is better to call in advance for reservations, this place is always busy. Small groups of 4 or less shouldn't have much of a problem walking in and writing down your name in the waiting list.

Udon is house made and so qq (chewy)!! We shared the maze soba, dumplings and salmon bowl. Would skip the salmon bowl bc too much rice. The udon dishes are their specialty so def get a maze or hot udon dish! Pricey for the portions , but need to come back for the lunch deals.