Akebono

4960 Freeport Blvd

Sacramento, CA 95822

Rating:  

Located in strip mall anchored by Rite-Aid and Dollar Tree, Akebono serves up a long list of Japanese dishes at reasonable prices. Plenty of tables line the restaurant with their largest tables in the back of the restaurant. When we arrived, servers were able to quickly accommodate and prepare a large table for our large group. We were seated in the back and were provided menus. Drink orders were taken as we reviewed the menu. When we were ready to order, it took several minutes for our server to reappear to take the order. During this time, the restaurant did fill up to capacity. Eventually, the server did appear and we were able to place our order.

Today, we decided to order the shrimp tempura dinner, spicy miso ramen, katsu curry, honey moon roll, and pink lady roll. The shrimp tempura was quite crunchy without having too much breading on the shrimp. Each piece was fresh and hot. The spicy miso ramen was mildly spicy yet steaming hot. Unfortunately, the ramen dish came overloaded with a lot of vegetables with only a few small strips of pork. The katsu curry actually arrived very late in the meal, and we almost wondered if they forgot. The curry itself was quite salty. The one large sliced piece of fried pork went well with the curry, but did not have much of any flavor on its own. The curry dish did come with some large pieces of potato and carrot, but it would have been nicer if the vegetables were cut into smaller chunks. The honey moon roll was quite large and included both shrimp tempura and asparagus. The roll tasted a bit bland even when dipped in some wasabi soy sauce. Since the roll was so large, it also became a challenge to eat a piece in one bite. The pink lady roll was interesting because it was wrapped in a soy wrapper instead of a seaweed wrapper. The roll consists of shrimp tempura and crab meat, so it was a fairly simple roll. I was not a fan of the type of masago used because it was so crunchy and shiny, which seemed different from the masago used at other sushi restaurants. The roll tasted OK, but it was a fairly simple roll.

Overall, Akebono serves up dishes that many people would like to eat. Unfortunately, service was inconsistent because there were many times where our table was left without any server checking on us with fairly empty cups of water. Also, most of the food for the table arrived together, but the remainder of the food kept trickling in at much later times. Prices are about average for a Japanese restaurant. Unfortunately, due to the inconsistent service and mediocre food taste, I will probably not return to Akebono.