"I wondered why this restaurant described itself on the board outside as ‘fusion’, why there were so many Korean dishes on the menu and why the serving staff have heard of Asahi beer but haven’t heard of The Asahi Shimbun, a Japanese daily newspaper that is at least 50 years old. The answer is that the Akasaka website isn’t being completely honest when it describes their Northampton branch as a Japanese restaurant. They aren’t really Japanese, although some of their menu items are clearly Japanese. Don’t let that put you off, however, as they are serving excellent food and we enjoyed our meal there very much. It cost us about £70 (inc. 10% tip) for our meal for two people including a 175ml glass of Sauvignon Blanc for my lovely wife and two 330ml bottles of Asahi Dry for me. The sushi was excellent, the edamame beans were great but we didn’t feel that the Dolsot Bibimbap (a Korean dish with loads of rice, some shredded vegetables, prawns and a fried egg on top) offered very good value for money at just under sixteen pounds. We would recommend Akasaka in Northampton and would certainly go there again, but if we want a genuinely Japanese meal, prepared and served by Japanese staff, then we will be sticking to Ginza Restaurant on Wellingborough Road in Northampton. Don’t like the way that the male members of staff at Sakura on Bridge Street speak to their female colleagues, very disrespectful, so we avoid that Japanese restaurant nowadays. Great to have a choice of three Japanese restaurants in Northampton post-pandemic, and our favourite of the three is Ginza."
