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| - I'm not normally an AYCE sushi fan since my first experience at another well-known-but-must-not-be-named-establishment was very lacking. This dislike of AYCE sushi is attributed to the fact you're often charged unreasonably high prices for a meal that doesn't live up to its price tag.
Akina however, is priced fairly ($13.99 for lunch) and I actually enjoyed the food for a change. We arrived at 11:00 and the place was empty. However, around 1:00 it started filling up.
My group of 5 ordered about 6 rounds and got the:
- eel maki rolls
- baby octopus sushi
- Akina roll, miso soup, spring rolls, mango sushi
- chicken & beef skewers, beef & chicken teriyaki
- spicy seafood ramen
- dragon & rainbow rolls, spicy salmon rolls and short ribs
Soft drinks were also part of the AYCE deal and were bottomless. However, if you are trying to eat your fill, lay off the carbonated beverages!
Standouts were the beef teriyaki which I surprisingly enjoyed more than the chicken and the short ribs. Their signature Akina roll wasn't that great as the slices of salmon were too thick for my liking, also, the rice was topped with a sweet pear concoction which I found strange. The chicken skewers were good for the first round but the second round brought very bland chicken --- it seemed that chicken cubes were just stuck on a stick and then grilled. My dining companions enjoyed the spicy seafood ramen but I hated it, I thought the noodles were under-cooked and the the accompanying soup tasted like instant ramen.
For dessert, we sampled everything available and my personal favourite was the mango pudding which contained pieces of real mango (I hope).
Overall, it was a good meal and well worth it as I basically rolled myself out of the restaurant. The location is inconspicuous as it's beside a supermarket and when I first drove up, didn't even see the sign which isn't very eye-catching. In addition, their waitresses only speak Cantonese so there is a communication barrier. However, the service was solid, a rare thing at AYCE places. I will return in the future!
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