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| - I have to agree with previous reviewers - Aki Da is passable, but boring.
The location is excellent and the space is well laid-out and a good size - if only their menu, service and food were better, this place would be a hit.
I had the sushi and salmon teriyaki bento box, and shared a shrimp and vegetable tempura appetizer.
The tempura was good, nice light and crispy batter, however the vegetables were not as varied as I thought. Notably missing were eggplant and zucchini. In an order that included five pieces of vegetable tempura, for three pieces to be taro - it's a little disappointing.
The bento box was well-presented, but when I ordered, I thought I'd be getting the "7 assorted sushi" as in seven pieces of nigiri, not four nigiri and three pieces of california roll. Quality was average, if rice-heavy.
Salmon teriyaki, also average, nothing special - on par with New Generation Sushi in the Annex. The salmon teriyaki came on a bed of what I can only describe as bagged salad, stir fried heavily in oil. A watery salad and steamed rice accompanied. Miso soup was also included - again, average.
No ice cream was offered to end the meal, which is fine, though I'd grown accustomed to that being included with most bento boxes.
Service was fine, though I felt a little rushed when asked for my order three times in about ten minutes. This leads me to my next point - their menus are laid out horribly. I mean just horribly. Comic Sans on neon paper would have been less offensive to peruse.
In addition to the *four* laminated legal-sized inserts and the wine list, the menu was eight pages long and (this is the worst part) glued to bamboo sushi rolling mats. This makes the pages unwieldy to flip through and quite grimy to touch. The layout of the menu is all over the place - nothing is grouped together except for the appetizers.
All in all, I might go back if I was on the corner of Queen and Woodbine and refused to walk any further for sushi, but probably not. For a sushi fix in the Beaches, go to Bikkuri where you can at least stuff yourself with a variety of things, or to O-Sushi for decent take-out. But really, if you want sushi - leave the neighbourhood to the brunchers and designer dogs.
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