Akebono

Love, love this establishment. Cute decor, warm interior, and quick service. It felt so inviting to sit down and be greeted with a very extensive menu.

The food. Wow, the Kaizen ramen my girlfriend and I got was very full of seafood flavor. It had so much scallop, shrimp, squid, and seaweed. So fresh and well made. I barely tasted any ocean-y flavor from the broth, so I'm very impressed.

Rolls were great! I reccomend the Nancy Roll. Full of unagi (eel) and that mayo and unagi sauce. Full of flavor. I do say some of the rolls have quite a bit of rich on them, so maybe if they came with less rice, that would make the fish shine more.

Will be 100% coming back to try their other specialty rolls and nigiri!

I like this place. Casual hole in the wall with fair prices and lots of food options. However, i think the sushi here is a miss. Its not very high quality. The chicken katsu is delicious and so are most of the appetizers. Also love the chicken teriyaki.

Now for the service. Our waitress was a bit cold and got upset when she picked up the menus and they had a few drops of soy sauce on them. Which is confusing because theyre laminated and easily cleaned off? And shouldnt you be wiping them down between customers regardless? Anyways she was a nut.

Would recommend this place for a casual sit down, but NOT for sushi. The sushi sucks.

Love that this place has so many vegetarian friendly options! I ordered an agedashi tofu don because I've never seen such a twist on this dish. It was pretty good with acceptable portion size.

Would come again to try their sushi because I'm curious about the quality and authenticity of it.

I owe you an apology, Akebono - I wasn't really familiar with your game.

Even though I've looked up a fair number of Sacramento restaurants to try, I don't recall ever seeing Akebono show up on Yelp. Which is actually rather surprising - considering how many reviews this place has, you'd think they would've shown up at some point. Then again, with a couple of friends each suggesting separately that we come here for our group dinner, perhaps it was inevitable that I would make my way here at some point regardless!

At an initial glance, when we first stepped inside, nothing about Akebono really stood out. In almost every way, it looks like your typical neighborhood Japanese restaurant. However, it didn't take long to see why they thought this place would be great for us - between how big the parking lot is and the number of tables they have for large parties, it was a breeze to get seated even without reservations. Similarly, the menu is HUGE! Granted, that's not always a good thing, but it's impressive just how much they have to offer - hot and cold appetizers, sushi and sashimi options, bento boxes, donburis, curry dishes, Japanese fried rice, cold noodles/soba, fried noodles/yakisoba, and seventeen(!) types of ramen and udon.

-- AGEDASHI TOFU - Deep Fried Tofu with Special House Soy Sauce...$8.95
This looked pretty average, but it tasted great! The tofu looked a bit pale, but the batter was crispy and the tofu had a nice bounce to it. I would've liked some grated radish and/or a bit more green onions, but this was still good as is.

-- CHICKEN KARAAGE - Deep Fried Chicken Nuggets...$11.95
One of the priciest Karaage dishes I've had, but also one of the largest. so it evens it out a bit. I don't love how the chicken was cut after it was fried, but at least they were crispy on the outside and moist on the inside. It could've used a little more seasoning, but it was fine otherwise.

-- WOW ROLL - Shrimp Tempura Topped with Scallop, Avocado Dip, Black Tobiko, and Spicy Mayo Sauce...$17.95
The inside of the roll felt pretty bare with just shrimp tempura in it, but this was pretty solid. The rice was decent, the scallops tasted fresh, and the avocado was perfectly ripe. In all, everything complemented each other well.

-- MIXED TEMPURA APPETIZER - Deep Fried Shrimp and Vegetables...$12.95
There may not have been anything particularly special about this, but it was pretty good. The batter had a very nice crunch to it, the tempura wasn't very oily, and there was a good mix of vegetables to go along with the shrimp.

-- SALMON NIGIRI...$7.95
As nice as it was to look at the size of the salmon, the color of it certainly wasn't. The dark tinge was a bit unsettling, but it smelled fine, the texture was okay, and, most importantly, it didn't taste off. Unlikely I'd get this again, though.

-- PINK LADY ROLL - Shrimp Tempura and Snow Crab Wrapped in Soy Paper Topped with Scallop, Tobiko, and Cream Sauce...$17.95
In hindsight, perhaps I should have got something different, as this is really similar to the Wow roll. That said, this was just as good. The snow crab went well with the scallop and shrimp tempura, though I wish there was more of it.

-- CHICKEN KATSU CURRY with Vegetables over Rice...$17.95
Honestly, did not expect this to be so MASSIVE! The portion of rice and curry is quite generous and tasted great. The katsu wasn't heavily breaded and the chicken was fairly moist, but it was odd seeing just only a few chunks of carrots and potatoes.

As far as service goes, it was terrific - all of the workers were super friendly across both of our visits (came back to try more of the gigantic menu). They warmly greeted us, came by often, and the food came out relatively quick, even for our larger group dinner.

While Akebono, presumably, isn't the most acclaimed Japanese restaurant in Sacramento (I'd guess that distinction goes to Kru?), it's got plenty of its own merits. Most of what we've tried has been solid, the menu has something to offer for everyone, service was terrific, and coming here, even if you're in a large group without a reservation, is ridiculously convenient. They may not blow anyone away, but I imagine it'd be hard to find a ton to complain about either.

All in all, THREE AND A HALF STARS rounded up.

Food was amazing, could tell everything was fresh and made to order. The dream come true roll was FANTASTIC. Also received great service, very attentive to refilling waters and the restaurant is huge! There's a little back room you can sit in for more privacy and larger tables. Definitely coming back

Overall, akebono is a solid choice. We had the sushi boat B and it was good. Presentation 9/10. Sushi rolls 8/10. Each roll did have a ton of rice so that is why I rated it lower.

Next time I would order rolls separately. My favorite is the dream come true.

Overall, I'd give Akebono a 3.5 for taste, bumped up to 4 stars for nice service & ambiance. Dishes I tried:

- Nabeyaki Udon: great portion and well-seasoned broth (not too salty), nice selection of toppings. My one critique is the chicken was on the dry, chewy side.

- Fire Salmon Roll: a decent-sized roll with balanced flavors. The salmon tasted very fresh!

- Spicy Tuna Roll: overall a bit too salty for my taste.

The food was solid, but I do think Akebono's pricing is on the high end compared to spots with similar quality. So, if you're just looking for quality Japanese cuisine, price aside, Akebono is a decent option.

Akebono is very clean and spacious and they offer table and seats at the sushi bar. I liked the defo

I got the fried oysters, black garlic ramen and the assorted sashimi platter. I thought the food was decent but nothing outstanding.

I absolutely love the food at Akebono.
However, I have been hesitant to return because I am concerned about their use of plastic tableware, such as plastic bowls for the noodles. Studies show that plastics can leach harmful substances like microplastic and endocrine disrupting chemicals into food, especially when heated. It can pose health risks by disrupting endocrine functions. For health reasons l prefer safer materials like ceramic.

How I have not written a review for Akebono is beyond me as I've literally been coming here for probably almost 10-15 years as it's a family favorite. Growing up I would always get the champon ramen which is so filling and split that with a family member. My favorite rolls here are probably the dream come true and the honeymoon roll(love how the fish is fresh and they don't skimp out on it here). Not gonna lie the price has really gone up over time unfortunately but if you do have enough people the sushi boats here are AMAZING. Service is solid as well as they check up on you consistently and are friendly. Ambience can vary depending on the hour but this place is worth a shot if you're in the area!