Dayton, OH 45424 937.233.8005 website
A sushi bar serving north Dayton, Akashi Sushi Bar along Harshman Rd. serves lunch and nicer cuisine to the population of nearby Wright-Patterson Air Force Base as well as the Huber Heights community nearby. The menu is much more distinctly ethnic than many of the other sushi bars in town, with much of the food it offers being fish and vegetable or noodle dishes, like bulgogi and bokkeum. The kinds of things you won’t try anywhere else in town. Myself, I like the place most for its sushi, which is the most popular option. There’s a definite cultural barrier with the staff, and in some ways I fear that barrier extends to the cuisine, too. But new cuisine can sometimes be hard to break in.
The menu has a number of different favorites, but sushi is the number one item. Among those that I tried:
- Deep Fry Tuna Roll: This one is filled with crab and deep fried tuna and topped with a nice spicy sauce. My favorite roll, though the deep fried tuna doesn’t add as much as it sounds like it might. The sauce really makes the whole roll come together nicely.
- Futo Maki Roll: “futomaki” roll is a larger sushi roll, typically 2 inches or more in diameter. This one is filled with cucumber, crab meat, scrambled egg and pickles. This one is desperately dry, it really needs some kind of sauce to even it out. All told, it’s very difficult to enjoy without that.
- Rainbow Roll: A good appetizer. It’s got tuna, salmon, shrimp and avocado in a relatively small wrap.
- Sundubu jjigae: A Korean stew made with soft tofu and vegetables, and also some seafood. It’s served bubbling hot in an earthenware pot. Spicy!
- Dolsot Bibibop: The much-loved popular Korean dish with rice veggies and a spicy red sauce. Best way to eat it is dolsot style, in a hot earthenware pot that lets the rice cook in the bottom. Fantastic.
- Jeyuk Bokkeum: Another Korean dish, this is a stir-fried pork dish in a hot and spicy sauce. Served with veggies and a bit of rice, and you’ll want to dunk everything you can in that thick sauce.
- Japchae: A Korean noodle dish, this features glass noodles, beef, carrot, and spinach. A bit salty but still filling with that soy sauce.
- Ramen: Wonderful broth and a thick and hearty noodle bowl, with some seaweed and egg to accentuate it. Filling lunch.
- Sashimi: Fresh cut fish makes all the difference when you have sashimi. This fish is top-notch. Absolutely worth the price.
- Dumplings: Stuffed with chopped veggies and meat and lightly fried, these accentuate a soup really well. Have them with a bit of soy for good taste.
- Bento Box: A whole meal in a sitting, with lo mein, a spring roll rice and salad. The meat of your choosing will match very nicely!
The price points are a little high on many of the dishes here, and I’m left feeling like some of the rolls are more expensive than other spots in town. A lot of good opportunities to try new cuisine, though, which leaves me feeling like you really have to be feeling adventurous in order to get the most out of coming here.
The service is good, servers are very observant and quick to take dishes out of your way and so on. They serve up the food as it’s completed, though, and in a very thoughtful culturally relevant way: the darker fish and heavier rolls are served last in order not to ruin the palette or throw you off-balance.
I do like Akashi Sushi Bar for the food and for the exceptional service, and with the variety of Korean and Japanese cuisine, it is worth a visit for the curious appetite. Not easy to find this kind of authentic food elsewhere in town.
Recommendations
- I’m not personally a fan of the futomaki roll, which I think is dry. I do like the deep fry tuna roll for its sauce, though it could use a little more of some other kind of deep-fried fish.
- I ordered oolong tea, though it’s a bottled import and served cold. Not made in house.
- The price points are higher here than other places in town, but there’s a payoff you want the really good ethnic stuff.
Another Food Critic 
It’s hard to agree with this posting because i have been going to Akashi for many years and
I personally had tried all the rolls in the menu + the new rolls like gangnamstyle, samurai, WSU, and honeymoon.