Akasha

05/15/2008 Posted by wendyfromcali

Okay, I cannot recommend the restaurant since I did not eat there, but what I can recommend are their cupcakes from the bakery. Our server, Rob, highly recommended the Carrot Cupcake and I'm glad I listened to him, because now I will probably want to have them delivered to me at 2:00 a.m. like he said I would! I also had their Raspberry Vanilla Cupcake, which beats out my favorite cupcake at Vanilla Bake Shop, the Strawberries 'n Cream. I had to resist eating the paper lining after I finished; yep, that good!

Pros: cupcakes, good-looking and knowledgeable wait-staff

05/06/2008 Posted by sipandswirl

My husband and I took his parents to this place, expecting it to be so amazing. Visually it is stunning, but the service was embarrassing, the food was either bland, cold, or too spicy. Nothing went right the entire evening. My husband ordered wine and it was corked. The second glass was terrible too. The server had no personality, no wine knowledge, no menu knowledge. When the manager came over to see how our night went we told him honestly of our experience and her just walked away without any attempt at making the situation better for us. We were not interested in any financial freebies, we just wanted to be honest in our experience - it was the worst. We will never come back.

Pros: bartender was great!

Cons: service, food, overall experience horrible

05/04/2008 Posted by cherylstar

I feel compelled to write a review because I've been hearing and reading nothing but good reviews from good sources that I have discovered were mostly false, at least in our experience. Last night (5/3) my husband and I decided to check out our new Culver City hot spot on a whim and there was very little to rave about. Without a reservation, we were seated outside in the wind with perhaps the least effective heaters imagineable, but we were greeted quickly and our waitress was funny and sympathized with our situation. She suggested a few nice sounding things, but I found the menu to be small and on the boring side for the price ($20-$30). We ordered a decent bottle of wine on the cheaper side (the wine list is good and priced reasonably), a completely boring salad, a completely boring pizza, and the tiny and more "meh..." than "wow!" shortribs. The only reason I'm giving it two stars is because our waitress was great (ask for Bren if you want to be taken care of) and the wine list isn't shabby (although being around the corner from Bottlerock, it's not something I'd really come back for).

Pros: Service and wine list

Cons: Tiny bland portions, outside seating, too expensive for its worth

04/28/2008 Posted by chadelbert

I am really starting to enjoy the assortment of dining options in Culver City. Akasha is a super fit! We made reservations around 5pm Friday for a party of 4. We got a 9:15 reservation. The vibe is super for an entertaining dinner with another couple. Super comfortable seats too which is a big plus for me. Tables are defintiely not overcrowded and on top of each other. Great bread right away is key for me too and this is some of the freshest and best tasting bread around. Our server, Jonathon, was firendly and very helpful. We ordered the shrimp cocktail app - awesome. All 4 entrees were super. I had the scallops personally and loved them. Plenty of food too. You know what's great? -When you want to entertain a party of 4 and you can park without having to valet, enjoy some wine at the wine bar next to Ugo for an hour, then have a great 2 hours dining experience at Akasha or Ford's.

Pros: Comfortable Tables and Seating, Vibe, Food, Service

Cons: kinda a small menu

04/22/2008 Posted by krazytrails

My friend and I were very excited to visit this place. It was under new and notable restaurants section on citysearch and downtown Culver City is a new hot spot for good restaurants (the owner used to be Barbara Streisand's personal chef) A few items on the menu seemed quite tasty so we decided to order a few things. My friend ordered a festive drink and received a drink in a very small martini glass that wasn't full!! The drink was $12 and this is lunchtime folks!! Are they saving their liquor for a rainy day? We are not in the days of prohibition!! Then we received our meal which needed a magnifying glass because the portions were so small. I don't like hungry man portions (I weigh under 100 lbs), but this is ridiculous. On a positive note the sweet potato fries were the best I've ever had, but this restaurant appears to be under the rules of the great depression (hoarding their portions for a rainy day or something). I told our server the fries were so great, but so few and the server said "I know" and left it at that, but someone in management must have overheard the conversation (the restaurant was pretty empty at the time) because they brought out some more fries (thank goodness, they truly were delicious). All in all we spent 60 bucks for lunch (we ordered a sandwich, appetizer and a drink..nothing stellar) and we were left hungry. If the owner served these portions to Barbara Streisand, I think she would've starved to death. Tender Greens is right down the street which serves good portions, uses quality ingredients and is WAY cheaper. I'm giving this restaurant 3 stars solely because of the sweet potato fries.

Pros: Sweet Potato Fries

Cons: Stingy Portions

04/21/2008 Posted by rlupo

Lovely new spot in Culver City. Food was excellent, very flavorful and interesting. The Masala shrimp and tamarind chutney are a must have and the short ribs are delicious. The short ribs fall apart and are moist and hearty. The braeburn apple tart for dessert is fantastic and vegan......who would have known? Solid wine list and there are some fun cocktails. Our server was friendly and informative. The atmosphere is buzzing. I think is was very reasonable especially in this city! Try it!

Pros: yummy food, great for vegans, good value and fun.

Cons: no valet

04/21/2008 Posted by wise1too

Another trendy LA restaurant that gets by on mediocre food and large noisy crowds. My party and I tried a number of dishes. All mediocre. In fact the worst steak I've had in years. Even the deserts miss. And if you can't make a good desert turn off the burners! Large space, nice atmosphere but loud inside. The typical LA lemming will like this place and even think it's good. I have no intentions to return.

04/13/2008 Posted by asiadecuba

Went there last night with a small group. I had the spare ribs, and they were absolutely delicious!! Unfortunately, the servings are somewhat small, but that may be because I'm used to the L.A. supersized dishes that everyone seems to serve. Prices are ok, but might be considered a little high given the serving sizes. Cappucino was delicious! Although I asked for decaf, and was wide awake until 4am! Hmmm. General tip, I ask the waiter what their best dish is at every restaurant, so I'm rarely disappointed (even if the place is not great, I'm likely to get the "least bad" dish!). :-)

Pros: Fun and hip restaurant with delicious food!

Cons: A little pricey for the portion sizes.

04/10/2008 Posted by culvercityrocks

I've been to this restaurant twice since it opened. Each time, my food was tasteless. Our server was nice, but you got the feeling he didn't like the food either. When our server delivered the dessert menus, he was finally excited about telling us about the offerings... so we decided to take a risk much to our chagrin. They were good. Perhaps the chef should have stuck to what she's good at. The decor is nice but the layout is not well thought out. I just noticed the same postings copied and pasted on a couple other websites like citysearch...seems like management is the one writing these rave reviews. Things that make you go hmmm....

Pros: parking, decor, dessert

Cons: food

04/04/2008 Posted by Cindy07

I tried Akasha with a friend of mine who recommended it and I loved it!! The food was delicious and the ambiance was nice. We ordered about 4 appetizers and shared everything. The mac & cheese was awesome and the mushroom tart was also very good! I highly recommed this place ...but make reservations in advance they were packed. Akasha is definitely worth trying!!