Maison Akira Restaurant

this place isnt great and i agree that it is some marketing thing that is being done. look at the reviews, no grammatical errors and the people say oh the chef is genius, the food amazing, great, great, and the waiters are rude, some should be fired, some maybe drunk on the job. not high quality standards . the food may be old sometimes, thats what i feel at least, the desserts are good, but ingredients dont seem superb, taste is good though. i think more money should be spent in the quality of ingredients, so the food can have a a better quality, and there should be more diversity, and if a waiter commits a common he/she should be relieved of their job. more

This is one of the best restaurants, if not the best, I have ever been to. The food here is AMAZING and... more

This is one of the best restaurants, if not the best, I have ever been to. The food here is AMAZING and they have excellent service and atmosphere. more

We read an excellent review in the Pasadena Star News, but we weren't very impressed with our experience. The menu items are very limited, the prices are expensive, and the food isn't anything special. Despite some good word of mouth, only three tables were occupied on Friday night. Pros: prompt seating, attentive waiters more

What a fantastic experience! Very accomodating for large groups and children (small groups too). The decor is bright and lends to a wonderful envionrment to enjoy the most fabulous food. The food is authentic, offering a nice variety to chose from (we had the buffet on Sunday). The wasab tasted amazingly fresh! The desserts are also incredibly yummy, and the fresh fruit... juicy and sweet. The service topped it all off. My coffee cup was never empty, the waiter pulled the chair out for me everytime he saw I was out of it, and he was in the area. The dirty dishes were gone before we returned with our refill. Just class, class, class, and very worth the price. All around a great experience. Oh, and noise level? No problem. It was very easy for our group of 7 to have conversations without yelling. Pros: Overall experience...Rating says it all, validated parking after first 1.5 hours free (or street) Cons: Couldn't find any more

Had the most incredible meal there... the Prix Fixe Menu from start to finish was so delicious... my fiance and I were in heaven with each bite. The service was great... I had made a reservation for 6:30 pm the day before... had to change it last minute to a later time but was informed that there were no available tables. I then started to look for another restaurant when the hostess called me back and informed me that someone had cancelled and that they could move my reservation back to 7:30. That's service! We had such a wonderful experience, my now wife and I decided to make Maison Akira our official ""once a month date"" place! Pros: Great everything! Cons: When busy, hard to find parking more

Whenever I have friends or family visiting I always bring them to this restaurant. The service is great and the food is yummy. It is expensive, though. The brunch is good too. more

I lived in Pasadena for years and went to Maison Akira a few times since its opening. The food was good for Pasadena standards but as good as the sublime Derek's Bistro on Glenarm. The service at both places was below average even for LA standards. The sea bass at Derek's (when they had it) was superior to Maison's. The lst time I was at Maison Akira, the Mexican head-waiter and the French Maitre D', Christine, were completely rude to us. I mentioned to Christine that there was no need chilling our wine right before serving it and that they could have served it directly. The bottle was about $40 on the menu which admittedly was not a high-roller one. Christine turned around and called our wine a ""cheap wine."" Good thing I was not there with a date that i was trying to impress. This restaurant has had a major marketing campaign and despite my emails requests, they have not removed me from their email list. They obviously hired a marketing manager who in the past six years has tried to do a lot in pushing the place. I highly suspect a lot of the reviews here are posted by the business affiliates. I have notices that trend with a lot businesses on citysearch that have messages from the merchant before the review. The place was not well-known for years after its opening, even though the service was a lot better. To recap, the food is good but it is silly for anyone living on the west side with access to so many superior restaurants to even talk about Maison Akira. more

I had never even heard of this place when my family went two weeks ago to celebrate my brother's birthday. To my amusement, everything on the menu looked so great, I had no idea what to order. Luckily, there were six of us, so I got to try most things. I opted for the pre fixe, which, at $50, might be the best buy and best pre fixe in southern california. They gave us an amuse bouche of a wonderful yellotail tuna, which really did get my tastebuds going. I started with a wonderful mushroom soup. Blended and creamy and yummy. hen I had the ""Grilled Beef Ribeye steak in a black peppercorn sauce with gratin potatoes"". Dee-lish. The steak was tender and flavorful, the sauce wonderfully complimented it and was pepery without being overpowering. The gratin potatoes (a comfort food to me) were a delicate gourmet version of sorts, sliced think and stacked elegantly and creamily on the plate. I was in hog heaven. I tasted the fois gras, which was the best I've EVER had, and tasted like steak but melted like butter on the tongue. I also tasted the asparagus soup, which was delicious and made with a vegetable stock. The miso marintaed chilean sea bass (Akira's signature dish) was good, and my bro's wagyu (kobe style) beef was out of this world. The desserts were great, too. I had a lavender creme brullee, and next time would opt for it without the lavender (it was good, but sometimes I'm a purist with these sorts of things). All in all, the dinner was great! An expensive night out for 6, but frankly, if you're looking for a special night, the pre fixe is a great deal. The restaurant itself is also warm, inviting, off the beaten track, and not at all pretentious. It's a little bit like my beloved Inn Of The Seventh Ray, but a little more gourmet, and French, and less hippy. You know... Pros: Wonderful find! more

Took my wife here for her 30th bday.\r \r she had the menu epicurean with the ""kobe"" ny steak, i had the miso sea bass. we shared our appetizers, which included the kampachi & yellow tail and the foie gras. wanted to try dessert but we were given complimentary bday icecream dessert and by the time we finished, we ran out of room.\r \r i was simply blown away by the taste and quality. we've had our share of find dining experience (gary danko's in sf, mastro's, matsuhisa, nobu, etc) and this ranks near the top. \r \r i wanted to take my wife somewhere special, but not somewhere that was ""too"" established. maison could not have suited this purpose any better.\r \r can't wait to go back.\r \r here's my breakdown\r \r food - 9 out of 10, 10 being best\r the sea bass is no joke. menu states that chef hirose served this dish to the emperor of japan. i can confirm that this dish is fit for any royalty.\r \r service - 8 out of 10\r honestly, i was too busy eating. we've had better svc at restaurants like gary danko's (known for treating their patrons like kings/queens).\r \r decor/atmosphere - 7 of 10\r place is cute and cozy, nothing extravagant. doens't really matter though...the entrees look everything look better.\r \r value - 8.5 of 10\r spent about $120 per person, worth every dime! Pros: miso sea bass is to die for Cons: too far from the south bay! more

I agree with some of the other reviews, somewhat stuffy atmosphere, like an outdated living room, but it was comfortable and quiet. The food is amazing. Excellent Chilean seabass and the kobe beef was just superb. It is a tiny portion and I think it was $45 so don't be surprised. I didn't care for the lavender scented creme brulee. You should definitely try this restaurant. I thought the service was very good. Maybe it is good that I don't understand Spanish, but we got there at 5 pm so they were probably not saying they would wish we would leave so they could go home. more

We just LOVE this restaurant. The sea bass is fabulous. The service is wonderful. Great place to unwind and escape. Great place for a romantic dinner. Also went with a group of 12 and they handled it very well and it was nice that it is separated from main dining area. Small and intimate but they break up the space nicely. The food and wine are outstanding. Definitely one of the best in Southern California. Pros: Validated parking next to be building, THE FOOD Cons: on a one way street more

This is one of the best places for a date! My husband took me there for my birthday and I had a fabulous time. The food was great as were the wines that were paired with it. We both had the prix-fixe dinner and it was well worth the price! The chef has a distinct style that comes through in his creations. It was a memorable culinary experience...to say the least! We will definitely be back for more! Pros: Memorable Dining Experience Cons: Parking can be a challenge, pricey more

Everything was excellent.\r Food was execellent. Service was great.\r It was good for romantic dinner as well. more

This is the first restaurant that reminded me of the restaurants in France. There were two restaurants in Paris where I had the two of the finest meals I've ever had in in my life, and I have been searching everywhere in Southern California for the same experience. I finally found it with this restaurant. If you are looking to tantalize the tastebuds, then this is the place to go. more

Immediately seated on a Sunday evening, we found the atmosphere very romantic, though the average patron's age seemed to hover close to the 50s mark. The idea of melding French and Japanese intrigued us. I'd have to say it worked perfectly! I had the roasted stuffed Quail with sauteed shrimps and it was delectible. Even the iced tea was brewed nicely and the service was excellent. I'd love to go back to try the salads and sashimi plates. Pros: free 90min parking w/ validation Cons: a bit too quiet/stuffy more

Overall, the dining (culinary) experience was nice. The asian salad was very good and so was the dessert. I was disappointed with the vegetarian entree. I was expecting the vegetarian entree on the menu, slow roasted vegetables in phyllo and portobello ravioli. However, we were only served the raviolis.\r \r While my guests were generally happy with their salmon and beef tenderloin, the ones who ordered the lamb found it to be unsavory. They believe the meat may have been bad. They have all had lamb before at numerous fine restaurants and so it was not the lamb flavor that they found distasteful, it was the lamb that was served to them that evening that was bad.\r \r We had an issue with the servers as well. Although the 2 servers (they were both latino/hispanic males) were very pleasant during the service, they made a comment at the end that I cannot overlook. While speaking to one another in Spanish, they commented that they wish that our party woulud leave soon so that they could go home. I found that comment to be quite offensive and offputting. My dinner party left around 10:20 p.m., which is not late, by any standards, for a Saturday night. Additionally, there were at least 4 other tables still dining at the time we left. It made me question whether we were being snubbed, whether the $1,200.00 we spent on dinner that night did not warrant better service or better regard from the restaurant staff.\r \r The atmosphere/clientele is very cold. We receive nasty glares from the older diners. They complained when we were taking photos of our dinner party. I would not recommend this place for any festive gathering. I would not recommend this place to anyone really. I sent a comment to the restaurant but they have chosen to not respond to my issues. more

the food was just above average, and we were sorry about the experience at Maison Akira my one year old son made a little mess, and he just only one year old, but our waitress made a common to us: NO ANIMALS ALLOW HERE!! this was their hospitality to little customer, we were very very dispointed and sad thinking to make sure any of our freinds will not bring small kids there. Mison Akira Pasadena is not a kids friendly place to enjoy. there was also a large group having brunch at the same time when we were there, so we end up not getting enough food due to long long long line and wait, so I really think when they having large group like that they should have private service not put us all together. more

The first time I ate here was for Valentine's Day. Probably not the best time to come -- the meal ended up costing a fortune, which was expected on that day, but it was still a bit too much. The food was great -- probably the first time i've ever had foie gras (sp?), and it was delicious! The other dishes were great too, but for that much money? I don't think any food should cost that much. Anyways, friends tell me that they have a great Sunday Brunch (like the Ritz Carlton Huntington), but of course, it may be on the expensive side. more

Excellent for a date or anniversary, Akira is tucked away on Green street in Pasadena, away from the hubbub of oldtown/Colorado. Recommendations: The Fixed Price Menu dinners are excellent, I've had the best lobster I've ever tasted with it, the vanilla bean ice cream dessert is also very nice. Birthdays are done tastefully with a little music box that plays happy birthday and a dessert, nothing more (thankfully). Reservations and window seats are recommended. Pros: Food, Romatic, Secluded more