Aki Sushi in Covington - Review

I don't normally do the food review thing, but I feel like people need to know about this place, so bear with me.

As I understand it, the folks that own Sushi Yama in Baton Rouge own the place. Anyway, they had what I'd call a soft opening last night, and three of us stopped by to check it out. They renovated an old house on Florida St. in downtown Covington, and you'll miss it if you're not paying attention. It's on Florida street about a block and a half from the Taproom, and two blocks from Boston.

The build out is great. Really good looking hardwood floors, exposed beams, good lighting, etc. Even though the build out is nicer than both Megumi and Yujin, it's not pretentious at all, and I'd feel perfectly comfortable in the place with a t-shirt and shorts. The vibe feels very authentic. We were the only people in the restaurant except for a family of 6 or 7 who I assume was related in some way, or knew the folks that own the place. The music is the same as Yama - easy listening stuff that's light enough to talk over.

I'm a huge fan of both Yujin and Megumi for their own respective reasons, so I can't really help but compare it to both since they're all in such close proximity. That said, Aki blows the both out of the water. The quality of the fish is on another level. The only real negative about Aki is the price of the rolls, but that's to be expected considering Yama is the same way. It's also really not that expensive compared to other sushi restaurants outside of the northshore. Aki also doesn't have the selection of rolls that Megumi has, but I view that as a huge positive. Some sushi restaurant menus can be overwhelming.

When we sat down, the server immediately came over and took our drink orders. We ordered two beers and a glass of chardonnay, only for her to tell us that all the drinks that night would be free . She brought our drinks back along with a complimentary snowcrab/cucumber salad, which I assume is standard like the ginger salad at Yama. We took a drink's time looking over the menu deciding what to order and never felt rushed or anything.

My girlfriend ordered steamed pork gyoza, which was perfectly done. I don't normally order gyoza but last night was a "try everything that hits the table" night and it was awesome. Between the three of us, we ordered a regular low carb roll, a low carb roll with only tuna, 2 Okinawa rolls, a spicy tuna roll, and a Boston hand roll. I really wanted to try the Salmon Mango roll, but they didn't have all of the ingredients yet. The server said they expected to be fully stocked within a couple of days.

Low carb roll ($16.00):



Okinawa roll ($18.00):



Boston hand roll ($8.00):



All of the fish was super fresh - particularly the tuna. I can't remember if I've ever been in any restaurant where the tuna tasted and looked like it was just caught. I've eaten both bluefin and YFT right out of the water before, and this was it.

All of the rolls were very well put together and didn't fall apart. The amount of rice on both the Okinawa and spicy tuna rolls was perfect. One of my complaints about some other sushi restaurants comes when their rolls are 90% rice and 10% fish. Aki was the opposite and I was really happy about that. They also brought 1/4 of a sliced pineapple to the table right before the check, which was great.

Anyway, the overall experience was great. The food, vibe, and service was all 10/10. The staff is super friendly, and the food is so good that I'd honestly call it a game changer when it comes to sushi on the northshore, and everyone should try it. Like I said, the only real "negative" I can think of is the price (and I'm really reaching to find any negative whatsoever), but you should expect that with food of this caliber. It's also not really "that" expensive compared to some inferior sushi restaurants I've been to elsewhere, but it costs more than Megumi and Yujin. It is 100% worth every penny spent and we'll be regulars. I had very high expectations for the place and it exceeded them.