It’s high energy, it shimmers with bright lights and moves at a frenetic pace to the fast rhythm of clapping hands from the kitchen and bar for service. This is Akiba, Canberra’s answer to a Japanese pop-art izakaya.
Bustling, boisterous and buzzy, Akiba is primarily a restaurant serving an eclectic style of Asian-inspired food cooked in a josper oven at affordable prices. After 10 pm, the curtains fall over the kitchen and Akiba turns into a cool bar with low lighting and a DJ spinning tunes.
The drinks menu features Akiba Pop or Akipops, which are soft drinks crafted in house, carbonated and bottled. They sell for $7 a pop and you can “Make it Boom” by adding a spirit. Think Sour Cherry and Vanilla with Martell Cognac – one of the brilliant and popular offerings designed by former Executive Bartender, Lee Potter Cavanagh.
The cocktails are divided into light and fruity Eye Openers, Socialisers with a couple giving a nod to renowned bartenders in Australia, Fancies including a Mystery Punch Bowl for 10 people and Afterburners, like the Penicillin Blazer. Take the Jalapeno Tommy’s Margarita. It starts like a well-balanced Tommy’s and ends with a long and lingering kick of heat. It’s delicious and stimulates the appetite. The Mezcalero combines Mezcal, Cointreau, ginger and lemon in a smoky citrus mix with a kick of ginger.
Look closely and you’ll see a rotovap, or rotary evaporator which Akiba uses to make custom distillates from white spirits. Essentially a mini still, it uses vacuum for distillation. By lowering the pressure, it lowers the boiling point of the spirit which evaporates the alcohol at a low boiling point for a cleaner flavour. Some of these distillates have featured in cocktails, others are experimental such as peanut butter vodka. The wasabi vodka makes a mean deconstructed Bloody Mary.
Whether you’re dropping for a quick meal or taking up a seat at the bar, Akiba will lure you back on every visit to Canberra.
Akiba Canberra
Address: 2601, 40 Bunda St, Canberra ACT 2601
Phone: (02) 6162 0602
Bar Hours: Sunday to Wednesday – 10:30pm-12am; Thursday to Saturday – 10:30pm-2am
Website: www.akiba.com.au
Photo Credit: Akiba, used with permission.
