Akar

I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the wait staff. The drinks were unique. The one i had, serai, was very good. I lived the addition of black pepper on the rim. The pickled cabbage is hands down the best I've ever had. I would order that by the bucket! The other two meals i had were mediocre. The crispy chicken was fine. But the chicken itself was under seasoned and the breading was too much. It distracted from the amazing herbs and glaze. The breading was initially crispy but began falling off. Id have preferred a lighter maybe cornmeal breading or none at all with a crispy skin. The scallop dish was mediocre as well. Everything was good until i got to the orzo pasta. Pasta was not necessary. It was very starchy/floury? The dish would have made a great appetizer if the lobster curry was lessened and the orzo removed. The mango/scallop pairing was great! The olive oil cake for dessert was very pleasant. Not too sweet. There was a lingering bitterness though but it isn't ruin the experience. Overall I'd try it again but try other dishes to see if the more traditional Malaysian foods are better.

Love this place... a smaller restaurant space with a nice patio. Cute neighborhood with multiple eateries. Food is gorgeous, adventurous, and super flavorful. Most of the dishes here will be something you've never had or an Asian twist on something you have had. I had the roasted red pepper dip (yum!) and the gnocchi in a curry sauce (this was my favorite 💗). I also had a burrata special and the sirai cocktail. Everything was great. Easy to have a fully vegetarian (or not) meal here and if you want spicy-hot (or not) they can accommodate. Wonderful friendly staff!

Excellent experience for us! My husband and I are from Atlanta and we walked in, not knowing that there were set times for us to reserve to eat there. They were understanding and said that we could sit at the bar until the next reserved guest came in. The bar was the best seat in the house because we truly got to talk about food with our server and others around us. We ordered the pea soup, lobster rangoon, pot stickers, cha sui chicken, and the chicken pho. The food was flavorful. Many of the dishes had complex flavors that made you go wow. Our cocktails and mocktail were delicious. This place is worth making a reservation at and you do not want to miss anything that is happening here.

Nice and cozy place near the University area. Just bumped into this while searching for south east Asian cuisine on Google. Definitely worth the 4.8 stars that the reviewers have left. Excellent ambience (small but cute and cozy). Delicious food. And awesome service. They reserved a place for us inside (outside is free seating). Helped us through the menu providing great recommendations. The food was great. I loved the chicken as it had just the right balance of crispness and juicy and tenderness. The duck was tender and the ravioli was great. The ice cream was something I never tried before and I liked it very much (plain vanilla with a hint of coconut milk and pistachios). Would recommend anyone to give it a shot and I'll likely visit it again when I am in town.

We enjoyed our food! My favorite is lamb shank; the meat is so tender. I also liked the ice cream with sesame seeds and the crispy chicken. The only caveat is that their space is limited - around 3 tables available, there are bar stools too. Make sure you make reservations! The lighting is dim. Perfect for dates!

I got a call the day before with someone saying, "we would like to confirm your reservation with a car." I didn't have a reservation for a car so I was perplex until my wife said our reservation for the restaurant name Akar. 🙄 Bread with butter... It's a very small baguette. Frankly, what impressed me was not the bread but the butter. Very good butter! Escargot - not bad. But if you are ordering escargot don't order the bread... They came with it. 🤨 Soft shell crab is soft shell crab. Not necessary better than Japanese restaurant but as long as the timing is good and not overcooked. It's fine. Lamb shank was delicious, doesn't taste gamey at all. The sauce was really impressive. Chilean sea bass - it's very good. Rather crispy on the skin. Sauce was good compliment as well. I have to say the only unpleasant experience was the waitress, she may be the boss for what I know. When we arrived at our reservation time, table was not available due to the previous party took longer. We have no problem with that. We waited for about 15-20 minutes and that's fine too. What bothered me was that we were told to leave before we finished. We were thinking about ordering dessert but she said they need our table for the next reservation. They will accommodate us if we want dessert, but we have to sit outside. My wife and our guests were kind of offended so we decided to leave without protesting. After all, they didn't give us the table on time and the food also took a while. Didn't seem it was our fault but we felt the waitress was not too sensitive to us being the victims of no dessert. Added salt the the wound was that I always tip generously but I forgot to adjust and gave the standard 20% tip... Now I'm bitter. 🙄