Akasaka Japanese Restaurant   

1450 Whalley Ave
New Haven, CT 6515
203-387-4898

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If you think the name of this restaurant bespeaks chic, it's because you've been to Toyko, not to the Amity neighborhood of New Haven where this restaurant is located. This restaurant is situated in the midst of an unapologetically functional commercial strip -- quite remote from what its name evokes: a posh corner of the Japanese capital for youth with money to burn. New Haven's Akasaka won't pick your pocket or inflict a dress code. If you're willing to stray somewhat from the city's downtown restaurant area, you'll be rewarded with some of the area's best Japanese treats. Along with a full sushi menu, there are delighfully generous servings of grilled fish (served with steamed vegetables), vegetable tempura, nabeyaki udon -- that fabulous fat-noodle soup, loaded with fishcakes, crabmeat and mushrooms, and topped with two jumbo tempura shrimp. Dessert is interesting, though, and as in all Japanese restaurants, never the kitchen's claim to fame. Mitsumame are jelly squares served on a bed of ice -- a particularly welcome lightness after gorging on tempura. The tempura ice cream, however, is about as light as bacon and eggs. But for those who like life filled with challenging contrasts, by all means order the cream-and-crunch, fire-and- ice enticements of this strangest of sweet treats. -- Constance Markiewicz