AKIRA: A Tiny Japanese Universe in Kolkata

Since we were already out and dinner was calling, we decided to keep things light and find somewhere nearby. A quick search by my wife produced a promising result—a new Japanese place just 9 minutes away, according to Google.

Nine minutes?

That sounded dangerously convenient.

And so off we went to AKIRA, a cute little Japanese cuisine restaurant that is, by almost every definition of the word, tiny. But what it lacks in size, it makes up for in character. The place is done up in Japanese Pop Culture, with Anime and Manga influences everywhere you look.

We arrived and, as expected, had to wait a little before we could get in.

Which was perfectly fine by me.

Because parked outside were two rather handsome motorcycles—a Honda CB350 and a Honda H'ness CB350.

Now, I have a weakness for motorcycles, and apparently, so did the universe that evening.

I was admiring the two bikes when the owner of the CB350 appeared. One thing led to another and within seconds we were engaged in that very particular form of conversation that only bikers understand.

You know the one.

Engine. Torque. Riding. Bikes. Experiences. Comparisons.

Meanwhile, my wife stood nearby watching the proceedings.

I suspect, from the look on her face, that she was witnessing two perfectly normal human beings communicating in an alien language.

Neither of us noticed.

We were too busy being bikers.

Eventually, our table became available, so I bid my newfound biker friend a safe ride and we headed inside.

And that's when we discovered just how tiny AKIRA really was.

The place seemed to begin and end almost immediately after the counter. Four tables, plus a long wall-mounted table running along one side, and that's pretty much the entire restaurant.

Compact? Definitely.

But it had been done rather cutely.

We got ourselves a corner table, which had the added advantage of giving us a direct view into the kitchen. I quite like restaurants where you can see what's happening behind the scenes.

Then came the menu.

And I loved it.

It was short and sweet.

No encyclopaedia. No twenty-seven variations of the same dish. No sitting there wondering whether you should order something you can't pronounce or something you can't identify.

We were done ordering within minutes.

What We Ordered

DRINKS:
🍊 Oren
🌸 Sakura

YAKITORI:
🐖 Pork — Two Skewers

RAMEN:
🍜 Akira Spicy Miso Ramen
🍜 Akira Shoyu Ramen

While we waited, I began exploring the walls with my eyes.

There were Japanese posters and images everywhere, adding to the whole Anime-Manga atmosphere. But it was the cats that caught our attention.

There were cats on the posters.

Then we spotted another.

And another.

Before long, dinner had acquired an entirely new side quest:

Find the Cats.

We started looking around the restaurant trying to spot as many of these feline appearances as possible.

Yes, we are adults.

No, we don't always behave like them.

Our drinks arrived, followed fairly quickly by the food. The service was genuinely impressive, with everything arriving in quick succession.

And then we ate.

The Pork Yakitori was particularly good. The pork was cooked to perfection—tender, juicy and absolutely delicious.

And when food is that good, there is a very simple rule:

It goes faster into your tummy.

Which is precisely what happened.

The ramen disappeared.

The yakitori disappeared.

We looked at the table.

Nothing.

Gone.

Finished.

Done.

The people at the table next to us had also finished their meal and then ordered dessert.

We noticed.

Of course we noticed.

Their dessert sounded interesting enough that we immediately decided that perhaps we weren't quite as finished as we had originally thought.

So we ordered one too.

Dessert: Mango Sticky Rice Sushi

Now this was fun.

Mango Sticky Rice Sushi is exactly the sort of thing that makes you curious enough to order it and then pleasantly surprised when it actually works.

It was an interesting interpretation of the classic dessert, combining the familiar flavours in a sushi-style presentation. And it was nicely balanced too.

A rather clever little ending to the meal.

By now, we were comfortably stuffed and ready to leave, but before heading out we got chatting with the young lad who had been looking after us throughout the evening.

And that's when we discovered that he wasn't simply the person attending to us.

He was actually one of the two partners who had opened AKIRA.

The other partner?

The Chef.

Suddenly, the whole place made even more sense.

This wasn't some huge, polished restaurant operation. It was a tiny little space put together by two people who clearly wanted to create something they enjoyed themselves.

And perhaps that's what made AKIRA so charming.

It's small.

It's quirky.

It's unapologetically Japanese Pop Culture.

It has a short menu, good food, friendly service, interesting desserts, cats hiding on posters—and apparently attracts bikers who can be found outside speaking in mysterious tongues.

What's not to like?

We left AKIRA with full stomachs, happy faces and one more little place added to our ever-growing list of Kolkata discoveries.

We'll definitely be back.

And we'll certainly be telling our friends about this tiny little island of Japanese mouthy delights in Kolkata.

Although next time, I may have to spend a little less time talking about motorcycles.

Then again...

maybe not.