November 25, 2022 – The time 2:02pm never looked so good.
Don’t get me wrong. Akira Sushi Aptos, hidden away on the back side of a retail plaza, was a Found Treasure at first sight, even at, say, 1:01pm.
It’s clean, stylish, playful, with all sorts of alluring hand rolls (like the Hand Grenade), vegetarian rolls (including Silence of the Yams), “basic” rolls (yes to the Baby Yoda) and over-the-top “makizushi” special rolls (note the Wonder Woo, “O” Face and Soquel Avenue) appearing across 10 pages of the menu, along with some udon, salads, sashimi, nigiri, desserts and a strong list of sakes.
But then I got to page 9, and one of the best sushi-centric happy hours on Monterey Bay smacked me in the appetite: Things like salmon collar, steamed pork pot stickers, tempura calamari and Japanese-style fried chicken are $10 or less. Indulgent Akira fries with tempura sweet potatoes and Akira nachos are also bargains. A pitcher of Sapporo is $20. A large hot sake is $9. (Similarly solid values can be found via the bento boxes and sushi lunches on page 8.)
That happens every day from 2-5pm. Just as I was done reading that, my eyes jumped to my phone, and 2:02 told me I’d get some of Akira’s specialties at a discount.
Specialty number one: ninja sticks, $6 for a half order amid HH. (Seaweed salads are also $6.)
The ninja sticks’ fiendish construction makes a base out of spicy tuna that’s combined with chopped ginger and basil, tempura fried, then topped with spicy miso sesame aioli, unagi sauce, green onion and sesame seeds.
Inventive, indulgent and delicious, like the wider operation.
Specialty number two: The Gem of Akira, $12 during the three-hour happy hour, which also happens all day Monday.
Newsflash: Avocado is a heavenly food. When Akira stuffs one with spicy tuna and capital K Krab, deep fries it in tempura, then tops that with tobiko and green onions, it levitates to a loftier place.
The resulting Gem is an umami tsunami.
(Tsunami side note: There is a tsunami maki roll surging with tempura soft shell crab, spicy tuna, topped with avocado, maguro, unagi sauce, spicy miso sesame aioli, tobiko and tempura crunch.)
Two more true happy hour hits went with it: 1) An Akira poke bowl with marinated cubes of maguro, spiralized cucumber, nuts, beets and avocado on a bed of wakame seaweed salad and radish for $13.50; and 2) a sake bomb for just $5 (despite being near a college town, I decided to sip them separately rather than bomb away).
Sister spot Akira Seabright also does an excellent (and mostly similar) happy hour, minus the Monday all-day action and The Gem of Akira. The good news there is that, even though it’s not on the happy hour or regular menu, they will prep a Gem up (for $12), making it an off-menu Santa Cruz Found Treasure.
Appropriately named Aptos manager Sheon Maki testifies that the happy hour offerings are based around things that complement its hot sake and Sapporo and local seasonal draft beers (also available in a pitcher-and-a-half “tower” for $30).
“We have a lot of dishes that are different from other Japanese restaurants—we come up with unique, fusion recipes—and happy hour provides a nice chance for guests to try something new,” she says. “With our quantity of items, people can also come back and try [another] something new, served in smaller portions so you can try multiple things.”
That creates an opportunity, when it comes to late lunch or early dinner, that arrives right on time.
More at akiraaptos.com and akirasantacruz.com.
About the author
Mark C. Anderson, Edible Monterey Bay's managing editor, appears on "Friday Found Treasures" via KRML 94.7 every week, a little after 12pm noon. Reach him via mark@ediblemontereybay.com.
