7 replies to this topic

[Elios John Dandrea-Harris]

I've been on the look out for a good Japanese restaurant close to Amersham for some time and have discovered Achimi in Beaconsfield that opened i think about 18 months ago. Before this my partner and i had to make do with yo sushi in High wycombe or would get my craving fulfilled in central london near work which didn't make my partner happy as she works in High Wycombe.

Anyway we tried this place about 2 months ago now so memory is a little sketchy. The restaurant from the outside can be slightly easy to miss as it's not very stand out from the road compared to the shops either side. It's located close to the Loch Fyne restaurant in between it and the Saracens head pub in old Beaconsfield. Inside it's a mostly wood affair with a counter in the middle. Tables were well spaced out and we had a high chair on ours close to the windows. Not a conveyor belt restaurant.

Now down to the food. My partner and I would like to feel we have eaten enough sushi in the UK and Japan to know what we feel would be nice, ordinary (yo sushi) or bad (supermarket sushi). The sushi is very nice there. Highlight dishes for us were the black cod, edamame and sashimi. My partner liked the Tempura.

Costs - It's not cheap. we went a bit mad with trying lots of dishes and without any wine and it cost us £84. But i thought it was well worth it as the food was fresh and tasty.

[Ian]

Thanks for posting this.
Me and the missus really enjoy our sushi so this will definitely be the next night out for the 2 of us.

Expect another review to be posted soonish.

(surprised I couldn't find a website for them - I expect every business to have some sort of web presence these days)

[K&P]

Thanks for the tip. I love Japanese food and will be visiting!

I found some great reviews, too.

http://www.tripadvis...re_England.html

[roob_the_doob]

I've been on the look out for a good Japanese restaurant close to Amersham for some time and have discovered Achimi in Beaconsfield that opened i think about 18 months ago.

Costs - It's not cheap. we went a bit mad with trying lots of dishes and without any wine and it cost us £84. But i thought it was well worth it as the food was fresh and tasty.

We went tonight, and the sushi is very good, certainly on a par with some of the best I've had elsewhere. Really fresh flavours, particularly the maki - rather than the rather samey flavours you often get in places such as Yo, each maki dish was distinct, fresh and flavoursome.

Not cheap, but then since when was sushi cheap? Expect to pay at least £25 per head on sushi, if you want enough to eat. May try a bento box next time.

Very friendly too.

[Ian]

So we finally got around to paying a visit to Achimi the other night ...
We thought it was very good.

Now some specific areas I think worth highlighting...

Decor - furniture is a mish mash of items that look they were bought from a garage sale. 5/10
Menu - Blackened cod was excellent, but tempura batter was not as light as I've had elsewhere. Nigiri freshly made and sized right (how often is this made too big to do in one mouth?), but sashimi portions were slightly too small for my liking at the price being paid. Chicken gyoza were excellent as well - possibly the best I've had. I would give the food 8/10
Service - waitress helpfully made suggestions to complement what we were having which was appreciated. But, didn't appreciate having 10% automatically added to the bill - service should be discretionary if you ask me. 7/10
Value - it was not cheap - but as with all things in life, you get what you pay for, and this was worth it. Now if they could just sort the interior out a bit. We paid £85 for two including service and drinks.

I'd recommend it.

[mitzi]

I have been there recently too.... Agree with all of the above - still I think it is so much better to support an independent restaurant like this, than, for example - yo sushi in high Wycombe. The food seems so much fresher, and the staff more knowledgeable of the cuisine. Would recommend it to. (then go to the crazy bear for a cocktail!)

[Bawbag]

Took the Mrs to Achimi on Saturday night, lovely meal.

Pros:

• Nice relaxed atmosphere
• Food (excluding dessert) was exquisite - how can bean curd taste that good?! The gyu maki were also immense, and the sashimi and nigiri were of good quality.

Cons:

• Staff were functional rather than attentive - don't get the impression they were rubbish, just not very suited to the type of place
• Not a great selection of drinks
• Desserts nothing special - 1 scoop of bland green tea ice cream for £3.50? Hmmm...
• I see what others mean about the decor - didn't put us off but I can see why it might offend others

Cost £100 for two, including tip. The list of cons makes it look like we wouldn't go back, but on the contrary now that we've been we know what to avoid next time, and there definitely will be a next time (assuming they stay open, it was dead on Saturday night!).

[Ian]

We were back at Achimi for lunch last week ...

We shared chef's nigiri selection + bento box each (steak and salmon teriyaki) ... think I made the better choice going for the steak teriyaki ..
(£45 for two with tea + 1 wine)

Tasted excellent, still the best Japanese in the area - unless someone has another recommendation?