Akitsu Kitchen spices up Hillsdale cuisine

Arkitsu Kitchen serves Filipino cuisine.
Ameera Wilson | The Collegian

My go-to Asian restaurants for the past couple of years have required the hour-long drive to Ann Arbor. Now, thanks to the newly opened Akitsu Kitchen, I have an option 55 minutes closer.

Despite the lack of clear signage, the new little takeout restaurant wasn’t difficult to find in the Rough Draft building beside the restroom, and I was excited to give it a go.

Open Thursday through Saturday, Akitsu rotates its meals weekly, which means my experience of their food was limited to the options of the past week.

The cuisine of the week was Filipino, and the two options were chicken adobo and pork lechon kawali (fried pork belly). Both were served with rice, lumpia, pancit, and a cucumber salad. Lumpia is a small Filipino spring roll, and pancit is a dish of noodles and vegetables.

Although the food is meant to be takeout, there are plenty of seats around for those who hate to stand for more than 10 minutes. And a handy coffee shop right there if you want to get a quick drink while you wait.

Ordering and receiving my food lasted about 15 minutes, which was the time the server promised. The speed was good, and I was the only customer, so I had the two workers’ full efforts.

I settled down at home and opened the packages to find pretty small portions. Each serving was 15 dollars, which isn’t that bad if you ignore the fact that I am a broke college student who eats a lot.

One of the benefits of Asian cuisines, as well as Mexican, is the possibility of bulking up the meal with cheaper ingredients. Rice and noodles especially make it easy to produce larger portions without spending much more. My main complaint with the restaurant is that the portions are too small.

I enjoyed both the chicken and the pork. They were well-cooked and tender. The veggies were nice and fresh.

While I may have not visited the restaurant during their strongest week, I didn’t find the food particularly flavorful. I haven’t experienced much Filipino food, so I don’t know the usual flavor profile but generally I hope for distinct flavor profiles in Asian cuisine. The meal was good, but not particularly great. There was nothing wrong with the food, and compared to other Hillsdale restaurant possibilities, it’s a nice change of pace. I’ve also heard that the restaurant’s other weekly options have been stronger.

Akitsu Kitchen is a good option for adding some variety to your diet. Though it didn’t blow my mind, the food was fresh, tasty, and promising enough that I will definitely be back to try some of its other options. But I will also still drive to Ann Arbor.