Akar - Expensive, Fancy Date Night

Akar Experience Summary

The appetizers were the star of the show - the burrata, heirloom tomato, and grilled peach salad with a pesto sauce and the smashed cucumbers specials were both delicious. The new drunken noodles would definitely be in my top three drunken noodles ever.

On the downside, the waiter got my order wrong - I ordered the gnocchi - and the Tofu Donabe tasted so bad it was essentially inedible. He made up for the wrong order with a free lava cake at the end, but I got the impression from the friends I was with that I could have made a much bigger deal about getting the wrong food.

It was the first place I've been in a while with specials where the server had them all memorized

The bill was a bit of a shocker at $169 for two people, especially in St. Louis. I would go back if someone invited us, but I wouldn't go back for a date night with all the other great, cheaper options in St. Louis.

The Food At Akar

Appetizers

The appetizers had loads of flavor, although the bread didn't impress. The burrata, heirloom tomato, and grilled peach salad with a pesto sauce was exquisite. It was well seasoned and every bite was oozing with flavor. The bread was a great vehicle for mopping up the excess sauce and dressing.

If I came back to Akar, I would seriously consider just getting several appetizers for dinner. They had the best flavor profiles of anything I had at the restaurant and each bite was a joy.

Main Course

As a main course, I ended up with the drunken noodles. I say "ended up with" because the waiter and I had a great two or three-minute conversation deciding between the gnocchi and the drunken noodles. We ultimately ended up on the gnocchi as it had more of a "fusion" feel than the straight Asain drunken noodles and the gnocchi was his favorite dish.

"Unfortunately", I was served the drunken noodles. My friends said I should send it back and that I was surprisingly easy to deal with given that I just took the noodles.

With all that being said, the drunken noodles were truly fantastic. The shrimp was juicy and flavorful; the noodles had great texture and flavor; and the overall spice level had a kick, but didn't make you sweat.

I thoroughly enjoyed the mistake.

My wife had the Tofu Donabe and barely had three bites. It just wasn't good. The brown rice didn't mesh well with the tofu and the Szechuan flavor did not come through at all. When you compare the dish to something like the Chengdu fish/chicken at Cate Zone, this tofu wasn't playing the same ballpark.

Dessert

For giving me the wrong entree, the waiter comped us a chocolate lava cake. It was moist and delicious.

The ice cream was a hit, particularly the Vietnamese coffee. It's a special batch prepared by the local favorite Clementines and it was creamy and delicious. It was so thick it was hard to separate for splitting - but in a very good way.

The salted caramel sauce used fish sauce for the salt. My wife said she could taste the fishiness, but I didn't notice it myself. The cocktails also received rave reviews, although I didn't get a chance to try them. One of them had tequila, chili, and lemongrass, which added to the fusion vibe of the place.

Drinks

My wife had the Serai - lemongrass infused tequila, lime thai chile simple, cilantro liquor ($15). She enjoyed it.

The couple we were with had a Timun - grapefruit & cucumber gin, dolin blanc vermouth, lime, simple, ginger beer ($15) - and a Japanese beer ($12). They both had two, so I'm guessing they were good.

My Diet Coke had free refills.

Akar Atmosphere And Miscellaneous

The atmosphere at Akar was great. We sat outside in beautiful weather. There were candles at the tables and nothing felt crowded. They recently expanded by purchasing the space next door but were still completely packed for multiple seatings while we were there.

I didn't actually get to go inside because we were seated outside right away.

The service was fantastic. The waiter gave us little details about every dish, like the old woman who cooks the tofu specifically for them and the ice cream that comes from Clementines. Even with the mix-up on the food, the service was top-notch.

Parking at AKAR

Parking was a pain in the butt at 6:45 PM on a Friday. We had to drive around for five minutes before eventually parking about a five to seven-minute walk away. But it was free.

Akar Receipt