Japanese cuisine is much more than sushi and maki and Barcelona is full of places where you can try the range of flavors offered. If you want to travel to the Land of the Rising Sun with your stomach and without spending money on plane tickets, we recommend you to take a look at the Japanese restaurants in Barcelona that we recommend below.
Shunka, the Japanese with a Michelin Star
Although perhaps it is strong to start with the Michelin star on the list, Shunka is a reference in terms of Japanese food in Barcelona and one of the oldest in the city, making it one of the best Japanese restaurants in Barcelona. It is located in a corner of the Gothic Quarter, next to the cathedral, in a place where, although they have a normal restaurant, you can’t miss the sushi bar that they prepare in front of you, a real spectacle.
We always recommend sitting at the bar to be able to see how they cook everything you can taste. Their nigiris are famous for not needing sauce to eat them because of how good they are.
📍 Carrer dels Sagristans, 5.
Kamikaze Tavern, in true Japanese sauciness
Taberna Kamikaze is a Mediterranean restaurant with Asian touches in all dishes. Its creators, who met at the bi-starred Disfrutar, were clear about the concept they wanted to develop: Japanese sauciness. Mediterráneo cuisine with “eye picks in Korea or China”.
“The idea is to fuse traditional Japanese dishes with the cuisine and products from here. Uniting cultures through sauces, techniques or products“.
They do so because they are passionate about the Japanese world, because of “how they take care of the product in Japan. It was to find a middle ground and do something different, personal,” explains Enric Buendia, one of its creators. And they have achieved it in a Japanese tavern format, European gastronomic, with tables but no tablecloth, with the light directed.
📍 Rosello, 197.
Akashi Gallery, sushi bar, gallery and tea shop
Right next door (but sharing the same number) we found an authentic Japanese Japanese restaurant. Far from fusion and fantasy, Akashi Gallery celebrates 12 years in the city serving authentic traditional sushi.
It is a sushi bar, a photo gallery, one of the most original tea shops in Barcelona and a hidden corner where you can practice Japanese-style modernism.
Here you also come to eat sitting on the floor, so you’d better leave your tomato socks at home. You cannot leave without tasting the gyoukuro tea and visiting one of the origami workshops they organize.
📍 Carrer del Rosselló, 197.
Nakashita, contemporary Brazilian fusion sushi
Nakashita, in the heart of Born, is one of the best value-for-money restaurants on our list. It also brings something extra: its menu is a Japanese and Brazilian fusion.
As an example of a dish more out of the ordinary, we recommend their oysters in tempura or their selection of fusion sushi that you can see how they prepare live.
📍 Carrer del Rec Comtal, 15.
Sensato, the most exclusive (and difficult to book) Japanese
Perhaps the most exclusive place on the list, only for true lovers and foodies deep in this universe. Sensato is the experience you’d expect to live in Tokyo, but perhaps it’s easier to fly to Japan to experience it because their bar only seats 8 people and it’s not easy to get a reservation. Although it opened relatively recently, it is already on its way to being one of the top 3 best Japanese restaurants in Barcelona.
Sensato’s formula is simple: a single 3-hour tasting menu composed of a succession of sushi pieces, which can vary according to the season of the ingredients and market availability.
📍 Septimània Street, 36
Ikoya Izakaya, by Hideki Matsuhisa
Ikoya Izakaya is the last son of Michelin-starred chef Hideki Matsuhisa, a Japanese restaurateur of reference in Barcelona with restaurants such as Shunka, Koy Shunka, Kat Koy, Majide and Kokoy. It is the most relaxed of the group, and its spirit allows it to rely less on sushi and more on other Japanese traditions such as fresh fish and sake.
al davant del Mercat de, Av. de Francesc Cambó, 23.
Hidden Japanese, an open secret
El Japonés Escondido belongs to the Tragaluz Group and is an authentic Izacaya Bar, that is to say, an afterwork tapas bar in the Tokyo version that is becoming very fashionable all over the world.
The bar is hidden in the heart of the Old Town of Barceloneta and has an interior designed by Lekuona (the studio in charge of most of the group’s establishments) that will transport you to Kyoto thanks to its Japanese tavern spirit.
📍 Carrer de Llauder, 1.
Carlota Akaneya, one of the first to make sumiyaki
Carlota Akaneya restaurant was the first place to offer sumiyaki in the country. Sumiyaki is a traditional Japanese method of cooking meat over charcoal, and at Carlota Akaneya they can boast the jewel in the crown, grade 5 Kobe beef, the highest grade awarded by the association that issues the official certificate for this type of meat in Japan.
📍 Carrer del Pintor Fortuny, 32.
Sato i Tanaka authentic Japanese cuisine at affordable prices
Contrary to what you might think, you don’t have to pawn your medallion to try their menu. Prices at Sato i Tanaka are affordable. Depending on what you want, of course. You can lunch at noon for 15€. And also try the tasting menu for 55.
Finding a seat is a different matter. Its limited capacity makes anyone who wants to go without a reservation candid.
Artisans of an expanding cuisine, luthiers of sushi or virtuosos of cooking. Sato i Tanaka is as close as you can get to Japan without taking a plane.
📍 Carrer del Bruc, 49.
Yuku Barcelona, first class quality in a secret bar
What they do at Yuku is something that plays in another league. There, the raw material is of excellent quality; so much so that it is hard to believe that such a thing could exist. Its philosophy is summarized under the concept of omakase which means trusting and leaving the menu in the chef’s hands. This is a type of menu that is normally served in Japanese sushiya, i.e. in establishments that have a bar with 4 to 10 seats.
Yuku’s proposal is more than clear: to generate a magical atmosphere inspired by Japanese culture within a closed-door space. All this makes it one of the most unique Japanese restaurants in the city.
📍 Secret location.
Bouzu, Japanese-style tapas in a gastro pub
If you are curious about what Japanese-style tapas are like, this is the place to check it out. Izakaya is the name given to Japanese gastro pubs, where people go to enjoy an afterwork or simply to drink. Following this philosophy, the restaurant serves local tapas such as steamed salmon and mushrooms with seaweed, octopus bomb or vegetable tartar.
📍 Carrer ronda de Sant Antoni, 26.
Ikibana Sarrià, japanese and brazilian gastronomy
If you are interested in fusion cuisine, Ikibana makes an interesting combination of Japanese and Brazilian gastronomy . Their overloaded and cheerful appearance could imply that they only focus on the latter, but what they lack in zen, they have in excess in quality. Here you can try gyozas with beef and cilantro, foie and truffle nigiri or tuna maki with jalapeño.
📍 Carrer del Dr. Fleming, 11.
Monster Sushi / Robata, Japanese flavor with a Western twist
They belong to the same brand and perfectly combine the most Japanese flavor with a Western touch. The sushi at both places is amazing, needless to say. Their artisanal desserts are not far behind either, and are a guarantee of flavor and the best finishing touch to a good experience of intercultural mix in the kitchen.
📍 Sushi: Plaça de Gal-la Placídia, 25.
📍 Robata: Carrer d’Enric Granados, 55.