If you’re passionate about Japanese cuisine and you’re from Barcelona, you’re in luck. Eating with chopsticks is all the rage, which is why Barcelona offers a wide range of restaurants to suit all tastes and budgets. Among its streets and charming corners you will find the most typical dishes of Japanese culture: sushi, ramen, fish, miso soups, mochis… In order to make your job easier and allow you to embark on a trip to the land of the rising sun without leaving the city, we propose a list of the best Japanese restaurants in Barcelona.
List of the best Japanese restaurants in Barcelona
The best ramen: Ramen Ya-hiro
Carrer de Girona, 164
Phone: 930028441
Ramen is one of the star dishes of Japanese cuisine. This iconic homemade broth is usually made from chicken, pork or dried fish. It is accompanied by sauces that define its flavour, such as miso or soy, and noodles and toppings such as meat, tamago mushrooms are added. The Ya-Hiro restaurant is a small, cosy establishment in the city that specialises in ramen and is the main reason why it has become popular in Barcelona. Now that the cold weather is getting harder, you couldn’t be more in the mood for a hot bowl of soup to warm you up.
For those with a sweet tooth: Akashi Gallery
Carrer Rosselló, 197
Telephone: 931250877
Akashi Gallery Barcelona is a sushi bar and photography gallery created by Tina Bagué and Toru Morimoto, expert photographers and lovers of Japanese culture. However, the restaurant was born as a traditional tea shop, so it stands out for its homemade desserts. On the menu you will find a variety of typical sweets such as Nutella dorayaki, matcha tiramisu, tofu cheesecake, yuzu fondant or original mochis in different flavours.
Best value for money: Kiku Chan
Carrer Numancia, 33
Telephone: 934107247
An unpretentious restaurant offering a varied and extensive menu of delicious Japanese dishes at an unbeatable price, that’s Kiku Chan. The place is small, tavern style, and not very well decorated, but don’t be fooled. You know what they say… the best is on the inside. In this case, inside the kitchen.
Avant-garde: Koy Shunka
Carrer d’en Copons, 7
Telephone: 934127939
Located in the emblematic Barrio Gòtic, Koy Shunka is the first restaurant in Barcelona to be awarded a Michelin star. Its chef and owner, Hideki Matsuhisa, is considered the Japanese Ferran Adrià for offering fresh ingredients in refined but, above all, very tasty dishes. It also offers the possibility of trying a tasting menu, which is a spectacle of oriental flavours. If you are looking for elegant, high-level gastronomy, Koy Shunka is your best option.
The eternal: Yamadori
Carrer d’Aribau, 68
Telephone: 934539264
Opened in the 1970s, Yamadori restaurant is considered the first Japanese restaurant in Barcelona. Located in the heart of the Eixample district, this restaurant is decorated in the typical Japanese style with a sushi bar and offers a wide range of traditional Japanese dishes. Its most outstanding feature is simple: its authenticity. After more than 30 years of history, it still retains the same decoration and structure as the day it opened its doors for the first time. Thank you Yamadori for showing us the most symbolic gastronomic jewels of your culture.
A modern tavern: Can Kenji
Carrer del Rosselló, 325
Telephone: 934761823
Can Kenji is a restaurant inspired by traditional Japanese taverns, the izakayas. An izakaya is a typical place in Japanese culture where you can eat small portions of the most popular dishes, or in other words, tapas. It is the perfect place to go for a drink after work, relax and have a good time. Since its opening in 2010, the Can Kenji tavern has not stopped offering the most classic flavours of this gastronomy along with some more creative Mediterranean-inspired dishes. An infallible tandem of the most authentic traditional recipes and avant-garde Mediterranean cuisine.
Fusion: Casa xica
Carrer de la França Xica, 20
Telephone: 936005858
Duck confit gyozas, mussels with coconut broth, calçot kimchi, fresh fish of the day with red curry or Iberian secret with oyster sauce are some of the dishes you can find at Casa Xica. Does that sound strange? That’s because these dishes are the result of a fusion of the gastronomic treasures of Catalonia and Asia. The restaurant was founded by three Catalan partners, who, on a trip to Malaysia, were captivated by oriental gastronomy and were inspired to open their business. As its name suggests, Casa Xica is a small and intimate place where you can enjoy the exotic flavours of Asian food prepared with the best fresh Mediterranean produce.
Do you want to make some of the dishes from these restaurants at home?
Many of them buy the products, ingredients and raw materials in our shop in Barcelona or online, imported directly from Japan. Among the most popular ingredients are soy sauces(of which we have a wide variety: gluten-free, light, for gyozas), some of the best sake in the world and all types of seaweed (nori, kombu, agar agar…).
