Barcelona.

Koy Shunka is Hideki Matsuhisa's flagship Barcelona restaurant and one of the most celebrated Japanese dining experiences in Europe. The Toyota-born chef became the first Japanese chef to earn a Michelin star in Spain, which Koy Shunka has retained since 2013.

Scapar is chef Koichi Kuwabara's own restaurant after years as head of creative cuisine at the acclaimed Dos Palillos. It earned a Michelin star for its fusion of Japanese kaiseki ritual with Catalan and Spanish ingredients. Note: listed as temporarily closed on the Michelin Guide.

Suto is Barcelona's most intimate Michelin-starred restaurant: a six-seat counter where Gunma-born chef Yoshikazu Suto prepares a deeply personal omakase menu in real time for each small group of guests. The 2023 Michelin star is awarded to both the cooking and the experience.

Sensato is chef Ryuta Sato's own minimalist omakase counter in Gràcia: six seats, one chef and a deeply personal Japanese sushi experience that reservations-by-WhatsApp-only policy ensures remains intimate. A Michelin-listed restaurant that feels like eating at a private home.

Located inside the Ohla Eixample hotel, Kintsugi is listed in the Michelin Guide and centres on a traditional Edomae omakase counter led by Japanese chef Hiroshi Shimamura. The menu draws on fresh produce from the Ebro Delta and the Terres de l'Ebre region.

Majide is Hideki Matsuhisa's fourth Barcelona restaurant, bringing the quality and Japanese authenticity of Grupo Shunka to the El Raval neighbourhood since 2016. The Michelin-recognised menu offers sushi, sashimi and grilled dishes.

Opened in 2019 by Osaka-born chef Teppei Nii — eight years as Hideki Matsuhisa's right hand at Koy Shunka — Soluna is listed in the Michelin Guide and offers two seasonal tasting menus fusing Japanese technique with produce from the Ebro Delta and the Mediterranean coast.

Run by a husband-and-wife couple from Osaka, Wakasa is one of Barcelona's most tightly-held dining secrets — a micro-restaurant seating no more than 25 guests, open Wednesday through Saturday evenings only, with reservations filling weeks in advance.

Sato i Tanaka is a Repsol-recognised Japanese sushi restaurant in the Eixample, owned by Japanese restaurateur Kenji Ueno and named after the two Japanese chefs who built its reputation: Ryuta Sato (who later opened Sensato) and Aki Tanaka. The kitchen delivers Japanese precision at prices accessible to regular diners.

Founded in 1989 by Yoshizumi Yamashita — whose family opened Barcelona's very first Japanese restaurant in 1978 — Yashima is an institution offering teppanyaki, a sushi counter, tatami rooms and kaiseki menus under continued family stewardship.

Ikoya Izakaya is the largest and most accessible restaurant of Hideki Matsuhisa's Barcelona empire, opened in 2021 in partnership with Grupo Sagardi facing the iconic Santa Caterina market. The cuisine is '100% Hideki': a Japanese-Mediterranean izakaya experience open daily for lunch and dinner.

Kak Koy is the youngest member of Hideki Matsuhisa's Grupo Shunka, opened in October 2015 as a sumiyaki-style charcoal grill and robatayaki restaurant in the Gothic Quarter. It extends the Shunka culinary family into the world of live-fire Japanese cookery.

Shunka is the restaurant that started it all for Hideki Matsuhisa in Barcelona: a Japanese izakaya-tavern in the Gothic Quarter, opened in 2001, that combines Japanese technique with the spirit of a neighbourhood tavern. A Barcelona institution for more than two decades.

Aiueno is Kenji Ueno's most creative Barcelona project, named for the five Japanese vowels (A-I-U-E-O) as a tribute to the Japanese language. A Japanese gastro-bar in the Eixample with an inventive daily menu that fuses Japanese cooking with Mediterranean ingredients.

Can Kenji is the original Barcelona restaurant of Japanese chef Kenji Ueno, who arrived from Japan around 2003 and created a beloved neighbourhood izakaya fusing Japanese technique with a Mediterranean tapas philosophy. A local institution in the Eixample since the mid-2000s.

Japanese chef Shinya Kurashina runs Una Mica de Japó as a true neighbourhood taberna, serving honest, home-style Japanese dishes — katsu curry, onigiri, korokke — at prices accessible to all. Time Out Barcelona calls it a 'clàssica taberna japonesa de Barcelona.'

Japanese chef Kenzo Koketzu and his brother created Yatai as a celebration of the street-food culture of Japan, with okonomiyaki, takoyaki and taiyaki prepared visibly in the open kitchen. The retro décor — Japanese advertising plates from the 1960s and traditional stool seating — transports guests directly to a Japanese festival stall.

Founded in 2012 by Hiroshima-born chef Hiroki Yoshiyuki, Ramen-ya Hiro is widely regarded as Barcelona's finest ramen restaurant. Handmade noodles and deeply traditional broths draw queues nightly.

Chef Keita Tanaka's cosy shop in Gràcia is named after the Japanese rendering of xiaolongbao and specialises in tantanmen ramen and hand-pleated soup dumplings. It is one of the very few places in Barcelona where both dishes are made with genuine Japanese technique.

Founded in 2017 by Japanese citizen Hiroshi Yamane, Kobuta Ramen operates with a kitchen team that is 'mayoritariamente nativos japoneses' — mostly Japanese nationals. The main location in Sants has developed a strong local following for its tonkotsu miso ramen and karaage.

Oh!kini Ramen is the Barcelona branch of Takeichi, a long-established ramen chain originating from Shinbashi, Tokyo. The kitchen follows the Japanese parent company's recipes and standards, making it one of the few Barcelona ramen shops with direct Tokyo lineage.

One of Barcelona's longest-running Japanese restaurants, Tempura-ya has been in the hands of Japanese owner Masahiro Hotta and chef Koji Nishiumi for nearly two decades. It trained a generation of Barcelona's Japanese chefs, including Ramen-ya Hiro's Hiroki Yoshiyuki.

Run by a Japanese couple and named after Kyoto's historic Gion district, Yoi Yoi Gion serves handmade udon noodles prepared in an open kitchen on Avinguda Diagonal. Dishes like curry udon and kakiage tempura udon are prepared fresh to order from hand-cut noodles.