As a Sushi addict I have had my share of good and bad sushi restaurants in Barcelona and developed a sense of recognising the right sushi places. So let me share this knowledge with you before I start talking about one of my most recent new experiences at a real Japanese Sushi restaurant in Barcelona: Koyuki.

Finding real sushi

In order to distinguish the pseudo Japanese restaurants from the real sushi restaurants in Barcelona you have to know about Chinese restaurants.  This may sound strange but Chinese people own the majority of the pseudo Japanese restaurants. If you really are looking for real Japanese sushi keep in mind the following aspects. For instance the glazed windows you can find on the majority of Chinese restaurants tell that the owner of the so-called Japanese sushi place is actually Chinese. The lions and paper lanterns and other type of Chinese decorations tell you that the owner is Chinese. The signs above the door in bright lights tell you the owner is Chinese. If the waitresses are dressed like a geisha and the cook wears a kamikaze headband than get out of there!

On the hunt

On a midweek afternoon we went out on one of our weekly occurring missions to hunt for Japanese Sushi. With the urge in my mind and the water in my mouth craving for fresh raw quality sushi, I had my eager eye open for a new Japanese restaurant. We stumbled upon Koyuki on calle Corsega no.242.  The entrance looked like a real Japanese place and when we opened the door we were a 100% sure, this is what we were looking for: a piece of Japan in Barcelona. A most friendly Japanese man, with a face that seemed to tell his life story, guided us to the table. The waitress was just as friendly and fast.  Within no time we had the delicious sushi on our table. Koyuki has been around for some time now, in the nineties they came to Barcelona long before sushi became as popular as it is now.

The restaurant’s décor is tranquil and relaxed like at home. The food is outstanding, when you bite the sushi and taste the flavours you instantly know you are eating Japanese sushi. As usual we had the nigiri’s with salmon and tuna and the maki’s with salmon and tuna and the california maki’s and the occasional salad or chikin katsu. The fried chicken had that nice special sauce. It was absolutely delicious and it is hard to say whether it’s better or worse than Tempura Ya, which is also a very high quality sushi restaurant in Barcelona.  
I guess they share 1st place so far, but there remain a lot of sushi places that we still need to discover.

The price quality ratio is perfect; quality never comes cheap but doesn’t have to be unaffordable.  The finest well prepared sushi in combination with good service in a relaxed and cosy atmosphere makes the overall experience one to remember and definitely one to share.