Kibuka - 8.2

Kibuka is one of those restaurants where you can take literally anyone. Parents are in town visiting and are apprehensive about Spanish food? Kibuka. Your vegetarian friend wants to meet up on a Tuesday and you don’t want to spend too much money? Kibuka. Craving some really great sushi? (Do I need to say it?) Kibuka!

Kibuka is a Japanese restaurant that has your typical Japanese food, but also does some really interesting sushi rolls (think Mediterranean-inspired ones likes arugula, tomato and balsamic, and deluxe ones like soft shell crab and eel). There are a few locations, and they also have a to-go option, but the one I always go to is called Kibuka Goya and is on c/ Goya in Gràcia. Most of the tables are 2-4 seaters, but there’s a back room that’s a good spot to reserve for a larger group party if you have one (probably about 10-15).

The menu is organized into appetizers, standard makis, deluxe makis, and desserts. If you have the chance to come during lunch on a weekday I highly recommend it, because their menu del dia is 3 courses for 12€ and it’s a great deal!

We started with some pork gyozas and edamame, and ordered 4 plates of sushi between 3 people. I know you can find gyoza at every Japanese restaurant on the planet, but these were just really spectacular: crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, great flavor, the right size to fit into your mouth elegantly (do you ever get the feeling that these things are enormous?).

Next came the sushi. One of our friends was vegetarian so we got 2 veggie rolls for them. I really like the vegetarian options at Kibuka because they’re not the standard “consolation prize sushi” (like who wants to watch me eating a dragon roll while they’re eating plain cucumber and rice? No.).

They ordered a buffalo mozzarella, arugula, and tomato roll, and another with cream cheese, cucumber, and sun dried tomato. If you don’t want to venture too far from the standard, you can get your average avocado roll, but it’s great that there’s options if you want something more elaborate.

For the two fish rolls we got one with soft shell crab and a piece of eel on top, and another with spicy salmon, avocado, and a mayo sauce.

All of the rolls were delicious (even though I’m not a huge fan of cream cheese in sushi normally, it kind of just worked) with my favorite being the soft shell crab one. You can taste the quality in the ingredients that they use, and it really makes a big difference (cliche but true).

Each plate has 8 rolls, so we did 36 pieces of sushi between 3 people and it was a perfect amount. We didn’t get dessert because there’s a Japanese shaved ice place around the corner (Mr. Kakigori) that I can never resist 😝

For the price-quality ratio, Kibuka is about as high as you can get. For around 15-20 euros per person, you can get a really tasty and unique Japanese experience. It’s one of my favorites and I will be back!

address: carrer de goya, 7

price: 15-20€ per person

website: http://www.kibuka.com/

good for: weeknight dinner, group dinner with friends