Nigiri, sashimi, robatayaki (robata), toban-yaki, yakitori, tataki: strange sounding words that make Japanese cuisine appear complex and as distant as its country of origin, but also words that prove that Japanese cuisine is not just raw fish.
So, apart from the raw dishes (nigiri, sashimi), Japanese cuisine includes a wide range of charcoal-grilled dishes (robata), dishes cooked on a hot ceramic dish (toban-yaki), as well as dishes with food that has only been seared at very high temperatures (tataki), skewered chicken (yakitori) dishes, as well as dishes with other meats – including beef and fish. And thus, we realize that Japanese cuisine uses some very familiar techniques. In the centuries of its existence, the cuisine of Japan has been influenced by cultures and religions as well as by other international cuisines. What has remained unchanged is the emphasis on the aesthetics of each dish, as well as of the whole table, the use of fresh seasonal ingredients, the variety of seafood and vegetables used, as well as the clarity of flavours.
The cultural and social aspects of traditional Japanese cuisine (washoku), along with the fact that it has spread almost all over the planet, resulted in UNESCO declaring it intangible cultural heritage in 2013. With an extremely wide variety of flavours and dishes prepared using clean ingredients, Japanese cuisine is one of the tastiest and healthiest cuisines in the world. We’ve found the eight top restaurants serving Japanese food in our city – with modern and cosmopolitan choices, as well as street food options – that are worthy representatives of this rich and diverse cuisine.
Matsuhisa
Renowned Japanese chef Nobuyuki (Nobu) Matsuhisa, opened his restaurant in one of the most idyllic locations in town, in Asteras, Vouliagmeni, in 2008. Matsuhisa, Athens, one of the about 40 restaurants of Nobu-san’s global empire, offers high gastronomy and elegance, with earthy colours that perfectly match the verdant paradise of Asteras, while its locations offers a beautiful view of the blue waters of the Saronic Gulf and of the bright sky of Attica.
The minimal open space allows the eyes to travel from the kitchen where the chefs are creating masterpieces, to the stylish bar, and from the tables to the patio, and from the umi bar to the stunning scenery. The service is of the highest standard, something that adds to the whole experience, while the food is an ode to Japanese gastronomy. Tony Vratsanos is in charge of the kitchen and following the Matsuhisa restaurants’ philosophy and Nobu-san’s techniques, creates a feast using fresh, local and seasonal ingredients.
At Matsuhisa, Athens, you’ll find the famous black cod miso, a world-famous signature dish by Nobu-san that contributed to the spread of Japanese cuisine to the Western world, attracting people who had only associated it with raw fish. A simple fish, like cod, is turned into an exquisite dish with a deep and slightly sweet flavour – it’s marinated for about three days in sake, mirin (rice wine), white miso and sugar, turning an amber shade, and is served on a banana leave with pink-white ginger hajikami and miso drops.
At Matsuhisa you can also try new style sashimi, one more of Nobu-san’s innovations, born after a customer in Los Angeles said that it was impossible for her to eat raw fish. Trying to satisfy her preferences without completely doing away with the philosophy of sashimi that requires fish to be raw, Nobu-san poured some hot oil on the sashimi. The contrast of the hot oil and the cold fish adds a rich flavour to the dish, while the soy sauce and yuzu (Japanese citrus fruit) adds a sharp note.
With the passage of time, the dish has evolved significantly, with the addition of sesame oil to the olive oil, that gives the dish a more Asian flair, as well as with the addition of other ingredients. The roasted cauliflower jalapeño is another exquisite dish that balances earthy elements with sharp and spicy touches – cauliflower lightly grilled on the robata with jalapeño dressing, ito togarashi (a type of dry chili), jalapeño slices and coriander on a thin layer of fresh green salad. The Matsuhisa sashimi salad – green salad with various kinds of sashimi (royal crab, tuna, salmon) served with a Japanese mustard dressing and chopped onion, is also amazing. The rock shrimps is one of the must dishes, totally addictive – a light, golden shrimp tempura with creamy spicy sauce, jalapeño and butter ponzu sprinkled with finely chopped chives and mushrooms, served over a thin layer of fresh vegetables with a yuzu dressing. The Chilean seabass with a deep umami flavour – sea bass marinated in a vegetable mixture and caramelised with sweet and spicy miso sauce, served with coriander, lime and finely chopped onion – is also amazing.
For those who want a complete first experience, there’s the option of first time omakase – a tasting menu designed by the chef with restaurant’s signature dishes. The amazing space, the great service, and the exquisitely tasty food make Matsuhisa a truly unique experience. The fans of Nobu-san will be able to meet him this summer, since the great chef is expected to visit Athens in June.
40 Apollonos str, Vouliagmeni, tel.: 0030 210 8960 510
Senta
The shiny Spiromilios gallery in the centre of Athens houses a new destination for Japanese cuisine since November 2021, Senta – it means centre in Japanese. Created by the team behind Dipnosofistirion catering, it’s a stylish and atmospheric restaurant with great service and delicious food that’s worth your attention. The interior is minimal, with black and white furniture and honey-shade lumber on the walls adding warmth. Outside, the tables are spread on both sides of the gallery and are surrounded by artificial pink Japanese cherries offering privacy while allowing customers to see the passers-by.
Chef Nikos Politakos is in charge of the kitchen and uses fresh Greek ingredients, as well as imported Japanese products like katsuobushi – simmered, smoked and fermented skipjack tuna. Each piece is kept in a vessel that looks like a large wooden sharpener, whose blade is used to slice the skipjack tuna into flakes (bonito flakes) that are the main ingredient of all dashi (broths), adding intensity to the dishes with their smoked, umami flavour. The chef has intricate knowledge of the Japanese cuisine and uses traditional recipes he enriches with Western elements to bring them closer to what the Greek audience likes.
At Senta, you can try traditional Japanese nigiri that showcase the tastiness and flavour of each fish with perfectly boiled rice, some wasabi paste and masterfully filleted fresh fish – small pelagic fish but also larger fish like tuna and seabass, and even weevers. The tuna tataki is traditional and particularly tasty, with a rich and slightly smoked flavour that showcases the ingredients and the chef’s skills. Senta’s signature sushi rolls, like the unagi foie gras – thin eel slices, duck liver, truffle, asparagus, avocado, cucumber and eel sauce – and the elaborate shiromi oshizushi – a traditional pressed sushi with finely chopped white-meat fish of the day – are great.
From the salads, we recommend the hijiki wakame that harmoniously blends salty, earthy notes with the fresh fish – hijiki seaweed and wakame, carrot and cucumber pickle, tuna, salmon, sesame sauce and fried quinoa for crispness. The miso soup with shimeji and enoki mushrooms, scallop and spring onion in dashi and homemade miso is quite tasty and very healthy. One of the restaurant’s best sellers is the hotate gai, that is scallop lightly sauteed in butter, served with Japanese beurre blanc – taste, freshness and innovation in one delicious bite you’ll want to last forever.
The gyu katsu sando a voluptuous, juicy dish, is an absolute must – fried panko-crusted black angus patty between two toasted slices of homemade milk and butter bread with tomato marmalade and garlic mayo. In just a few months, Senta has become a hotspot for good Japanese food in town. It was recently awarded a star in FNL’s “Best Restaurants Awards 2022” and is on its way on more distinctions.
Spiromilios gallery, 3 Voukourestiou str, Athens tel.: 0030 210 3318 203
Gaku
In the centre of Athens, on one of the narrow streets around Mitropoleos street, an area that has become a culinary paradise, you’ll find the Japanese restaurant Gaku, that opened in 2018. Gaku in Japanese means easy, happy and pleasant. Many might already know its twin in Chalandri, that has been around for five years now, winning over lovers of Japanese cuisine. The long narrow space of the Gaku in the city centre is bound to impress you with its large windows and great aesthetics. The tables are white marble, while the wood on the walls adds warmth. Long sofas against the walls, and modern black chairs complete the set. If you prefer eating while you watch the kitchen crew create the restaurant’s amazing dishes, you can sit at the bar. Talented lover of Japanese gastronomy, Alexandros Petrogiannis, and Giannis Kosmadakis, who is also a chef at Malconi’s, are in charge of the kitchen.
The chefs’ philosophy is the creation of dishes that showcase the flavours and characteristics of Japanese cuisine, in a milder, more modern version, while also satisfying the fans of Gaku. So, the chefs add intense, tart and spicy notes to the dishes. Gaku is a Japanese bar-restaurant, which means you can also order one of their fresh cocktails that nicely incorporate Japanese elements like hannya with grass vodka, gentian aperitif, cucumber and yuzu.
If you like tart, spicy dishes you must try the red porgy usuzukuri – thin slices of red porgy with citrus dressing (lemon, lime, soy sauce, sesame oil, shiso) and chili pepper slices. The white fish uni usuzukuri is similar, showcasing the sea fragrances and is more rustic in flavour – thin slices of fish of the day with fresh sea urchin, ponzu sauce and mustard seed. The tuna tartare is also a must – tuna belly tartare over crispy rice with spicy mayo, chives, unagi sauce (homemade eel sauce) and finely chopped nori, a very tasty dish balancing complex ingredient flavours and a perfect example of the chefs’ philosophy at Gaku. The gyoza (Japanese dumpling) is one of the restaurant’s best sellers, with wagyu beef mince and chili soy sauce, the dough is masterfully sealed, and the stuffing is very juicy. You should also try dishes from the robata (traditional charcoal grill with many levels used in Japan) – grilled to perfection, crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside. The spicy pancetta is also a must, cooked for 12 hours and then passed over the robata, served with extra spicy sauce, sesame and spring onion. The yakitori, one of the most famous Japanese dishes, a grilled chicken thy skewer with Japanese BBQ sauce, is also quite delicious. Their fresh cocktails, the tasty, well-prepared dishes and the friendly atmosphere at Gaku is bound to make it an easy-going choice for fusion Japanese cuisine.
2 Apollonos str, Athens, tel.: 0030 210 3230 970
Sushimou
In 2015, chef Antonis Drakoularakos opened Sushimou in the centre of Athens, near Mitropoleos street. It’s a tiny sushi bar with the bar stools being the only seating, stylishly and simply decorated with a strong street vibe. The chic white origami that decorates one of the walls, as well as the light wood shelves on the other wall, add Japanese touches to the space, as does the traditional noren (a white curtain) that hangs over the door when the shop is open. Outside, there are a few high tables with stools on the pavement. Following one of the Japanese traditions that requires restaurants to focus on only one type of food, Sushimou only serves sushi dishes. So, raw, fresh fish and seafood are the main event here. Apart from the three dishes that are always on offer – the edamame, the traditional miso soup that is served with every meal in Japan, and the eel nigiri – the menu only includes omakase – a series of sashimi and sushi dishes recommended by the chef, served in the order he decides, depending on the fresh ingredients of the day.
Apart from the omakase dishes, there’s also a number of special dishes that are not on the menu and change daily depending on availability of ingredients. We especially enjoyed the buttery tuna belly, the delicate greater amberjack, the calamari and the irresistible langoustine on the sashimi platter. Apart from the classic ginger and wasabi, some very interesting pickles, like beet and okra, add sour notes to the meal. The chef advices against adding extra soy to the sushi, since he has sprinkled it before serving with just the right amount. There are 8 different kinds of fresh, traditional sushi, all of them with perfectly cooked rice, a bit of wasabi paste, and masterfully filleted fish or seafood. On the day we visited, we enjoyed the humble horse mackerel, in nigiri, which according to the chef achieves outstanding taste results. The taste of the red valley shrimp had great depth, while the spicy salmon rolls with pickled cherries were amazing, as well the tuna and chive rolls, while the konbu (edible seaweed) that comes in a separate bowl makes the experience more interactive, as you can add it yourself to the roll. The indisputable highlight of the evening, in terms of taste but also in terms of aesthetics, was the red mullet nigiri with the fried head and tail of the fish on each of the two ends of the plate, with the nigiri placed in the middle. The fried element, and also the glass of raki served with it, create a result that seems to be out of a Greek tavern. If there’s weever when you visit, order it, as apart from trying a unique fish you’ll also have the chance to try a rare grass that combines the complex flavour of the sea with the earthy taste of truffle in your mouth. For lovers of traditional Japanese food, Sushimou is a great choice for a laidback meal.
6 Skoufou str, Athens, tel.:0030 211 4078 457
Birdman
What links Voulis and Skoufou streets? Birdman. Another great choice for comfort Japanese cuisine in the heart of Athens. A unique restaurant that resembles an alley in a Japanese city, full of yatai, the famous small food carts. The interior is long and narrow and links the two streets, there’s a long bar with stools in front of the open kitchen, a few tables, a spiral staircase, shelves holding Japanese drinks, posters, constant motion, voices and laughter. The tables outside, on Voulis and Skoufou guard the two entrances to the restaurant. Life at Birdman seems to have its own rhythm. As for the food, another creation of Aris Vezenes, it’s of high quality and focused around meat.
He uses organic ingredients, with free range chicken, and beef mostly sourced from farms in Greece England, Spain and other European Union countries, that is aged 30-90 days by the restaurant’s team. The menu includes a series of very tasty raw and, mainly, grilled dishes. From the raw dishes we recommend the full-flavoured, slightly sour, aged rump tartar with yuzu, capers from Andros island and olive oil, the spicy ichibo with picanha, kizami and wasabi, as well as the rich and aromatic ran ichi with d-rump and truffle mayo. The katsu, a simple and tasty comfort dish of Japanese cuisine, is also great. The juicy chicken katsu or the Iberico katsu with an incredibly crispy layer of golden panko crust are served between bread slices – the chicken, spicy and aromatic, with wasabi, pickled cucumber, thyme and mustard, and the pork with red cabbage and apple tonkatsu sauce that adds a sweet, savoury and slightly tart flavour.
You must definitely order the full-bodied and complex-flavoured birdman smash, one of the best sellers – an aged smashed burger with cheddar cheese, onion and birdman sauce. The Birdman’s robata dishes are exquisite in taste and in how they’re grilled. From the grilled tori dishes we recommend the tsukune – chicken kebab with miso sauce and shiso – as well as the unique and complex kawa – crispy chicken skin with smoked ponzu sauce. The many meat dishes grilled on the robata are tasty, and we recommend the iberico collar with honey yuzu glaze, as well as the wagyu bavette (beef marbling scale 9+) with spicy lime. The seafood dishes are few but very tasty, including the zarigani – Greek langoustine with citrus butter and coriander. Birdman is a great choice for those who love comfort Japanese food with a preference for meat.
35 Voulis str, Athens, tel.: 0030 210 3212 800
NYX
NYX opened last June in the centre of Athens, at the rooftop of Academias Hotel. A Japanese fusion restaurant offering a magical dinner overlooking the Acropolis, Lycabettus hill, and a big part of town. The high windows all around allow your eyes to wander over the lit monuments and the urban setting offering a truly unique view. The interior is elegant with glam elements – the lighting is soft, the dominant colour is black with touches of light-coloured wood, comfy sofas and chairs with large cushions in earthy colours, and elegant flowers that add an urban feel to the space – promising a pleasant meal with dance music.
The bar is large and unique, and the bartenders create delicious cocktails to accompany your meal. The tables on the balcony are the best to enjoy the view, surrounded by plants. The great Dimitris Kotsalis (Fuga) is the executive chef, while his long-time collaborator, Claus Bairami is the head chef. The pair offer a special fusion of Japanese cuisine with elements from the cuisines of Italy and Peru, perfectly balanced to offer a unique culinary result. One of the trademark dishes of these combinations, and one of their best sellers is the voluptuous, rustic and extremely tasty beef gyoza, a Japanese dumpling with finely chopped beef, cooked in an osso buco style, with kimchi cabbage and shitake mushrooms, fried to become slightly crispy and served on a cream of aged parmesan. The fresh quinoa salad is also great.
A bright, colourful dish will arrive at your table – a plate with tuna tataki over a bowl containing a colourful salad of quinoa, kale with avocado cream and honey citrus dressing. The rich flavour of the tuna matches the salad’s sweet and sour freshness. The colourful bowl of seabass ceviche is also elaborately presented, arriving on ice. The seabass has been marinated in yuzu and passion fruit sauce and is served with passion fruit pearls, cherry tomatoes, jalapeños and a rice cracker with sesame to add crispiness to the dish. The hamachi tiradito is earthier, sweeter and spicier, the greater amberjack is very thinly sliced, and is served over turnip with herbs, together with corn cucumber jalapeño slices and yuzu scented flying cod eggs. Traditional sashimi and nigiri, as well as a variety of sushi rolls prepared with a more modern twist, influenced by Western cuisine as well as by Latin American cuisine, are served on an elaborate two-tiered gondola. We recommend the scorched seabass nigiri with spicy mayo and chives, as well as the crispy salmon tartare – fried rolls with carrot and salmon, as well as with salon tartare and guacamole added as a topping. There’s also meat dishes on the menu, and we recommend the Black Angus ribeye with king mushrooms, pok choi, parsnip puree and spicy beef sauce. NYX’s rooftop is a great choice for a different approach to Japanese cuisine, great cocktails, an incredible view and amazing service.
38 Akadimias & Omirou str, Athens, tel.: 0030 210 367 0000
Izakaya
Izakaya first opened in the Kolonaki neighbourhood in 2017. It got its name from the ever-present izakayas in Japan, where locals and foreigners go to enjoy a drink and something to eat – not necessarily Japanese food. The space is colourful, playful and interactive, with the open kitchen and the bar next to the entrance becoming one with the main hall. The simple décor and the shades of light wood, that one would expect at an izakaya in Japan, are present here, and match the colourful posters of Japanese signs, as well as the bright red cages-light fixtures hanging from the ceiling. The street feel of Izakaya, together with the friendly staff, create a pleasant atmosphere and promise a relaxed meal. Dimitris Kotsalis has prepared the menu, playing with fusion and adding a Mexican and Western note to the dishes.
Kostas Kioutaghioglou (known as Kiou -Q- in the cooking scene) is in charge of the kitchen. The dishes are ideal for sharing, like you would at a Greek tavern, and are addressed to the people who like Japanese elements in their food but prefer an aftertaste of international cuisine. The greater amberjack ceviche – marinated in mango and passion fruit sauce, with chili, garlic and yuzu dressing, served with coriander, basil, shiso, onion and a quinoa cracker that adds crunch to the dish – is a fresh appetizer. The shrimp dumplings, light and tasty, with edamame, shitake mushrooms, herbs and citrus zest are worth trying. The seabass carpaccio is a colourful feast, as is the tuna carpaccio. The first is served with fresh sea urchin, shiso, avocado cream and a jalapeños cream, while the second, with pickled shallot, onion vinaigrette, citrus ponzu and truffle oil. From the homemade bao buns we recommend the beef with teriyaki sauce, oyster sauce and yuzu mayo.
The fried calamari served on a banana leaf with coriander and mango, and guacamole and chili marmalade on the side, is a best seller, while from the sushi options we recommend the eel and avocado classic roll, while the scorched shiso (inside out roll with tuna, avocado, pickled carrot, yuzu/kosho mayo, the tobico with the scorched sisho), and the spider (with soft fried crab, avocado, cucumber, tobico and yuzu/kosho mayo) are particularly interesting house specials. Don’t leave without trying one of their great desserts, since Kostas Kiou offers amazing options. The crème brûlée is served with a fresh mango sorbet, and matcha tea is added to the cream. We recommend the Valrhona chocolate fondant with dulce de leche, tonka crumble and Madagascar vanilla ice cream. Izakaya is a great option for a relaxed meal with friends in the centre of town.
5 Leventi str, Kolonaki, tel. 0030 210 7244 406
KINJO Japanese and Sushi Restobar
In a hidden away corner of Analipseos square in Vrilisia, Kinjo (it means neighbourhood in Japanese) first opened in 2018. The interior of Kinjo, small, neat, and nicely designed with beautiful, simple décor. There are a few tables and some stools at the bar and also at the sushi bar, as well as at the gallery, while there’s a bench behind the windows where you can sit and enjoy your meal. The black furniture and the bare concrete walls give a more industrial feel to the space, that is disrupted only by the wooden sushi bar and the elegant asymmetrical origami light fixtures hanging from the ceiling. At the chic outdoor space, the tables on the wooden patio are surrounded by tall reeds.
Being a restobar, Kinjo serves a series of signature cocktails with the fresh Fuji Mountain standing out – Saint Lucia rum, yuzu cordial, pineapple, passion fruit and spice liquor. Here too, the menu is created by chef Nikos Politakos, who loves and intricately knows Japanese cuisine, offering a series of traditional and fusion dishes for those who love the cuisine of the Land of the Rising Sun but also like some notes of more familiar international cuisines. So, the tasty sushi and nigiri are masterfully prepared, in the traditional way, with exquisitely cooked rice and fresh fish and seafood, like red mullet, seabass, greater amberjack, tuna and salmon. The new style aburi nigiri – fish that is scorched with a cooking torch and gets a rich flavour, is also great.
We recommend the cheesy hotate, scallop in crab sauce with parmesan, as well as the creamy suzuki, seabass with oyster sauce, sesame and spring onion. The vegetable tempura (with mushrooms, courgettes and asparagus) is light and quite tasty. You must absolutely try the delicious and healthy superfood salad with a variety of legumes, vegetables, fish (seabass, salmon, tuna), superfoods like buckwheat and quinoa served with citrus ginger sauce. The ebi dumplings are also a must, with the soft, fine shrimp melting together with the rich buttery taste of foie gras. The skewers are very tasty, with the complex and slightly spicy ahiru kushiyaki being particularly good – skewered duck with shishito pepper and finely chopped truffle with wasabi. The daily special Iberico pork skewer glazed with Cantonese hoisin sauce was amazing, and also, if you’re lucky, the other daily special, the scallop and octopus ceviche with corn, onion, coriander, sweet potato puree and leche de tigre sauce is something we wholeheartedly recommend.
The buttery and at the same time fresh kani hotate – fresh crab meat, avocado, cucumber, thinly sliced salmon, miso and kabayaki sauce –, one of Kinjo’s signature rolls, is very good, as is the ebi gyu katsu, an umami dish with spice surf and turf notes and one of the restaurant’s best sellers, – fried roll with shrimp, avocado, chili, kizami wasabi and teriyaki sauce with black angus beef tartare. The crab croquette with grilled corn and crab aioli is another tasty dish we recommend. The space is cosy, the staff is cheerful and helpful, the cocktails are super, and the traditional and fusion food exquisite – what else can one ask for?
29 Konitsis str, Vrilissia, tel.: 0030 210 6825 208
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