Ikigai Gran Vía | Restaurante Japonés Madrid

First off let me say that the food is very good, definitely up there with the top Japanese restaurants in Madrid. On the other hand I don’t think I could ever bring myself to come back. The reason for that is the service is horrible, we got sat in the back of the restaurant, when many other better tables were available. Next, the waitress that served us had no idea about the menu or how to take an order. Another person had to retake our order because she didn’t get it right. Our appetizers came out pretty quick but we waited a total of an hour for our first round of NIGIRI. 8 pieces of Nigiri should not take an hour to come to the table…. every single order that came after took atleast 30 mins. We didn’t even get everything we ordered because my girlfriend and I got too fed up to wait. Service is horrible, wait time is ridiculous, and the atmosphere is basic. I will never be back, terrible experience. To the owner, if you want to consider yourself a Michelin rated restaurant, then you should hold yourself to those standards.

Really a dissapointing visit: 70€ per pax, low profile shashimi and a very cheap decoration (annactual chinenese restaurant is luxury compared), the menú you have to download from a full-virus wifi because they don't have alternative... The food was regular, most of the times too salty, but the fusión niguiris the best, The wine menú is a joke: extremely expensive. Really only catalan/french white wines at 65€/85€ per bottle? You have to be kidding me. Do yourself a favour and please introduce x10 better Galician wines at 30€, and you may save your place 2 more years. Worth mentioning an extremely attention by a venezuelan waitress: she holds the place on her shoulders. I suggest a profound thought before choosing It to any other truly japaneese option in town.

Excellent quality and taste. Fresh fish and great combination of flavors. Both the original and the fusion nigiris were superb and a traditional hand roll was also delicious. The rice and fish are perfect. I got two toro nigiris, one hotate, one sardine and one butter fish, a squid fusion one and an ikura gunkan. They were all delicious , but my least favorite was the more fusion because it tasted to the spices and not so much the fish. I also got toro temaki to end, melt in your mouth good. Price wise it didn’t seem cheap neither very expensive. it depends what you order... and wine was €6, probably the only thing that surprised me price wise, but it’s was a delicious Albariño and normal in this kind of restaurants. And decent compared to a bad house wine in any US restaurants I’d rather pay double for high quality sushi like this one once in a while that half for cheap fish and bad rice.

My second time here and still one of the best sushi restaurants I’ve ever been to! This will become a regular stop in Madrid for us. The quality and artistry that goes into every dish is incredible. We savored each and every bite. Our favorite was the one with scallop and egg frizzled on top. So special! Would highly recommend.

Simply one of the best sushi in Madrid. Excellent quality/price and service. We enjoyed a lot the fusion nigiris, tasty and exquisite. We will come back indeed. Highly recomended. Bravo chef!! 👏👏👏

This is one of the best omakase I have had! Each dish is full of surprises. Chef Jose was very kind and patient at explaining each item. I would say it has perfectly combine the flavors of Japanese and Spanish cuisines. Highly recommended this omakase, worth every penny 🙌🏻

great sushi, very well prepared. very tasty and well presented, on original dishes. it's not an all you can eat so the price is higher compared to that, but quality definitely pays off. you won't be disappointed. the restaurant is nice, warm atmosphere. service is kind but you must have no rush.

Nice Japanese restaurant. We tried the tasting menu for 45 euros that was great value. Friendly service. Maybe not as good as Restaurante Kappo but Ikigai is cheaper so I give them 5 stars. 👍🏻

On our last night in Madrid I asked for a recommendation for "anything fresh but no ham" . We were able to get a reservation that night down from our hotel at Ikigai. The place is charming. Clean and open. Not stuffy, casual and comfortable. Was surprised to note all its accolades, because that wasn't a requirement in our search, but excited by them too. We did the chefs Omakase menu. Perfect amount of food and it didn't take long (1.5 hours or so). The price was appropriate for the freshness and portion sizes. Staff was friendly, transulated each dish to English explanations for us (not necessary but appreciated!)

Wow. That was good. We ordered the omakase and the chef took us on a journey masterfully balancing unlikely flavors in a harmonious and delicious way. I never imagined wanting a chocolate sauce on sushi until I tasted it. Now it is all I can think of. The omakase was also a generous amount of food perfectly timed. The staff was lovely. The sushi chef took the time to describe each dish. This was a top notch dining experience.