Japan, without leaving Málaga.

居酒屋izakaya

A place to sit and drink.

An izakaya is the social heart of the Japanese night: small plates arriving one by one, sake poured for the other, conversation with no clock. That spirit, tapas told in Japanese, is what we brought to the Old Town of Málaga.

There's no sushi here. There's Japan.

Japanese by craft. Malagueña by produce.

Sake was born from the years our chef, Juan López Ramos, spent immersed in Japan: in its markets at dawn, at its worn wooden counters, in those neighbourhood taverns where the cooking doesn't try to impress, but to welcome.

There are no shortcuts here: produce that's respected, technique learned slowly and a room kept small on purpose, so we can cook up close, the way it's done over there.

Before you order, something is already on the table.

It's the otōshi, the small dish the house welcomes you with. In Japan's neighbourhood taverns the cooking doesn't try to impress, but to welcome, and here it starts the same way.

Sake to the brim.

Sake arrives in a masu, the little wooden box, and is poured until it overflows: in Japan, that's how a house says it doesn't skimp. And for the table, local wines and sparkling.

Order a few and share them without hurry.

If you don't like Japanese food, come.

We'll save you a seat.