Restaurant in Bilbao, Spain
Bilbao's most credentialed Japanese table.
KUMA is Bilbao's most credentialed Japanese restaurant — a Michelin Plate holder with a 4.6 Google rating across 1,100+ reviews. Chef Daniel Lomana's regular training visits to Japan give the menu genuine technical grounding, from hamachi sashimi to sea bass nigiri and a recommended tasting menu. At €€€, it is fairly priced and easy to book relative to Bilbao's starred Basque tables.
KUMA is the right choice if you are a food-focused traveller in Bilbao who wants a serious Japanese meal without flying to Tokyo. It suits solo diners and couples leading, particularly those who want to sit at the bar and watch the kitchen work. If you are in Bilbao primarily for Basque cuisine, Nerua Guggenheim Bilbao or Zarate will serve that instinct better. But if you are curious about how a Basque-trained chef interprets Japanese technique — and what that produces on a plate , KUMA is worth your evening.
KUMA holds a Michelin Plate for both 2024 and 2025, which signals consistent quality without the price premium or booking friction of a starred table. The Google rating sits at 4.6 across more than 1,100 reviews, an unusually strong signal at that volume. The combination of those two data points tells you this is a kitchen that performs reliably, not just on inspection nights.
Chef Daniel Lomana travels to Japan regularly to train and develop his technique, which matters here because the menu reflects it. You are not looking at a pan-Asian fusion concept assembled from trend-following. The verified dish list includes hamachi sashimi, amberjack with KUMA ceviche, sea bass nigiri, and fried aubergines with white sesame vinaigrette. That last dish is a reasonable indicator of the kitchen's approach: Japanese technique applied to produce that makes sense in a Basque context. The mochi rice cakes are specifically called out as a dish to order before you leave.
The room is described as refined, and the format gives you a choice: bar seating puts you directly in front of the action, while adjoining tables offer a more conventional dinner setting. For anyone who wants to understand what the kitchen is doing, the bar is the better seat.
KUMA's menu leans on fish and seafood in ways that are directly tied to what the Atlantic and the Bay of Biscay are producing. Japanese technique applied to local catch is inherently seasonal: amberjack, sea bass, and hamachi all have peak periods, and a kitchen with this level of technical investment in sourcing will shift its à la carte accordingly. If seasonal alignment matters to you, visiting in autumn or late spring gives you the broadest window of Cantabrian fish at their leading , the same logic that drives the leading txoko dining in the Basque Country.
The tasting menu is the format most likely to reflect current seasonal availability, since it gives the kitchen control over what goes on the plate on any given night. If your visit is timed around a specific seasonal window, the tasting menu is the more reliable choice than cherry-picking from the à la carte.
Bilbao's restaurant calendar also has practical implications. August brings a significant number of Spanish domestic tourists, and the city's better restaurants fill quickly. January and February are quieter, booking is easier, and you are more likely to have the bar to yourself. If you want the full bar-seat experience without competition for the leading spots, a midweek visit in late winter is your clearest path to it.
Bilbao does not have a deep Japanese restaurant bench. KUMA is the most credentialed Japanese option in the city , Michelin-recognised and with a chef whose training is documented. For comparison, the broader Spanish dining scene has Japanese-influenced kitchens at higher price points and with longer pedigrees, including Quique Dacosta in Dénia and the kind of technical rigour you find at El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, but those are different categories entirely. Within Bilbao, KUMA is not competing with starred Basque restaurants , it is filling a gap they leave open.
If you want to benchmark against dedicated Japanese restaurants elsewhere in Spain, the comparison becomes harder because the category is thin outside Madrid and Barcelona. Cocina Hermanos Torres in Barcelona occupies a different tier and format. For pure Japanese reference points at the leading end, Myojaku in Tokyo or Azabu Kadowaki in Tokyo show what the ceiling looks like. KUMA is not competing at that level , but it is not trying to be, and the price point reflects that honestly.
KUMA is rated easy to book by Pearl's standards, which means you are not dealing with the lottery-style reservation system that applies at, say, Arzak in San Sebastián or Azurmendi in Larrabetzu. For most of the year, booking one to two weeks ahead should secure a table. The exception is August, when Bilbao sees its highest visitor numbers, and weekend evenings year-round, when the bar seats in particular fill quickly. If the bar is your priority, book early in the week and specify your preference when reserving. For the tasting menu, giving at least two weeks' notice is sensible.
See our full Bilbao restaurants guide for broader context on the city's dining scene, or explore hotels, bars, wineries, and experiences in Bilbao to plan around your visit.
Yes , the bar counter is specifically designed for solo diners and gives you a direct view of the kitchen. It is one of the more comfortable solo dining formats in Bilbao's mid-to-upper tier. If you are travelling alone and want an engaging dinner without feeling conspicuous at a table for one, book the bar.
For Basque-focused cuisine at the same price tier, Nerua Guggenheim Bilbao is the closest in ambition and refinement, though its format is more formal. Zarate is the better pick if you want exceptional local seafood treated simply. If budget is not a constraint and you want the most ambitious cooking in Bilbao, Mina at €€€€ is the step up. Aitor Rauleaga is worth considering for traditional Basque without the fine-dining pricing.
Yes. The bar counter is one of the two seating formats at KUMA and is the format that gives you the closest view of the kitchen. It is well-suited to solo diners and couples. If bar seating matters to you, mention it when booking , it tends to be the first to fill on busy evenings.
One to two weeks ahead covers most of the year. August and weekend evenings are the exceptions , for those, book three to four weeks out. The tasting menu warrants at least two weeks' notice to allow the kitchen to plan. Compared to Michelin-starred Basque restaurants like Ola Martín Berasategui, KUMA's booking window is genuinely accessible.
Yes, with a clear recommendation: book the tasting menu and, if the occasion calls for a more private setting, request a table rather than the bar. The Michelin Plate recognition and the 4.6 Google rating across 1,100+ reviews give you confidence that the kitchen is consistent. For a milestone dinner requiring more ceremony and a longer format, Mina at €€€€ offers more occasion architecture, but KUMA is the better choice if Japanese cuisine is the point.
The tasting menu is the stronger choice if you want the kitchen to show you what it is currently doing with seasonal produce. At the €€€ price tier, it is not an expensive commitment by the standards of Bilbao's better restaurants, and it is specifically recommended in KUMA's Michelin recognition. If you are visiting primarily to understand what the kitchen is capable of, the tasting menu is more informative than ordering à la carte selectively.
At €€€, KUMA is priced fairly for a Michelin Plate restaurant with a credentialed chef and a 4.6 rating at scale. It is not cheaper than Basque-focused alternatives at the same tier , Nerua Guggenheim Bilbao and Zarate sit at comparable price points , but it is the only Japanese option in the city with this level of documented technique and consistent recognition. If Japanese cuisine is your priority, the value case is clear.
| Venue | Cuisine | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KUMA | Japanese | A restaurant with a refined decor in which you can enjoy a Japanese dining experience to the full thanks to chef Daniel Lomana’s frequent visits to Japan to train and to develop his technique further, skills that can you enjoy at close quarters by taking a seat at the bar or at one of its adjoining tables. His focus is on Japanese fusion cuisine that includes interesting à la carte dishes (hamachi sashimi, amberjack with KUMA ceviche, sea bass nigiri, fried aubergines with a white sesame vinaigrette etc), plus a recommended tasting menu. Don’t leave without trying one of KUMA’s mochi rice cakes!; Michelin Plate (2025); Michelin Plate (2024) | Easy | — |
| Nerua Guggenheim Bilbao | Progressive Spanish, Progressive | Michelin 1 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Mina | Modern Spanish, Creative | Michelin 1 Star | Unknown | — |
| Zarate | Seafood | Michelin 1 Star | Unknown | — |
| Ola Martín Berasategui | Traditional Cuisine | Michelin 1 Star | Unknown | — |
| Zortziko | Basque | Unknown | — |
Comparing your options in Bilbao for this tier.
Yes — bar seating at KUMA is designed for solo diners who want to eat well without the awkwardness of a table for one. Sitting at the counter puts you close to the kitchen action, which makes the meal more engaging. At €€€ pricing with a Michelin Plate for two consecutive years, it is one of the stronger solo options in Bilbao.
If you want Basque cuisine at a higher price point, Nerua Guggenheim Bilbao and Mina both hold Michelin stars and offer tasting menus with more local focus. Zarate is the go-to for traditional Basque fish cookery. KUMA is the right call specifically when you want Japanese technique applied to local produce — no other Michelin-recognised venue in Bilbao does that.
Yes. KUMA offers bar seating, and it is worth requesting — it puts you closest to the preparation and is well-suited to solo diners or couples who want a front-row experience. Tables adjoining the bar are also available if you prefer a more conventional setup.
By Pearl's assessment, KUMA is easy to book relative to Bilbao's starred restaurants like Arzak or Nerua. That said, booking a few days to a week ahead is sensible, particularly on weekends or if you have a fixed travel date. Do not leave it to the day of — Michelin Plate recognition draws a consistent crowd.
It works well for a special occasion if Japanese cuisine is your format — the refined decor and tasting menu option give it the right register for a celebratory meal. For a more traditional Basque special-occasion experience, Zortziko or Ola Martín Berasategui may fit better. KUMA is the stronger pick if the occasion calls for something less predictable than another pintxos-forward dinner.
The tasting menu is the recommended format here, per the Michelin recognition that specifically calls it out. It gives you the fullest picture of chef Daniel Lomana's Japanese fusion approach, shaped by his ongoing training visits to Japan. If you prefer to eat à la carte, dishes like the hamachi sashimi and sea bass nigiri are available, but the tasting menu is the more considered choice at this price level.
At €€€, KUMA is priced below Bilbao's Michelin-starred tables and delivers two consecutive years of Michelin Plate recognition — a signal of consistent quality. For a Japanese meal of this calibre outside a major capital, the value is solid. If your budget is flexible and you want the highest technical ceiling in Bilbao, a starred venue like Nerua or Mina sets a different bar, but KUMA holds its own within its category.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
