Restaurant in Madrid, Spain
Tasting menu for a specific Japanese-Iberian niche.
Kabuki Madrid delivers Japanese technique applied to Iberian ingredients through a seasonal tasting menu in Salamanca, Madrid's most composed neighbourhood. A Michelin Plate and OAD #615 ranking confirm a kitchen operating at a legitimate standard. At €€€€, it earns the price if the Japanese-Iberian concept is what you're after — and booking is easy by Madrid fine dining standards.
At the €€€€ price point, Kabuki Madrid is asking you to commit before you walk in. That commitment buys you a tasting menu built around Japanese technique applied to Iberian ingredients — the core concept behind the Kabuki Group's long-running approach — in a spacious room in the heart of the Salamanca district. The 2025 Michelin Plate confirms the kitchen is cooking at a recognised standard, and an Opinionated About Dining ranking of #615 in Europe gives you a calibration point: this is a serious restaurant, not a tourist-facing approximation of Japanese food. For a Madrid diner who has already been once and wants to know whether to return, the case depends heavily on what the kitchen is doing with the current season.
Ricardo Sanz's Kabuki Group built its reputation on a specific proposition: Japanese culinary discipline , clean knife work, restrained seasoning, structural precision , applied to Spanish produce. At the Salamanca address, that means the seasonal availability of Iberian ingredients shapes what lands on the tasting menu more than any fixed repertoire does. If you visited in spring, the autumn iteration of the menu will read differently. That is a reason to return, but it also means your first visit and your third visit are not the same restaurant in any meaningful sense.
The dining room itself reinforces the kitchen's intentions. Restrained lighting and meticulous decor keep the focus on the plate rather than the room. This is not a space designed for spectacle; it is designed to concentrate attention. For a group celebrating something or a couple looking for a serious meal, the atmosphere holds up. For anyone expecting the theatrical energy of a larger production kitchen, this is a quieter, more controlled experience.
An important practical note for return visitors: the kitchen's seasonal rotation means the time of year affects the decision of whether to book almost as much as the occasion does. The transition periods , late autumn into winter, and late spring into summer , tend to bring the most interesting tension in menus where Japanese technique meets Spanish seasonality, because both ingredient sets are peaking simultaneously. If you have flexibility on timing, those windows are worth targeting.
Kabuki Madrid's tasting menu format means the kitchen controls the sequence and the pace. The Iberian seasonal calendar runs in parallel with the Japanese culinary framework: autumn brings game, fungi, and the beginning of the high-quality fish season along Spain's northern coasts; winter concentrates on richer preparations; spring opens into lighter, more acidic profiles; summer leans on vegetables and cold preparations. For a return visitor, understanding where you are in that calendar before you book is the most useful thing you can do. A meal in October is going to eat differently from one in May, and the kitchen's Japanese vocabulary will be deployed against different raw materials each time.
This seasonal sensitivity also makes Kabuki Madrid more rewarding the more you engage with it. A first visit establishes the grammar of the place , the technique, the restraint, the format. Subsequent visits test what that grammar produces when the ingredients change. That is the real argument for returning.
See the comparison section below for how Kabuki Madrid sits against DiverXO, Coque, Deessa, and others in the Madrid €€€€ tier.
At €€€€, it is worth it if the Japanese-Iberian concept is what you are specifically looking for in Madrid. The Michelin Plate and OAD #615 ranking confirm the kitchen operates at a legitimate level, but this is not the city's most decorated table. If maximum award credentials matter more than concept, DiverXO is the better spend. If you want a tasting menu that uses Spanish produce through a Japanese lens , with a seasonal menu that will differ from visit to visit , Kabuki Madrid earns its price point.
No specific dietary accommodation policy is available in the current data. Given the tasting menu format and the kitchen's Japanese-Iberian focus, the most practical approach is to contact the restaurant directly before booking. The structured nature of a tasting menu generally means dietary adjustments are easier to handle when flagged in advance than on the night.
The tasting menu is the format the kitchen is built around, so ordering à la carte puts you at a structural disadvantage , you will get individual dishes without the sequence logic the kitchen uses to build the meal. The cocktail menu is described as extensive and worth engaging with as a pairing or standalone option. For a return visitor, the most useful question is not what to order but when to visit: the seasonal rotation means the menu you had last time is not the menu being served now, so arriving without expectations from a previous visit is the right mindset.
Yes, with qualifications. The restrained, meticulous environment suits a celebratory meal for two or a small group where conversation and focus on the food are the priority. The Salamanca location is one of Madrid's more composed neighbourhoods, which reinforces the occasion feel. If you want theatrical spectacle with your celebration, DiverXO provides that more overtly. Kabuki Madrid is the better choice when the occasion calls for seriousness over showmanship.
Lunch is the more practical entry point. The kitchen serves from 1–5 pm daily, and a midday tasting menu at €€€€ pricing often represents better value than dinner at the same tier because you leave the evening free. Dinner runs later on Friday and Saturday (until 2 am), which suits a longer evening if the meal is the centrepiece of the night. For a first or second visit, lunch gives you the full kitchen output without committing the entire evening.
The concept is Japanese technique applied to Iberian ingredients , not a conventional Japanese restaurant and not a Spanish restaurant with Japanese decoration. Come expecting a tasting menu format with a seasonal structure that will evolve across your visits. Booking is currently easy by Madrid €€€€ standards, so you do not need to plan weeks ahead the way you would for DiverXO. The restaurant is in Salamanca, Madrid's most affluent residential district, so the surrounding area is worth factoring into your evening , see our full Madrid restaurants guide, our full Madrid bars guide, and our full Madrid hotels guide for how to build the day around it.
If the Japanese Contemporary format interests you beyond Madrid, Tora offers another reference point in the city. Further afield in Spain, the benchmark fine dining tables include El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, Arzak in San Sebastián, Azurmendi in Larrabetzu, Martin Berasategui in Lasarte-Oria, Aponiente in El Puerto de Santa María, and Cocina Hermanos Torres in Barcelona. For Japanese Contemporary in other markets, The Japanese Restaurant in Andermatt and Eika in Taipei are worth comparing. Explore our full Madrid restaurants guide, our full Madrid wineries guide, and our full Madrid experiences guide to complete your planning.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Booking Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kabuki Madrid | Japanese Contemporary | €€€€ | Easy |
| DiverXO | Progressive - Asian, Creative | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Coque | Spanish, Creative | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Deessa | Modern Spanish, Creative | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Paco Roncero | Creative | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Smoked Room | Progressive Asador, Contemporary | €€€€ | Unknown |
How Kabuki Madrid stacks up against the competition.
At €€€€, it earns its price if the Japanese-Iberian concept is specifically what you want in Madrid. The Michelin Plate (2025) and OAD Europe ranking (#615, 2025) confirm it is a credible operation, not just a premium address. If you want broader Spanish creativity at this price point, DiverXO or Coque represent different but stronger arguments. Kabuki Madrid is worth booking when the format — Japanese technique on Iberian ingredients — is the draw.
No dietary accommodation policy is confirmed in available data. The tasting menu format means the kitchen sets the sequence, which typically leaves limited room for substitutions at this price tier. check the venue's official channels before booking — for Calle de Lagasca, 38, the safest approach is to flag restrictions at reservation stage and confirm in writing.
Book the tasting menu. The kitchen at Kabuki Madrid is structured around it, and the Japanese-Iberian concept plays out across a sequence — individual à la carte dishes give you a partial picture of what Ricardo Sanz's team is doing. The cocktail menu is described as extensive and is worth pairing alongside.
Yes, for the right kind of occasion. The spacious, restrained setting with meticulous décor suits a focused dinner for two or a small group where the food is the point. It is less suited to large celebrations that need noise and flexibility. For a landmark birthday with a bigger table, Coque's theatrical format may be a better fit.
Lunch is the more practical entry point — the kitchen runs 1–5 pm daily, and a midday tasting menu often allows more relaxed pacing than the evening service. Dinner runs until 1 am (2 am on Fridays and Saturdays), which suits a longer night. First-timers should consider lunch to assess whether the concept warrants a return dinner booking.
This is not a conventional Japanese restaurant and not a Spanish restaurant with Japanese decoration — Ricardo Sanz's Kabuki Group was built around a specific premise: Japanese technique applied to Iberian raw materials. The Salamanca address (Calle de Lagasca, 38) puts it in one of Madrid's more composed neighbourhoods. Come expecting a tasting menu experience with a clear culinary point of view, not an à la carte exploration.
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