Restaurant in Madrid, Spain
Book it. Omakase with a Madrid soul.
Ugo Chan holds a Michelin star and ranks #167 in Europe on Opinionated About Dining (2025), making it one of Madrid's strongest counter-dining bookings. Chef Hugo Muñoz runs a personalised Omakase alongside à la carte, blending Japanese technique with Madrid culinary identity. Book 3 to 4 weeks ahead; this is not a walk-in venue.
Yes, and you should book it soon. Ugo Chan holds a Michelin star, sits at #167 on Opinionated About Dining's Europe ranking for 2025 (up from #252 in 2024), and carries a 4.6 Google rating across 637 reviews. For a Japanese-fusion counter experience in Chamartín, it is one of the most considered bookings in the Spanish capital right now. If your interest is creative Japanese cooking with real local identity, this is where to go in Madrid.
Ugo Chan operates out of a compact space on C. de Félix Boix in the Chamartín district, a residential neighbourhood in northern Madrid that is not on the tourist circuit. That matters. This is not a restaurant performing for visitors; it reads as a place built for a local diner with serious appetite. The open-view kitchen anchors the room, with two counters giving direct sightlines into the work happening in front of you. The atmosphere sits closer to focused intimacy than to the theatrical noise of Madrid's bigger creative-dining rooms. Come here for conversation that stays possible throughout the meal, for a pace that doesn't feel engineered, and for a room that takes Japanese design cues without being precious about them.
Chef Hugo Muñoz named the restaurant after his own childhood nickname, given by his grandfather. That personal framing matters less than what it produces on the plate: a kitchen that commits to seasonal ingredients and makes a credible argument that Japanese technique and Madrid identity are compatible. The menu changes continuously. Dishes have included tripe gyozas cooked in the madrileña tradition and a take on Soldaditos de Pavía, the classic Madrid cod fritter. These are not novelty fusions; they are precise technical exercises that happen to carry local memory. References to Martín Berasategui and Joël Robuchon appear in the kitchen's DNA, which places the ambition level clearly. For context on how that Basque influence reads in a Spanish fine-dining setting, compare the approach at Martin Berasategui in Lasarte-Oria or Arzak in San Sebastián.
The format gives you two routes: à la carte or a personalised Omakase menu. The Omakase is the more considered choice if you are visiting specifically for the counter experience, since it hands sequencing and pacing to the kitchen. À la carte gives you control and works well if you have preferences or constraints. Both sit at the €€€€ price level, so this is a commitment either way.
Chamartín rarely appears in Madrid dining shortlists aimed at visitors, which works in your favour. The neighbourhood's relative quietness is part of why Ugo Chan maintains the room tone it does. You are not competing with pre-theatre crowds or hotel restaurant foot traffic. The clientele skews local and regular, which creates a different energy from the destination-dining rooms nearer the city centre. If you are staying centrally, plan travel time accordingly; Chamartín is accessible by metro but is not a quick walk from most hotel clusters. For a broader view of where Ugo Chan fits in the Madrid dining map, see our full Madrid restaurants guide.
Booking Chamartín specifically for a meal here makes sense as a standalone evening rather than a stop on a broader itinerary. The dinner service runs until midnight, which fits Madrid's natural rhythm. Pair it with drinks at one of the neighbourhood bars beforehand rather than trying to squeeze in a second venue after.
Spain's highest-concentration fine-dining corridor runs through the Basque Country and Catalonia. El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, Cocina Hermanos Torres in Barcelona, Azurmendi in Larrabetzu, and Quique Dacosta in Dénia all sit at a different scale of international recognition. Ugo Chan is not competing with that tier yet. What it offers is a Michelin-starred counter experience in Madrid with a sharper local identity and a more personal scale than most of those rooms allow. For a trip built around Madrid specifically, it is a strong anchor booking. For a broader Spain itinerary, it fits alongside rather than instead of the country's larger names.
Reservations: Hard to book; plan at least 3-4 weeks ahead for dinner, slightly less for lunch. Given the OAD ranking climb and the Michelin star, demand is rising. Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, lunch 1:30 PM to 4:00 PM, dinner 8:30 PM to midnight. Closed Sunday and Monday. Budget: €€€€; expect a significant per-head spend at the Omakase level. Format: Two counters with open kitchen view; à la carte and personalised Omakase both available. Dress: No dress code confirmed in available data, but the room and price level suggest smart-casual at minimum. Getting there: Chamartín district, C. de Félix Boix 6; metro access is practical from central Madrid.
Yes, and the counter format makes it one of the better solo dining options in Madrid's fine-dining tier. The open-view kitchen gives you direct engagement with the kitchen's work, which is more interesting than a table for one in a conventional room. Book a counter seat explicitly when reserving. If solo counter dining is your primary format, also consider Lazy Bear in San Francisco or Le Bernardin in New York City as international reference points for what well-executed counter fine dining looks like at scale.
Book 3 to 4 weeks out for dinner, 2 to 3 weeks for lunch. The OAD ranking moved from #252 in 2024 to #167 in 2025, and Michelin star visibility is still pulling new demand. That trajectory means availability is tightening. Do not rely on last-minute openings for a weekend dinner booking.
The Omakase menu is the kitchen's strongest argument, since it sequences the seasonal ingredients the way the chef intends. From the award-body data, dishes incorporating Madrid culinary references alongside Japanese technique are where the restaurant does its most distinctive work; tripe gyozas cooked in the madrileña style and the Soldaditos de Pavía interpretation are cited specifically. If à la carte suits you better, focus on dishes that combine local ingredient identity with Japanese preparation rather than treating the two as separate tracks.
At the €€€€ price level, the Omakase is worth it if you value a personalised progression over a self-directed meal. The Michelin star and the OAD #167 Europe ranking substantiate the kitchen's technical level. Compared to Madrid's other starred rooms, Ugo Chan's counter scale means you are getting a more direct and personal experience for your spend than you would at a larger destination dining room. If you want the tasting menu format but find Ugo Chan unavailable, DSTAgE operates a comparable format at the same price tier.
Dinner is the stronger booking for the full experience: the kitchen is at its highest energy during evening service, and the midnight closing means no pressure on pace. Lunch (1:30 PM to 4:00 PM) is worth considering if dinner availability is closed out or if you prefer a lighter financial and temporal commitment. Both services operate the same format, so quality is not the differentiator; timing and availability are.
| Venue | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Ugo Chan | €€€€ | — |
| DiverXO | €€€€ | — |
| DSTAgE | €€€€ | — |
| Smoked Room | €€€€ | — |
| Paco Roncero | €€€€ | — |
| Coque | €€€€ | — |
How Ugo Chan stacks up against the competition.
Yes, and it may be the format where Ugo Chan works best. The restaurant has two open-view counters, which makes solo dining feel intentional rather than awkward — you get a direct sightline into the kitchen and the full rhythm of service. At €€€€ pricing, the personalised omakase menu is designed to reward a single focused diner rather than a group splitting attention.
Plan 3 to 4 weeks ahead for dinner, and slightly less for lunch. Since climbing to #167 on Opinionated About Dining's Europe ranking in 2025 (from #252 in 2024) and holding a Michelin star, demand has tightened. Tuesday and Wednesday evenings are your best chance of finding availability on shorter notice; Friday and Saturday dinner fills fastest.
The personalised omakase is the clearest reason to come — it reflects chef Hugo Muñoz's seasonal, constantly shifting approach and gives you access to dishes that don't appear on the à la carte. If you want a fixed reference point, the OAD write-up specifically cites a caviar lentil Japanese curry with smoked wood pigeon and coconut as a standout. The à la carte also runs Madrid-inflected dishes like tripe gyozas and a Soldaditos de Pavía riff, which reward curiosity about the kitchen's local references.
At €€€€ and with a Michelin star plus an OAD top-200 Europe ranking, the omakase here carries real weight — it's not just a prix-fixe with a tasting-menu label. The format is personalised rather than fixed, which justifies the price better than a static multi-course elsewhere at the same bracket. If you're comparing against Madrid peers: Smoked Room and DiverXO both run tasting-only formats at higher price points, making Ugo Chan the more accessible entry into Michelin-level omakase in the city.
Lunch is the practical choice if you're booking on short notice or want a lower-pressure entry point — it runs 1:30 PM to 4 PM Tuesday through Saturday and tends to be easier to secure than the evening slots. Dinner (8:30 PM to midnight) gives you the full evening-service experience and is the better fit for omakase, when the kitchen has more time to personalise. Either sitting delivers the same kitchen and menu format; the difference is atmosphere and availability, not quality.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
