Restaurant in Milan, Italy
Milan's sharpest Japanese counter. Book it.
A Michelin Plate-recognised Japanese restaurant near Corso Como, Waby delivers technically confident raw dishes, sushi, robata, and a serious sake list at the €€€ tier — meaningfully less expensive than Milan's starred Italian circuit. With a 4.7 Google rating on nearly 300 reviews, it is the clearest answer in the city if you want Japanese cooking done with care.
Waby earns its Michelin Plate recognition (2024 and 2025) and its 4.7 Google rating across nearly 300 reviews with a focused, technically confident Japanese menu that sits at the more accessible end of Milan's dining price spectrum. At the €€€ tier, it gives you creative raw preparations, sushi, robata, and a serious wine and sake list without demanding the €€€€ commitment of Milan's Italian fine-dining circuit. If you want Japanese cooking done with care in a city better known for risotto and pasta, Waby is the clearest answer on Via Carlo de Cristoforis. Book it for a weeknight dinner when the room is at its most focused — weekend evenings attract more of a see-and-be-seen crowd from the nearby Corso Como strip.
Waby sits just behind Corso Como and Piazza Gae Aulenti, which means it occupies one of Milan's most foot-trafficked restaurant corridors. The design is contemporary and considered: a rear counter with stools is the key visual element, giving the space an edge that reads more like a serious Japanese dining room than a pan-Asian concept chasing the aperitivo crowd. If you have been once and sat at a table, try the counter on your next visit. The stools face the kitchen action directly, the pace of service there tends to be more attentive, and the format suits a solo dinner or a pair with something to discuss.
The menu spans raw dishes, sushi and sashimi, uramaki, gyoza, and robata — a range that could read as diffuse but in practice reflects a kitchen that has a handle on multiple Japanese techniques rather than one that is hedging. The Michelin recognition, awarded twice in succession, is a signal that the sourcing and execution are consistent. The wine list draws on Italian and French labels including a Champagne selection, and sake is available by the glass , a detail worth noting because it means you can match drinks to courses without committing to a full bottle of either.
The Corso Como area is one of Milan's busier dining and nightlife corridors, which means timing your visit has a material effect on the experience. Tuesday through Thursday evenings offer the leading combination of a full kitchen and a room that has not yet hit the noise threshold that makes conversation difficult. Friday and Saturday evenings will be livelier and louder, which can work if the energy is what you are after, but they are less suited to a detailed, course-by-course meal. Sunday lunch, if hours permit (check directly with the restaurant, as hours are not confirmed in available data), is often the quietest window at venues in this part of the city and worth asking about when you book.
Milan's fashion and design calendar also affects the entire Garibaldi and Corso Como zone. During Salone del Mobile (typically April) and fashion weeks (February and September), the area is significantly busier and reservations at well-regarded mid-range restaurants fill faster. If you are planning around those periods, book further ahead than you ordinarily would.
The editorial angle here is worth addressing directly: Japanese food at this technical level does not travel well. The raw preparations that anchor Waby's menu , dishes built around texture, temperature, and the integrity of thinly sliced fish , lose their point within minutes of leaving the kitchen. Robata is marginally more forgiving in transit, but even grilled items deteriorate quickly. The sake-marinated salmon roe on tuna noodles in dashi broth cited in Michelin's own notes is a dish entirely dependent on being eaten as assembled. If your situation requires takeout, Waby is not the right choice. This is a restaurant you visit in person, at the counter if possible, eating each course as it arrives. Delivery would represent a significant loss in value relative to what the kitchen is actually producing.
Waby is at Via Carlo de Cristoforis, 2, in the 20124 postal district , a short walk from both Garibaldi FS and Porta Nuova metro stations, which makes it easy to reach from most central Milan hotels. Booking is rated easy, meaning you are unlikely to hit a wall on a standard weeknight booking even a few days out. That said, a venue with consistent Michelin recognition and a 4.7 rating on nearly 300 Google reviews will fill at peak times, so a week's notice for weekend bookings is sensible. No phone or website data is currently confirmed; book through a third-party reservation platform or check the venue directly via current search results for up-to-date contact details.
The €€€ price positioning means Waby is meaningfully less expensive than Milan's starred Italian restaurants. For context on the city's broader dining range , from Japanese through to modern Italian and beyond , see our full Milan restaurants guide. For hotels near the Garibaldi and Corso Como area, our Milan hotels guide covers the main options. If you are building a wider itinerary across the city, our Milan bars guide and Milan experiences guide are worth consulting alongside this.
For those comparing Waby against the broader European and Italian Japanese dining context, comparable Michelin-recognised Asian restaurants worth knowing include taku in Cologne and Jun's in Dubai. Italy's own top-tier dining, for contrast, runs from Osteria Francescana in Modena and Uliassi in Senigallia through to Reale in Castel di Sangro and Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler in Brunico , all operating at a different price point and format from Waby but useful reference points if your Milan trip involves a wider dining agenda. Coastal Italian at the high end is represented by Quattro Passi in Marina del Cantone and Dal Pescatore in Runate.
See the comparison section below for Waby against Milan's starred Italian restaurants. The short version: Waby is not competing with Enrico Bartolini, Seta, or Andrea Aprea on the same terms. It is a different category of meal at a lower price point with a different cuisine focus , and that is the right framing for deciding whether to book it.
The raw dishes are where the kitchen shows its clearest intent , preparations like raw tuna with dashi broth, yuzu, and sake-marinated salmon roe represent the most technically distinct part of the menu. Beyond that, the robata and the uramaki are worth your attention. The sake list, available by the glass, is a practical asset: use it to match drinks to the raw and cooked sections of your meal rather than defaulting to wine throughout.
Yes , the rear counter with stools is the better seat in the room if you are dining solo or as a pair. It places you closer to the kitchen, service tends to be more direct, and the format suits the way the menu is structured. If you are returning after a first visit at a table, request the counter specifically when you book.
At €€€, yes , particularly measured against what comparable technical Japanese cooking costs in other European cities. Waby holds two consecutive Michelin Plates and a 4.7 Google rating on nearly 300 reviews, which is a consistent performance signal. It is less expensive than Milan's €€€€ Italian fine dining and delivers a meaningfully different kind of meal. If your benchmark is Milan's starred Italian circuit, Waby is not trying to compete on those terms. If your benchmark is quality Japanese in a city where Italian dominates, it is solid value.
Smart casual is the right call. The contemporary design and international clientele in the Corso Como area mean the room skews fashionable rather than formal. A jacket is not required, but you will feel underdressed in purely casual clothes given the price point and neighbourhood. Think Milan-appropriate: put-together without being stiff.
For Japanese specifically in Milan, the options at this level are limited , which is part of Waby's case for itself. If you are open to moving up to €€€€ Italian fine dining instead, Seta and Andrea Aprea are the strongest alternatives on pure cooking quality, both operating at Michelin-starred level. Verso Capitaneo is worth considering if you want creative cooking at a similar price tier. Cracco in Galleria carries more name recognition but at a significantly higher price. None of these are direct substitutes for a Japanese-focused meal.
Tasting menu availability is not confirmed in current venue data , check directly when booking. If a tasting format is offered, the breadth of the menu (raw, sushi, robata, cooked dishes) makes it a reasonable way to cover the kitchen's range in a single sitting. At the €€€ tier, a multi-course format here will still come in below what you would pay at Milan's €€€€ starred Italian restaurants for a comparable number of courses. Worth asking about when you reserve.
| Venue | Cuisine | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waby | Asian | Milan is becoming increasingly known in Italy for its impressive choice of ethnic cuisine, and one example among many is this excellent restaurant behind Corso Como and Piazza Gae Aumenti. With its contemporary design, including a counter with stools to the rear, and international ambience, the restaurant serves modern, attractive Japanese cuisine, including creative raw dishes (such as raw tuna noodles in dashi broth with a sprinkling of yuzu, topped with salmon roe marinated in sake), sushi and sashimi, uramaki and gozya, robata and much more, with a constant focus on top-quality ingredients. The excellent wine selection features labels from Italy and France (including a number of champagnes), as well as a good choice of sake, also available by the glass.; Michelin Plate (2025); Michelin Plate (2024) | Easy | — |
| Enrico Bartolini | Creative | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Cracco in Galleria | Modern Cuisine | Michelin 1 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Andrea Aprea | Modern Italian, Italian Contemporary | Michelin 2 Star | Unknown | — |
| Seta | Modern Italian | Michelin 2 Star | Unknown | — |
| Horto | Modern Italian, Modern Cuisine | Michelin 1 Star | Unknown | — |
How Waby stacks up against the competition.
Lean into the raw preparations — the kitchen's creative raw dishes are where Waby separates itself from generic sushi venues. The menu spans sushi and sashimi, uramaki, gyoza, and robata, so the range is wide enough to build a satisfying meal across formats. The sake list, available by the glass, is worth using to pace through courses rather than defaulting to wine.
Yes. Waby has a counter with stools at the rear of the room, and it is a legitimate way to eat here, not just a waiting option. For solo diners or pairs, the counter is the better seat — you are closer to the action and the format suits the Japanese-influenced kitchen. Groups of three or more will likely want a table.
At €€€, Waby holds up — it has earned a Michelin Plate in both 2024 and 2025, which at this price point in Milan signals consistent technical quality rather than neighbourhood convenience pricing. If you are comparing it against a starred Italian restaurant, the cooking registers differently in ambition and format. Within Milan's Japanese options, the ingredient focus and creative raw dishes justify the spend.
The room is contemporary in design with an international feel, so clean, put-together casual fits the setting without being underdressed. You do not need to dress for a formal Italian dining room, but the €€€ price range and Michelin recognition mean this is not a ramen-counter casual situation either. Think sharp casual rather than occasion dressing.
For Italian fine dining in the same city at a higher tier, Enrico Bartolini or Seta are the relevant comparisons — but they are a different category entirely. If you want another modern Asian option in Milan, the city's ethnic dining scene has expanded considerably, but Waby's Michelin Plate status puts it near the top of that field. For a lower price point with Japanese food, the Porta Nuova and Brera areas have serviceable options, though none with comparable editorial recognition.
The venue data does not confirm a formal tasting menu structure, so this cannot be stated definitively. What the menu does offer is enough range across raw dishes, sushi, robata, and cooked preparations to construct a multi-course progression yourself. Ask the team on arrival how best to sequence dishes — in a kitchen with this focus on ingredient quality, ordering across the full format is likely to outperform ordering narrowly.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
