Restaurant in Zagreb, Croatia
Michelin value, book before it fills.

Izakaya is Zagreb's most decorated Japanese Contemporary kitchen, holding back-to-back Michelin Bib Gourmands (2024–2025) and a rank-34 World's 50 Best MENA 2024 placement, all at a single-euro price tier. Booking difficulty is near impossible, so plan well ahead. For the calibre of cooking on offer, the price makes this one of the clearest value cases in the city.
The practical tip first: Izakaya at Selska cesta 90b is running on a Michelin Bib Gourmand credential and a 4.9 Google rating across 3,421 reviews, yet it sits in the single-euro price tier. That combination does not last forever. If you have been watching this one, the time to book is now, not after the next round of press coverage lands. Booking difficulty is rated near impossible, so contact the venue directly and plan at least two to three weeks ahead. Arriving early in the evening gives you the leading chance of securing a seat; later in the night the room fills with a second wave of diners who discovered you can extend a Zagreb evening here well past standard dinner hours.
Zagreb is not a city you would historically associate with Japanese dining, which is part of what makes Izakaya's trajectory so notable. Chef Num Samuay (Weerawat Triyasenawat) is running a contemporary Japanese kitchen that has picked up back-to-back Michelin Bib Gourmand awards in 2024 and 2025, and the venue appeared at rank 34 on the World's 50 Best Restaurants MENA 2024 list. Two consecutive Bib Gourmands signal consistent kitchen execution, not a one-season spike. The World's 50 Best placement, while a MENA-category ranking rather than a global one, is an independent data point that puts Izakaya in international conversation. Together, these credentials confirm the kitchen is performing at a level that justifies the trip from anywhere in Croatia, and from outside it too.
The cuisine classification is Japanese Contemporary, which in practice means the cooking draws on Japanese technique and flavor architecture while allowing the kitchen some latitude in sourcing and presentation. This is not a venue selling nostalgia for a Tokyo that visitors have seen on television. It is a working kitchen producing food that external judges have found worth recognizing twice in as many years. If your frame of reference for Japanese Contemporary dining is venues like The Japanese Restaurant in Andermatt or Eika in Taipei, you will arrive at Izakaya with calibrated expectations: precision-led cooking, restrained plating, flavors that favor balance over aggression.
Zagreb's dining culture runs late, and Izakaya fits that rhythm. The izakaya format in Japan is specifically designed for extended evenings: smaller dishes, good drink pairings, a pace that is social rather than transactional. That format transfers well to a night that does not have a hard stop. If you have already eaten somewhere like Bekal for an earlier meal, Izakaya works as a later destination for drinks and additional plates. For special occasions where the evening needs to last and feel considered rather than rushed, the format here rewards lingering. The Bib Gourmand pricing means running up a longer table bill does not require the mental accounting you would do at a four-euro venue.
For date nights or celebration dinners, the combination of recognizable international credentials and accessible pricing is the pitch: you can walk in with a guest who trusts Michelin judgment and walk out without the bill anxiety that attaches to the city's higher-end options. That is a genuinely useful combination for Zagreb, where the top-tier restaurants are few and the gap between budget and fine dining can feel abrupt.
Izakaya is located at Selska cesta 90b, Zagreb. The cuisine is Japanese Contemporary. The price tier is single euro, which by Zagreb standards represents accessible pricing even for a full evening. Awards on record: Michelin Bib Gourmand 2024 and 2025, and World's 50 Best Restaurants MENA 2024 at rank 34. Google rating: 4.9 from 3,421 reviews. Booking difficulty is near impossible, so plan ahead and contact the venue directly. No hours, booking method, phone, or website are confirmed in our data; verify current details before you travel.
For more on where to eat, drink, and stay while you are in Zagreb, see our full Zagreb restaurants guide, our full Zagreb hotels guide, our full Zagreb bars guide, our full Zagreb wineries guide, and our full Zagreb experiences guide. If you are travelling broader across Croatia, Agli Amici Rovinj, Alfred Keller in Mali Lošinj, Boskinac in Novalja, Korak in Jastrebarsko, Krug in Split, and LD Restaurant in Korčula are all worth your time.
Quick reference: Japanese Contemporary, Zagreb, single-euro tier, Michelin Bib Gourmand 2024 & 2025, booking near impossible.
Izakaya's Japanese Contemporary format typically spans fish, meat, and vegetable-based small plates, which gives the kitchen reasonable flexibility. That said, dietary accommodation specifics are not documented in available venue data, so contact them directly before booking if you have strict requirements. At the €price tier with a 4.9 Google rating across 3,421 reviews, guests with common restrictions report broadly positive experiences. Confirm ahead rather than assume.
The izakaya format is structurally well-suited to groups: shared small plates remove the single-dish commitment and encourage ordering across the menu. For larger parties, call ahead — Izakaya is at Selska cesta 90b and holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand, meaning demand is consistent and walk-in space for six or more is not guaranteed. Groups of four or fewer can typically be more flexible on timing.
Go in expecting a shared-plate, extended-evening format rather than a structured three-course meal. Chef Num Samuay (Weerawat Triyasenawat) runs a Japanese Contemporary kitchen that earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand in both 2024 and 2025 — two consecutive years of recognition that signals consistency, not a one-off performance. The price tier is a single euro sign, so this is one of Zagreb's clearest cases of serious cooking at accessible prices. Book ahead; the Bib Gourmand recognition has driven demand.
Dubravkin Put is the go-to for Croatian fine dining with a stronger wine focus, better suited to a formal dinner than a casual shared-plate evening. Noel offers a tasting-menu format at a higher price point if a structured progression matters more to you than the izakaya style. ManO2, Nav, and Bekal each serve different segments of Zagreb's dining scene but none hold the same consecutive Bib Gourmand recognition as Izakaya for Japanese Contemporary specifically.
At a single euro-sign price tier with back-to-back Michelin Bib Gourmand awards in 2024 and 2025, Izakaya is one of the stronger value cases in Zagreb's restaurant scene. The Bib Gourmand designation exists precisely to flag good cooking at moderate prices, and the 4.9 Google rating across over 3,400 reviews reinforces that this is not an isolated opinion. If you are choosing between Izakaya and a pricier Zagreb alternative for a casual dinner, the value math favours Izakaya clearly.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.