The Eixample sushi bar where you can marvel at the master at work

If you've been to Tokyo, you've surely visited the Asakusa neighborhood. Entering it means immersing yourself in one of the most traditional places in the Japanese capital, which maintains a sense of yesteryear. It houses theaters, the Senso-ji temple, craft shops, a park, and small taverns (izakayas) serving refined cuisine. In this setting, today's protagonist, Daisuke Fukamura, learned to make traditional sushi. Sushi, in Japan, is something much more serious than what we're used to serving here (and we're leaving aside the plastic trays from convenience stores). In Japan, eating sushi means sitting at a counter while the sushi master makes each of the mossos with whatever he has that day and deems necessary for you to eat. He has trained for many years to be able to do this. He has perfected his knife sharpening and cutting techniques, and he faces the challenge of serving everything at the correct temperature. While he's cooking his artisanal dishes, he places them in front of you, and you, with your hands—very important—pick up the little ball of rice with raw fish on top and eat it. I'm telling you this because, in part, it's the new offering at Fukamura Restaurant.

Daisuke Fukamura serves us peacefully behind the bar of his restaurant, located at 479 Còrcega Street. He arrived in Barcelona in 2007 and worked at Koy Shunka when it was awarded its star. Later, he worked at Espai Kru and Shibui, which was a trendy spot at the time. He then embarked on his own restaurant, which gives rise to his surname. He's been rooted in the neighborhood for years, but now, after a beautiful renovation by Salvà Ortín Arquitectes, he's decided to leave behind his tavern side and transform into an omakase restaurant. What does this mean? Well, it means you trust the chef, and he serves you a set menu he creates in front of you. Everyone sits at a bar, in this case for seven people, facing Daisuke Fukamura. This format is exclusive to dinner, from Tuesday to Saturday, and everyone must arrive promptly by 9 p.m. The price is 95 euros per person, drinks not included. As for drinks, by the way, Fukamura has a sake selection he designed in conjunction with sake sommelier Roger Ortuño that showcases the richness and diversity of this beverage. It's worth considering giving it a try.

This Japanese man has lived here for many years and is much more fluent in Catalan than in Spanish. It's important to keep this in mind, since in restaurants (and also in other everyday situations, for example when taking a taxi) we often fall victim to diglossia and systematically switch languages when there's no need to do so. When serving food, Daisuke often explains details of the tableware. There are very old pieces he brought from Japan that date back to the Edo period. Or dishes he or his ceramics master made himself. Meanwhile, you'll be fascinated by how tasty his sushi is. The squid is exquisite. Fukamura explains that many cuts must be made because the sweetest part of the squid is right in the middle of the weave. His sashimi and sushi don't require the addition of soy. Just occasionally, a little ginger to cleanse the palate. You'll go through various cuts of tuna, porgy, lemon fish, Delta eel... The oyster is also from the Delta. Finally, the hot dishes come. In my case, he served Iberian bacon kakuni with furofuki turnips, followed by diced beef with shiitake mushrooms. It ended with miso soup and two truffles from Takashi Ochiai's excellent pastry shop. A total of 14 dishes (this will always be at the chef's discretion) and the admiration for an artisan craft that takes years to perfect, and when you see it developed firsthand and taste the resulting dishes, you realize there's no comparison. When it's in season, Daisuke Fukamura likes to play with calçots, which he absolutely loves. A lover of Catalan cuisine, he praises the pan con tomate (bread with tomato). A dish he says seems simple, but adds that the difficulty lies precisely in its simplicity: all the ingredients that go into it must be of the highest quality.