Cuina d’Uribou, Japanese, Les Corts

This was an auspicious Instagram find. A picture of Kaisen Don. Quickly forgotten. And then there it was again on @miquelantoja (51.6k followers) feed, then on @mireiamach (22.2k) , @bcngourmet (13.8). Local Instagram trailblazers. Sometimes that amounts to a whole load of nothing but it’s still worth pursuing. And the pictures of the pristine slices of fish in blue and white ceramic bowls made my mouth water.

Cuina d’Uribou has been opened for 6 years. Owned by the chef: Atsushi Takata. Decorated in an unremarkable way, except for a scattering of baby boars – a gold decal for the window, two cut outs for a print on the wall, a couple of ceramic renditions on the counter.

They serve sashimi and nigiri but also a lot of Donburi, a dish of rice topped with fish or other protein.

I am a fan when I try the rice- warm, seasoned with rice vinegar, glistening and resisting my bite. I would eat it plain. I am a big believer in getting the essentials right and I have an appreciation for people who can get the right nuance. The minute tweaking, it takes patience to get the calibration just so to coax the best out of a bowl of white rice.

I don’t have to have plain rice. The dish I have ordered is topped with thin slices of room temperature salmon, a neat cluster of salmon eggs, wasabi and ginger. The salad that has come with a typical Japanese dressing of grated onion and ginger. And there is a bowl of dashi broth with a few errant udon noodles.

For a Tuesday lunch, the room is half full. A lot of young men having lunch together – having presumably popped in from an office somewhere. At a couple of the tables, there is someone who has eaten there before, loved it and has brought more people along.

Cuina d’Uribou is totally understated and serving good food – this time the celebrity Instagramers are in the know.

La Cuina d’Uribou
Carrer del Taquígraf Serra, 26
Les Corts 08029
uriboubcn.com