BALÓN TOKIO — Restaurant in Madrid

I don't know how the food is, but the service doesn't have to be Japanese or even European. Perhaps the Korean customer wrote well in the review, there is a giant problem of discrimination against foreign tourists. Not the Japanese owner from Tokyo, but the people works at this Japanese restaurant who discriminated against foreign tourists. I might just politely think that maybe she doesn't speak so much English that she doesn't even have the basic education to say “hello”.

As you might notice from my reviews, I don't comment much, but if I write a review it always does five stars. Tonight my partner and I had to wait 30 minutes for another Japanese restaurant from Michelin's list, so we decided to go to this one close by for a quick drink. Honestly, there are so many Japanese restaurants(even run by chefs from Tokyo) in Europe and Spain right now, personally I don't think any Japanese restaurant could announce in public that their taste more authentic than others. But for me, eating in an Asian restaurant is always a pleasure, and tonight I was absolutely wrong. When I arrived(my European paterner was waiting outside), I saw that both staff of the bar were busy. I was totally understand that this was a friday night, so I waited at least 5 minutes near the door until I noticed that still no one was even looking/noticed at me. Like the normal European way, I immediately tried to approach near the bar, I tried to find the way for understanding the service. In this moment, two staffs immediately noticed me and directly thought/communicated that I was try to sit directly in the reserved seat at the bar(without ask)?! I understood maybe it was not the moment, I went back near the door and I continue to wait for the right moment. Then a local gentleman behind me passed me straight and ordered takeaway suddenly! And even after for a while, other two local customers spoke directly with the staff and paid for the dinner. So, the two staffs pretend to be busy and were unwilling/unfriendly/unprofessional to ask a foreign client(who have been waiting for almost 10 to 15 minutes) in English for 10 seconds for communicate/understanding:"If you would a table you have to wait outside about XX minutes./If you need a take away you could order right now o after 5 minutes." In this moment I realized that I am totale the air/nothing for...

Un sitio espectacular que recomiendo a todos los que les guste la comida japonesa.

Escondido en una calle secundaria, y siendo un local bastante pequeño, puede pasar desapercibido para la mayoría de la gente. ¡Qué gran error! Si ves este sitio y tienes hambre, no dudes en entrar y disfrutar de sus platos. Está diseñado como un sitio para "comer rápido", es decir, es un lugar pequeño, con platos pequeños y de servicio rápido. No por ello los platos son de menor calidad, ya que todo lo que nos sirvieron fue espectacular de sabor. Fui con una buena amiga a probarlo, y acabamos pidiendo de todo para no irnos sin saber. La carta es reducida comparada con restaurantes normales de comida japonesa, pero eso no es un problema, porque realmente a este sitio se viene a comer el plato principal: el takoyaki (trozos de pulpo rebozados y con salsas). Los tienen con varias salsas, e incluso un sucedáneo sin pulpo en caso de que comer este animal te de un poco de cosa. Las cajas que te sirven son de 6, 8, 10 y 12, y a partir de 6 puedes combinar diferentes salsas en grupos de 6. Es un acierto pedirse al menos dos grupos y comprobar cómo cambian los sabores. Recomiendo empezar con los originales, ya que la salsa con toque a pescado es muy rica y le queda genial. Al final acabamos pidiendo más cosas: unas gyozas de verduras y un onigiri (bola de arroz blanco) de salmón. ¡Todo buenísimo!

En cuanto a las bebidas, mi compañera se pidió una mezcla de fanta de limón con un licor japonés, y yo opté por cervezas japonesas (tienen varias) y un par de vasos de sake. Todo muy rico.

El trato del personal (son dos personas, cocinero y encargada de barra, todo al descubierto) es espectacular. Siempre una sonrisa, todo con calma a pesar de tener gente esperando. Así da gusto ir a un sitio, hoy en día no es algo tan común y se agradece.

Pagamos unos 25 euros por persona, pero porque nos excedimos pidiendo cosas. Pedimos dos cajas de 6 takoyakis, 4 gyozas, un onigiri, dos cervezas, dos sakes, dos bebidas fanta/licor, y de postre dos "galletas" típicas japonesas: un mochi y un dorayaki. Lo pagamos a gusto por los ricos sabores, el buen trato y la buena sensación que nos dejó el lugar.

Si tuviera que mencionar pegas, diría que el ser un sitio pequeño y estrecho le puede hacer pasar desapercibido, y también dificulta el acceso a personas con problemas de movilidad. A mí personalmente no me afectó, pero entiendo que eso pueda ser un problema para otros.

En definitiva, un lugar al que ir si quieres un picoteo con sabores y nada aceitoso, es un lugar barato para tapear y merece todos y cada uno de los puntos que le han dado sus visitantes....

A delightful spot with authentic Japanese takoyaki. The chef is from Japan and is very kind. It is a small space, so there isn’t much seating. Different servers have different language proficiencies; we ended up ordering in Japanese to the chef directly because our Japanese was (marginally) better than the chef’s English, and our Spanish skills are almost nonexistent. We ordered the original takoyaki, yakitori (grilled chicken), gomawakame (seaweed salad), and Calpis. The owner was very accommodating, correcting an order mix-up (which was our fault) without charging us extra. The takoyaki was incredible and tasted just like it does in Japan. The yakitori was great, and the seaweed salad was the perfect refreshment between the deep, heavy flavors of takoyaki and yakitori. Washing it all down with Calpis made this an incredible meal. Would give more stars...