Going out for Japanese food in Barcelona used to mean one of two things: either you’d have to take out a bank loan to pay the bill, or you were stuck eating forgettable noodles and mediocre raw fish. Fast-forward to 2022 and the Japanese food scene in Barcelona has never been hotter, with El Japonés Escondido on the Borne-Barceloneta border being the top spot. Start with a steaming bowl of mussels served with a deliciously spicy, sticky sweet-chili sauce, before getting into the blue-fin tuna moriawase selection so silky smooth that you barely need to chew. Apart from incredibly fresh fish, what sets this place apart is the excellent service and a dining room that feels more like a late-night drinking joint than a restaurant.