Nikkei and Japanese Cuisine
1. osaka
Born in Lima and shaped by two decades of Peruvian-Japanese sensibility, Osaka has also spent years defining Nikkei cooking in Ecuador. The menu keeps that same freedom to absorb influences and ingredients without strain, delivering one of the city’s benchmark dining experiences. Our number one for technique, consistency and an identity that has left a real mark on Ecuador’s restaurant scene.
At Üeya, Juan Camilo Samán starts with deeply Ecuadorian flavors and runs them through Japanese technique in true Nikkei fashion. A crab feast becomes maki; encebollado crosses paths with miso; and surrendering control to the chef, omakase-style, is part of the deal. Dinners can stretch to seventeen courses, using Japanese craft not to disguise Ecuador, but to let it speak in another register.
Junior Córdova learned sushi in Denmark under a Japanese master, then came back to Quito and opened Shibumi with just twelve seats. His rule remains simple: the ingredients pass through his hands. Nigiri, sashimi and omakase work with catch from Manabí and Galápagos alongside coffee, cacao, sacha inchi and chulpi. A serious Japanese repertoire with an inventive read on Ecuador’s extraordinary pantry.
Midori began at a three-square-meter counter in Puerto Ayora, Galápagos, where Manabí-born Vinicio Intriago cooked with whatever the sea delivered. Fifteen years later, under culinary director Javier Urrutia, that same cross-pollination has become a carefully choreographed experience built on local product, sustainability and surprise. Now also in Samborondón, Midori has a pantry few Japanese restaurants can claim.
Noé Carmona ha sido pionero de la comida japonesa y nikkei en Quito. Aprendiz del maestro Ken Namba, lleva años “ecuatorianizando” el estilo en los proyectos culinarios que precedieron a Nubori, su versión más sofisticada. Acá lleva la propuesta más allá: la mejor pesca y elaboraciones más depuradas e inventivas, justificando su lugar por su capacidad de evolucionar y seguir vigente.
