Kaito Hand Roll Bar Marbella – Review

Acclaimed restaurant group Grupo China Crown opens Kaito Marbella, inspired by the on-trend hand roll counters of Los Angeles and Tokyo. Kaito Hand Roll Bar Marbella Avenida de la Fontanilla 6, is an elegant, contemporary space where high stools wrap around the central 360-degree counter, as well as adjacent tables and the window bar looking out onto the leafy avenue. You watch the chefs prepare Japanese hand rolls, sashimi and nigiri to order in front of you, under the culinary direction of Master Koichi Shimoju and Executive Chef Felipe Bao.

We visited mid-week for lunch, escaping the heat of an Andalusian August. Greeted warmly by the chefs and servers with a chorus of ‘Irasshaimase’ we pulled up two stools at the Kaito counter and quenched our thirst with a cold Asahi as we navigated the detailed menu of freshly prepared hand rolls, sashimi, nigiris, uramaki and maki. A bowl of edamame dusted with shichimi and flakes of sea salt arrived almost immediately, a tasty appetiser to pick at while we chose.

Precision without formality

A hand roll bar like Kaito feels the perfect way to enjoy the handcrafted elegance of Japanese cuisine without the formality. Precision without ceremony is a good way to describe it. I say this, as I have to make a confession. However much I admire the craft of a formal omakase counter, I sometimes find the experience a little tedious. The hushed reverence, the choreography, the feeling that lively conversation with friends or your partner might somehow break the spell. Once or twice a year it is a ritual I genuinely enjoy. But it’s not the way I want to eat out on a regular basis.

So that’s what’s so compelling about Kaito Hand Roll Bar Marbella. You get that elegance and minimalist simplicity of a sophisticated Japanese restaurant, the pristinely prepared fish, warm seasoned rice, and crisp nori of a high-end omakase counter, yet all enjoyed without formality.

Drop by and pull up a stool

We chatted as dishes and boards were passed to us over the counter. Master Koichi, who trained in Tokyo, leads the Kaito counter and it was an honour to have him expertly prepare our sashimi of salmon, pargo and tuna, and the elegant nigiris of toro and salmon. The sashimi is served on crushed ice, the wasabi freshly grated and presented on its own little bamboo tray.

The dishes kept coming as we ordered. A delicious hand roll of salmon with avocado, then a spicy tuna roll, and an extravagant-looking maki roll of tempura shrimp with cream cheese and avocado, served golden and crisp, crowned with surimi dressed in spicy mayonnaise.

Contemporary, minimalism

Here there’s a cool playlist too, lively guests, and you can devour the freshly made rolls, as the nori is still crisp, accompanied by a cold Asahi or Sapporo beer, poured tableside into fine-stemmed glassware. You can drop in for a quick lunch or make an evening of it with friends, with a bottle of fine sake or a chilled Spanish Godello and plenty of conversation. And what’s more, when the bill arrives, it won’t be an unpleasant surprise.

From the street the restaurant is all understated Japanese minimalism, a white façade, a glowing sign reading ‘The Original Hand Roll Bar’, and the menu clipped to a small wooden board beside the door. Kaito is moments from Playa de la Fontanilla in the heart of Marbella. The restaurant is bright, with floor-to-ceiling glass windows facing the avenue, with tables and counters in light blond wood, with a full bar at one end and the open counter kitchen at the heart. The elegant design has a sense of fun, with colourful koinobori carp streamers hanging from the coat rack hangers, a signature contemporary Japanese textile-inspired wall installation, drawing on kimono/obi patterns like Sakura cherry blossom and traditional engimono lucky motifs like white rabbits, cranes and a kabuki actor, as well as a playful neon light installation saying, ‘They see me rollin’’. On the corners of the bar sit porcelain maneki-neko, the beckoning lucky cat. Tables are simply set with care, celadon soy dishes, grey linen napkins and chopsticks on branded bamboo rests.

Stools around the main central Kaito counter face the action, and each hand roll is finished and handed over on Kaito-branded pine stands at its optimum moment, so the contrast of just-prepared rice and crisp nori is enjoyed at its best.

Tradition however, is subtly there in each ritual, in each dish and in each greeting of ‘irasshaimase’ as guests step into the restaurant.

Service at Kaito pauses for the ‘Shake Itadakimasu’, a short ritual of thanks in which a whole salmon is raised at the counter while the team acknowledges the farmers, fishermen and cooks behind the meal.

Front of house keeps pace with the counter. Our hostess, Michele, effortlessly multilingual, looked after us with attentive, youthful energy, exactly on brand.

Discover the menu

Hand rolls remain the heart of the menu, from salmon and tuna classics to richer turns of wagyu and soft shell crab, joined by sashimi, nigiri, maki and a handful of set menus that make an easy introduction for first-timers. Beyond the counter there is a concise selection of Japanese specialities, and to drink, premium sakes, Spanish and international wines, champagne and of course very cold Japanese beer.

There are dishes to discover beyond the signatures. There are hand rolls of scallop with jalapeño, the house ‘Kaito Especial’, crisp ika with a citrus and squid ink alioli, butterfish with truffle, unagi in its sweet eel glaze, even foie. A dedicated salmon selection, from a ‘harami’ tiradito to sashimi of silky ventresca, reflects the kitchen’s particular pride in its fish, while the sake list runs from accessible junmai to elegant junmai daiginjo from names such as Hakkaisan. The menu even carries a labelled anatomy of the salmon, dorsal fin to belly, a gentle reminder of where each cut comes from.

Do leave room for dessert. The sweet list is short and playful, ice creams of coconut and yuzu, wasabi or sesame, and mochi in flavours from mango and passion fruit to cheesecake. Our mochi, filled with matcha cream, arrived dusted in a snow of rice flour on a ribbed glass plate, and was one of the best mochi I have eaten. We left with the house signature in hand, an iced matcha to go.

China Crown

Kaito is the youngest concept from Grupo China Crown, the family-run group founded in Madrid in 1981 by María Li Bao, whose seven brands now count some twenty restaurants across Spain, with her brother, chef Felipe Bao, leading the kitchens. Kaito Hand Roll Bar Marbella is the third hand roll counter restaurant from China Crown, which already has two temaki-style counter restaurants in Madrid serving hand rolls and sushi.

Kaito is hard to fault, refined and precise, yet informal and welcoming. Be aware that Kaito takes no reservations, so seating is by order of arrival, and the hand rolls are made to be eaten the second they land, so order as you go.

This was an excellent experience. I imagine Kaito Hand Roll Bar Marbella is going to be a hit.

The Luxury Editor dined as a guest of Kaito Hand Roll Bar, for review purposes.