Oribu Restaurant

It was 2014 when Iván, a man from Madrid of Asian descent, decided to open a Mediterranean-Asian-fusion gastrobar in the center of Madrid. This is how Oribu was born, a restaurant with original cuisine and remarkable dishes.

Since the beginning, the philosophy of this restaurant has been clear: unite east and west through culinary offerings. The union of these two worlds starts with the name of the restaurant, Oribu (“olive” in Japanese), which was chosen to explain the restaurant’s concept: the word for olive oil, a basic ingredient in Mediterranean food, translated into Japanese is the best example to define their philosophy.

The restaurant, located on Calle de Barquillo on the top of Plaza del Rey, is a space with many different atmospheres, including a private room perfect for celebrations. As soon as you enter, you’ll find the bar and an area with both high- and low-top tables, perfect for a meal or tapas in a more informal setting. But don’t let this space fool you, since at the bottom of the stairs you’ll find another enormous dining room with natural light and mirrors that give a more spacious feeling to this area, which is a little more formal than the other space.

But we settle down in the best spot in the place — the kitchen. Their menu is intended for sharing, in such a way that you can order various dishes and try a wide variety of their offerings. Options like red tuna tartare, with a very original presentation, or octopus carpaccio are both perfect to whet your appetite. In the steamed-food section, standouts include the delicious oxtail Dim Sum, a plate that makes you appreciate, from the first bite, the best flavors of this blend between two different cultures. Their variegated scallops are another perfect dish to share, one where you come to value the skills of A.J., the chef at Oribu.

To end this delicious culinary journey, there’s nothing like their star dessert: French toast made of sobao pasiego, a Cantabrian sponge cake, with a Bulgarian yogurt ice cream. It’s a dessert you won’t be able to stop asking for now that they’ve made a super spongy French toast with the perfect sobao pasiego flavor that’s combined to perfection with the yogurt.

And of course, at Oribu they also offer a great variety of mixed cocktails to accompany the dishes. Cocktails where they combine sake, grenadine or orange juice, so they don’t lose the fusion aspect that’s so present in all the corners of this place.

Oribu is the perfect location for all those who like Mediterranean cuisine just as much as Asian; a restaurant to have a unique experience in which two distant worlds are united, as indicated by their claim that Oribu is the place “Where East meets West.”