99 sushi bar

Raw fish cut to the bar

The knife work at 99 sushi bar in Madrid begins close to the counter, where Iván Muñoz, Chef, works inside a house built around fish, rice and controlled fusion. His published cooking language is Madrid author cuisine, carried by inherited recipes, recognizable products and local memory, and that matters here because the room asks for a different kind of restraint. The menu gives him Japanese forms, then lets Spanish influence enter through product and seasoning rather than noise.

Muñoz is best known through Chirón, where the role of cocinero is tied to Madrid roots, La Mancha references and a personal hand on traditional recipes. At 99 sushi bar, the named brief is narrower: traditional Japanese sushi with fusion Spanish influences, using premium raw fish prepared at the bar. What can be seen in the work is the meeting point: authorial cooking disciplined by nigiri, maki, gunkan and small plates, with the product left visible.

Gunkan, maki and a cellar of references

The program moves through à la carte plates rather than a fixed procession, giving the bench room to repeat the same gesture under different pressures. Scallop nigiri, Alaskan king crab gunkan and toro tuna maki sit among the signatures; elsewhere the brand language includes flambé nigiri, tempura, tartars, warm nigiris and black cod with red miso. The Spanish influence comes through pairings and garnishes, through truffle, Iberian air dried beef, Arzúa cheese, red mojo, olive oil or pistachio, not through a rejection of the sushi form.

Measurement here belongs to the program. Half rolls of 4 pieces sit beside full rolls of 8, allowing the table to move across more cuts without turning the meal into a catalogue. The wine list runs to more than 300 references, a large cellar for a sushi counter, and its purpose is practical: pairing fatty tuna, shellfish, tempura and fermented soy with enough range to keep the palate clean. Since 2005, Grupo Bambú has used 99 Sushi Bar as its Madrid template for this style of Japanese haute cuisine, one built from raw material first, decoration second.

Red tones, bonsai and the quiet counter

The room in Barrio de Salamanca keeps its voice low. Bonsais, red tones and polished decoration frame an intimate salon, but the most useful seat is still the one with a line to the bar, where rice, fish and garnish come together in a few movements.

It is a small room by temperament as much as capacity, made for concentration rather than spectacle. Alaskan king crab gunkan arrives as a compact construction, toro tuna maki carries fat against avocado, shiso, daikon and red tobiko, and scallop nigiri depends on the cut staying clean. The close work is the point. If the brand has grown across Madrid and beyond, this address still returns the eye to the counter, to the scallop nigiri and the hands that set it down.