KAIZEN Restaurante

Kaizen sits on Carrer de l'Argenteria, a narrow lane in the historic heart of Palma, and turns its own reticence into a stance: the house calls itself “el secreto mejor guardado del centro de Palma”, the best-kept secret of central Palma. Anyone stepping in first pushes a noren aside — the split fabric panels that hang over doorways in Japan and mark the passage from the street into the dining room. A Japanese tavern, the local press has called it. The name is the second statement. Kai stands for change, Zen for good; together they make the Japanese idea of continuous improvement, and that is exactly how the house explains it. Alongside sits a four-word mantra: “Producto, respeto, técnica y dedicación” — product, respect, technique, dedication. Above the menu itself stands the plain line “SUSHI SASHIMI & MÁS”. That “& más” is meant literally. Kaizen is not a sushi bar and nothing else; it runs three formats in parallel: an à la carte menu, a shabu-shabu menu and omakase menus in several lengths. What is on the Kaizen menu The à la carte list starts small and works its way down. It opens with edamames glaseados con kimchee y mantequilla noisette and an ostra francesa ahumada con ponzu y kizami wasabi. Then it thickens: a croqueta-niguiri de shitakes con lámina de Wagyu A5 Kagoshima, dumplings de cerdo negro con sobrasada vieja, puré de chirivías y demi glace — a plate where Mallorcan sobrassada meets black pork — plus a brioche de gamba roja and a bao de panceta estilo chino. Hot dishes bring lomo de bacalao negro glaseado con miso-yuzu and pluma ibérica; raw ones include tataki de Wagyu A5 Kagoshima, usuzukuri de O-Toro, a tokusen sashimi and a tartar de atún bluefin. The nigiri range spans from a vegetarian nigiri to Wagyu A5 flamed at the counter and O-Toro with Imperial caviar. To finish: tarta de queso estilo Kaizen, with matcha powder and citrus jellies. Shabu-shabu and omakase On its own menu the house writes that it was the first restaurant on Mallorca to bring shabu-shabu over from Japan. The menu goes to the whole table and is laid out accordingly: edamames, dumplings, niguiris, cerdo Duroc, dry-aged beef, pollo campero, a vegetable selection, noodles, a huevo ajitsuke, several sauces and mochis at the end. The cooking happens in the broth at the table, slice by slice. The omakase menus the house calls “experiencias”, and it offers them in three lengths; the longest is named Omakase Homenaje. These too are served to the whole table, with wine and sake pairings available alongside. Who is behind Kaizen Two owners share the kitchen. Ismael Rojo, from Vigo in Galicia, is responsible for the sushi. His route ran through sushi bars in Galicia, on Gran Canaria, in Barcelona, in Belgium and in Palma; in Barcelona he worked at Koy Shunka under Hideki Matsuhisa, whom he later joined in Antwerp as well, and in Palma he was part of the early days of Fera. Raúl García, the second owner, stands for the hot kitchen and the shabu-shabu. The stations he names himself are Zuberoa, then Marc Fosh, where he rose to head chef, plus Zaranda, Cap Rocat and Santi Taura. His first own restaurant was called Katarsis; after a trip to Asia came Palillos y Cuchillos. In the dining room Marlon is the face of the house: the sommelier greets guests with a glass of wine before they are even seated. Kaizen in Palma's old town The place is small. It spreads over two floors, has stone walls and no more than eleven tables; “discreto, acogedor” describes it fairly exactly. Japanese wall murals hang in the room, among them the house's own version of Hokusai's Great Wave. The register stays minimalist and intimate, and the kitchen operates in an upper price bracket — hardly a surprise with produce such as Wagyu A5 Kagoshima and bluefin tuna. Carrer de l'Argenteria belongs to the old centre, right beside the Santa Eulalia quarter, which has been described as the Notting Hill of Palma's old town. Booking is by phone or through the venue's own system — with eleven tables that is no formality. Spanish and English are spoken front of house.