Barcelona's Independent Review Website

Mitsui
Click here to view map In Barcelona all you can eat buffets are ten a penny (and also per street it seems) but none of them I’ve tried are anything quite like Mitsui. Freshly cooked food and diverse cuisines in an elegant looking restaurant and just about the cheapest way to ensure you leave a restaurant feeling truly full up. Mitsui is a rare treat. Primarily Asian cuisine but with the added bonus of Spanish and American touches, like potato wedges, fried chicken and croquettes, the options are truly wide ranging and best of all, as it’s a buffet, you can truly make up your meal to your very own specifications. In the centre of the long rectangular restaurant there are several different counters offering one display for fried food including meat, potatoes and Indian sundries, one for cold items – seafood, salad etc. – a section for wok cooked food and finally one for the grill. The latter two options should be selected and then handed over to the patiently waiting chefs to be cooked in a style of your choosing. The wok selection can be cooked with one of seven sauces and includes noodles, chicken, vegetables, meat, fish and seafood. The grill selection offers larger pieces like some pretty decent steak, chicken, crab, and a whole host of other seafood and veg. It’s a pleasure just to watch your choices being cooked by the highly skilful Japanese chefs, let alone to enjoy the fantastic flavour still to come. In addition to all this there is the major draw for many people, in the shape of a very respectable, though small selection of sushi rolls which, again, you can watch being made up freshly before your eyes. Over all I would say that the quality of the ingredients is extremely high and the restaurant certainly doesn’t fall into the typical trap of Asian cuisine in Barcelona by sacrificing quality in exchange for a low price. There is even a desert section to be had if there is any space in your rapidly expanding stomach. A selection of self-service ice creams, excellent fruit and some rather average cakes are better than you would hope for, considering the good value you will already have received. With the tiny caveat that drinks are the only thing not included in the price in any way and that the restaurant is incredibly popular from about two o’clock on workdays with the local business community in Eixample, there’s not much left to criticise Mitsui for. Cheap, delicious and incredibly bountiful.

Address:

Carrer d'Aribau, 112, 08036

Area:

Eixample Left

Nearest Metro:

Diagonal
Hospital Clinic

Opening times:

Daily: 1-4pm
8.30-12pm

Price range:

Lunch: €8.80
Dinner: €13.80

Food types:

Asian