Japanese cuisine in India enters its Izakaya era. Can authenticity keep up?

Smoke-filled cocktails, garnishes balanced like theatrics, and décor too stiff for drinkers to unwind. That’s largely the current cocktail scene in India. After work, though, most want something easier, laidback, less staged.Izakaya bars—the latest chapter in the evolution of Japanese cuisine in India—might be the answer.

This is the energy chef Vikram Khatri recognised a decade ago in Tokyo, after visiting 30-odd Izakaya bars in the Japanese capital. Most were filled with colleagues catching up over sake or whiskey highballs. Almost all had an otoshi charge per patron, a cover fee that came with a small snack on the house. At their core, Izakayas are Japan’s answer to the pub: sake or whiskey highballs, small plates meant for sharing, and a communal energy.

“Traditional Izakayas typically serve small salads like egg with tomato or an egg and tofu salad. Most offer pre-done dishes that include braised pork” says Khatri. “Offal is big in Japan, so there would be stew or different cuts.”  

Khatri, who started out as a chef in Japanese cuisine in India 25 years ago at Sakura in Delhi, has since helmed the restaurants Guppy and Hello Guppy. Earlier this year, he opened Kioki, an Izakaya bar and restaurant in Gurugram, catering to the city’s growing Japanese expat population. Kioki also leans toward vegetarian options, offering  tofu, avocado, eggplant and mushroom dishes, while the fermentation techniques with miso add umami without relying heavily on fish or meat that usually dominate Japanese cuisine. 

Imported cuisines are rarely replicated exactly. Butter chicken in the UK, Nando's in India. The same goes for Izakayas. But attempts to familiarise Japanese flavours in India have long been underway. Until recently, Japanese cuisine in India was largely confined to fine-dining rooms like Wasabi by Morimoto in Mumbai and Megu in Delhi. In the last five to six years, though, casual spots such as Izumi, Mizu, Sakura, Kofuku, and Mount Fuji have added another layer to this understanding. 

How has Japanese cuisine in India popularised Izakaya bars? 

“Think of Izakaya bars as Japan’s answer to the British or Irish pub, but with a stronger focus on food and a warm, communal atmosphere. It’s a place to relax, socialise, and enjoy sake, beer, and cocktails alongside a variety of small plates with bold, umami flavours,” explains Karann R Chawla, co-founder of Japanese restaurant Call Me Ten in Delhi’s Vasant Vihar. Chawla visited an Izakaya bar in Bangkok in 2022 before bringing the format to Delhi in 2024.

Japan is home to different types of bars focussing on different styles due to the limited space in urban areas and the concept of bar-hopping among locals and tourists alike. Besides Izakaya bars, there are Yakitori bars focused on skewered meats, sushi bars centered on fresh sashimi, and then there are bars that serve only tempura and karaage. Restaurants serving Japanese cuisine with  cocktails tend to be more formal, design-led and offer broader menus, including sushi, tempura, and wagyu, paired with sake, shochu or Japanese beer, and craft cocktails.

“Each of these formats serves a different purpose: Sushi bars are often more technique- and quality-led, yakitori bars have grill- and meat-forward dishes. Izakayas are built with the aim of creating casual camaraderie and free-flowing conversations,” says Avinash Kapoli, founder of Bengaluru’s SOKA Bar, which opened in 2023. 

SOKA doesn’t call itself a strict “Izakaya bar”, even though they mirror the small-plates format and laidback ambience of one. Their menu goes beyond those at traditional Izakayas, much like in parts of Japan today, especially Tokyo. 

“Some Izakaya bars in Japan have gotten more commercialised with the inclusion of fried foods and yakitori on their menus. The ones in Shinjuku in Tokyo are peppy and colourful, with loud music,” observes Khatri. 

The more lenient Izakayas in India

Most eateries offering the Izakaya experience in India lean on a flexible and contemporary format. Call Me Ten echoes the communal atmosphere of a traditional Izakaya, but adds  gyoza, karaage, udon noodles, Tantamen ramen, sashimi, and sushi to its menu. “The food is still focused on small plates and kushiyaki (grilled skewers), which pair well with sakes and Japanese beers, besides cocktails, some of which are sake-based,” says Chawla.

In Gurugram, Khatri’s Kioki has wood-distressed walls and furniture with dim lighting as its interiors. “The decor is inspired by the typical fisherman’s hut in Japan,” he notes.  Khatri also follows the Japanese principle of odd-numbered courses and balances flavours through Sa-shi-su-se-so.“The Japanese have a thumb rule of exclusively having odd-numbered courses/elements. So, it’ll either be three or five or seven or nine or eleven courses or elements in a dish. They also have five key principle flavours that act like the building blocks for the food: Sa-shi-su-se-so—standing for sugar (sato), shio (salt), su (vinegar), se (soy sauce), and so (miso),” he explains. The day-time menu includes salads, meal-in-a-bowl options, sushi, prawn tempura, okonomiyaki (Japanese pancakes), pork belly, crispy rice with salmon or tuna toppings, or mixed pickle and avocado for vegetarians. The menu changes for dinner to incorporate the robatayaki for chargrilled small plates. 

The desi-fication of Japanese cuisine in India

“Most restaurants in India make Japanese cuisine a part of their pan-Asian menu. Having dishes like pan-fried noodles, Sichuan chicken, Peking duck, and chicken Manchow soup on the menu of a restaurant with a Japanese-sounding name is a gimmick,” says Vishesh Jawarani, founder and head chef at JSan, an Izakaya in Anjuna, Goa. 

Parvez Khan, chef-owner at Sozo Izakaya in Mumbai, adds, “You can’t just use the ‘Izakaya’ label for aesthetics—by adding lanterns, a few sushi rolls, and a generic menu with no thought behind it.” Khan has seen the desi-fication of Japanese dishes via bolder seasoning and vegetarian options and works instead with staples like miso, kombu, bonito flakes, shiso, and yuzu. While alcohol is intrinsic to Izakayas in Japan, Sozo doesn’t serve any.  To compensate for the absence of alcohol, Sozo builds mocktails around citrus and kombucha to pair with fried and grilled flavours of the food.

Delhi-NCR-based food critic Geetika Sachdev notes how easily formats blur in India. “In India, it isn't surprising to see a yakitori bar serve it all–paneer skewers, tempura, sushi, and ramen. With Izakaya-style spaces, restaurants/bars dial up the décor and presentation to be Instagram-friendly, focusing more on cocktails instead of sake.” 

The result is menus with cream cheese sushi, teriyaki pasta, or butter chicken baos in place of miso-buttered corn or agedashi tofu. “Someone trying it for the first time might think the peri-peri mayonnaise with grilled aubergine maki is the benchmark [for the cuisine]. Or Emmental or smoky cheese on robata grilled chicken. But my biggest pet peeve as a consumer is that most people are not serving real wasabi or soy sauce. Sure, wasabi is expensive and difficult to source, but you still can’t have horseradish masquerading as wasabi,” says Anurag Katriar, co-owner of Otoki in Mumbai.  

The problem with loading Japanese dishes with ingredients such as cheese, which isn’t authentic, is that it could change the perception of what Japanese cuisine is for someone who has never tried the cuisine. Katriar has spent years building supply chain for authenticitys—the  rice and nori at Otoki comes from Japan—serving Hokkaido scallops, and developing one of India’s most ambitious sake programmes with over 30 labels, a sake sommelier, and India’s first certified sake brewer. “Customers today are willing to pay the price for quality. It’s not about something being expensive or cheap, but about how value for money it is. People today don’t mind paying ₹ 3,000 for good lamb chops. But they will feel bad about paying ₹ 30 for terrible pani puri,” says Katriar. 

The rise of the discerning Indian diner 

When AD Singh opened Guppy in Delhi in 2013, Japanese restaurants in India were still niche. “There was curiosity, but a fair bit of hesitation too—especially around trying raw ingredients and unfamiliar flavours like sashimi. Today, Indians have realised that Japanese food is also incredibly healthy. And experiences like the Izakaya create curiosity and make guests want to come back to the cuisine,” says Singh. 

Urban diners are now familiar with an Omakase meal, or with nigiri or okonomiyaki. They know that there’s more to sushi than a maki roll. 

Political and economic ties between India and Japan have reinforced that familiarity further: collaborations across Artificial Intelligence, tourism, and education have created cultural exchanges that trickle down to food. “In 2000, the number of Japanese professionals in India and vice-versa were few. Today, Gujarat and Chennai too are becoming hubs for Japanese communities,” notes Khatri.

For younger professionals, the Izakaya format feels both social and aspirational.  “Izakayas with sake and small plates or platters are ideal for a fun group meal, especially among young professionals today. It’s good team bonding too,” says Delhi-based entrepreneur Nicole Juneja. Sachdev agrees, “It works because the barrier to entry is lower. You are not committing to a complete formal meal in an unfamiliar cuisine, but sampling dishes in a relaxed, social setting.” 

An undeniable similarity between Indian and Japanese cultures

“A buffet in Japan comprises miso soup, seaweed options, stew options, a Japanese omelette, and rice. There are commonalities—rice features heavily and frequently across both Indian and Japanese cuisines. For both countries, the concept of food is communal; both believe that food tastes better when shared, and so, we have the thali in India and the bento box in Japan. At an Izakaya, too, a table will order four-five dishes to share,” says Khatri. He also points out that Japanese cuisine uses perilla seeds, yuzu, and sesame seeds—ingredients used in North East India. 

That sense of familiarity helps explain the Izakaya’s appeal. “The format feels familiar yet fresh In India. The Izakaya’s social, shareable nature makes it inherently inviting,” says Chawla. “Concepts like Izakaya often act as a gateway for other cuisines because they package something unfamiliar in a fun, approachable format. Once diners are comfortable with Japanese small plates and sake, they are more open to exploring other niche or regional cuisines, whether that’s Peruvian Nikkei, Spanish tapas, or Korean soju bars,” says Sachdev. The Izakaya’s aspirational pull lies in the mix of food, alcohol, and atmosphere, she notes. “But to sustain in India, it must go beyond and become a repeat-worthy experience by keeping menus shareable, prices approachable, and the atmosphere relaxed.” For Delhi-based filmmaker Ayesha Sood, who first experienced Izakaya bars in  Barcelona and London, the comparison is  closer to tapas. “The small plates, home-style with drinks, are kind of like Spanish tapas. In India, it’s still priced a bit high and is more formal. But if the price and vibe are on point, everyone will be interested.”

Kapoli agrees, “The essence of an Izakaya—small plates, warm service, and an intimate energy—has always existed in Indian hospitality under different names. Much like tapas in Spain or osterias in Italy, we’ve also had spaces that prioritise comfort over formality.”That comfort-first culture may be what ultimately decides the Izakaya’s fate in India. It offers a space that feels instantly familiar yet aspirational, a setting for both lingering conversations and post-work drinks. The real test is whether it can hold that balance without slipping into caricature.