The omakase is framed as 'a journey through time around rice': a 21st-century style with white vinegar, salt and sugar, an 18th-century style with akasu red vinegar, cane sugar and salt, and a 16th-century style using only vinegar and salt, no sugar. The idea is to taste sushi from the present back to the past, and imagine where it goes next.

Toki, which means time in Japanese, is a single sushi counter for six diners in a 50-square-metre room on Calle de Sagasta, designed by Alejandra Pombo's studio. Asturian restaurateur Marcos Granda built it around founding itamae Tadayoshi Motoa; since December 2024 the counter has been led by Tino Singharaj, the 2024 Champion de France de Sushi, and it holds a Michelin star. It won Best Restaurant of Madrid at the 2024 Premios Metrópoli.

The restaurant describes the meal as a Japanese dramatic performance, a traditional and avant-garde dance, with the itamae as the lead actor building the menu around the strictest market seasonality.

There is a single tasting menu, SHUNKAN, served in sync to all six diners. It is built as a journey back in time through rice: a 21st-century style seasoned with white vinegar, salt and sugar; an 18th-century style with akasu red vinegar, cane sugar and salt; and a 16th-century style using only vinegar and salt. The idea is to taste sushi from the present back to the past, and imagine where it goes next. SHUNKAN costs €249 per person, VAT and water included.

The menu comes in two parts, 28 to 30 passes in all. The first is a run of small dishes; when Singharaj took over they included scallop in soy and steamed with yuzu, caviar mousse on brioche with smoked eel, white prawn with persimmon and rice cracker, mushrooms with a dashi and black truffle sabayon, carabinero as tartare and with its head flambéed, a tuna-belly broth, crab with lotus, nori and salmon roe, and robata-grilled corvina. The second is the nigiri sequence, from amberjack, langoustine, red mullet and mackerel to salmon and three cuts of Balfegó bluefin, closing with an anchovy maki, red miso soup and dessert.

The menu name changes with the season, and so does much of what's on it. The pairing starts with grower Champagne from Laherte Frères for the opening dishes and moves to junmai daiginjo sakes, chosen from around 50, for the nigiri.

Toki opens Wednesday to Saturday for lunch and dinner, and is closed Sunday to Tuesday. Book by phone on 91 802 28 16, by email at info@restaurantetoki.com, or through its booking system; a credit card is taken as a guarantee but not charged at booking, and changes or cancellations must be made at least 48 hours ahead. Because the service starts at the same time for everyone, punctuality matters: there is a 15-minute grace period, after which late diners join the menu where it has reached, and after 40 minutes the booking counts as cancelled. There is no vegetarian or vegan menu, allergies should be flagged in advance, and Toki is not suited to children under 12; there are no high chairs or space for pushchairs.