ISA Restaurant & Cocktail Bar: Asian Cuisine and Nighttime Dining at Four Seasons Madrid
– 4 min read
ISA Restaurant & Cocktail Bar, located within Four Seasons Hotel Madrid, operates at the intersection of dining, cocktail culture and nightlife. Since opening in 2022, the venue has positioned itself not as a formal gastronomic destination, but as a restaurant shaped by evening rhythm — where food, bar programme and atmosphere move in parallel.
ISA occupies a discreet space inside the hotel, accessible without ceremony. The layout unfolds as a sequence of connected areas rather than a single dining room, encouraging circulation between tables, bar and private rooms. This fluidity allows dinner to transition into a longer stay without requiring guests to shift location or intent. As the evening progresses, the tempo slows: conversations lower, glasses remain on tables longer, and the room settles into a quieter register.
Space and Design
The interior, designed by New York-based studio AvroKO, references the aesthetic language of an Asian speakeasy without direct imitation. Dark woods, layered textures and hand-painted details structure the space, while the circular main bar functions as both visual and social centre.
A second, smaller bar area — Himiko — supports chef-led interactions and intimate group formats. The design allows the venue to adapt between early evening service and late-night operation without conceptual interruption. This spatial flexibility defines ISA's identity: the room absorbs the evening rather than directing it.
The Menu: Asian References, Contemporary Execution
ISA's kitchen treats Asian cuisine as a framework rather than a single tradition. The menu moves across regions, combining Japanese techniques with broader Asian influences and Mediterranean sourcing.
The chef's sushi and nigiri selection provides the clearest entry point. Rice is seasoned with care, fish sliced with precision. The eggplant nigiri, glazed in caramelised miso and sesame, demonstrates the kitchen's focus on umami-driven flavours and controlled sweetness. Among the signature rolls, the ISA Dragon Roll maintains restraint, avoiding excess sauce or decorative layering.
Grilled plates introduce greater depth. Iberian pork pluma, finished with Sichuan pepper and char siu sauce, merges local product with Asian seasoning without overcomplication. The Kagoshima A5 wagyu skewer offers a more direct expression: premium beef, precise cooking, fat structure foregrounded. Dishes are portioned for sharing, reinforcing the restaurant's social format.
Raw dishes and small plates set the evening's tone. Edamame sautéed with kimchi and lime, eggplant nigiri with caramelised miso — both illustrate the kitchen's preference for texture and temperature handled with precision. Flavours are layered with intent: never to dominate, always to coexist.
Monday to Thursday, ISA offers the Hakken Menu (€50) — a structured overview built around sautéed edamame with kimchi and lime, eggplant nigiri with caramelised miso and sesame, Iberian pork pluma with Sichuan pepper and char siu sauce. Rather than a condensed tasting menu, Hakken presents a cross-section of the kitchen's approach: Japanese foundations, Asian seasoning, Mediterranean product, aligned for weekday dining without reducing culinary intent.
Cocktails function as a core component, led by bartender Miguel Pérez. The list favours minimalism in presentation, with emphasis on balance, texture and aromatic clarity. Alongside signature cocktails, the bar maintains a focused selection of sake and Japanese whiskies, positioning drinks as equal counterpart to food rather than secondary feature.
The bar's central placement in the layout ensures many guests engage with ISA through both glass and plate. In Madrid, where cocktail bars and restaurants often operate separately, ISA addresses both with equal attention at the same table.
Evenings are shaped by light programming rather than spectacle. DJ sets, occasional live music and chef collaborations introduce variation without dominating the dining experience. Four-hands dinners in the Himiko space reinforce the restaurant's focus on interaction and informality.
ISA functions less as a destination restaurant, more as a nighttime address — one that accommodates dinner, drinks and extended conversation within the same setting.
Editorial Verdict
ISA Madrid operates through alignment. The kitchen does not aim to define Asian gastronomy, nor does the venue rely on theatrical dining. Its strength lies in how kitchen, bar and space support Madrid's contemporary dining culture — social, evening-led, fluid.
What distinguishes ISA is its ability to remain a restaurant as the night unfolds — a place where the meal never reads as prelude, and the bar never as afterthought.
For diners seeking Asian-inspired cuisine paired with a serious cocktail programme, within a setting that transitions naturally from dinner to night, ISA remains one of Madrid's most coherent propositions.
