Gaijin Izakaya is a japanese izakaya restaurant in San Benedetto, Cagliari.
Editorially verified August 1, 2026 by Lewis Vaughan, TableJourney editor. Source.
Must order: A run of skewers off the charcoal counter.
Tip: Only four days a week, Wednesday to Saturday, and both sittings are small, so book ahead rather than walking up.
Address: Via Giacomo Puccini 15A, 09128 Cagliari
Osteria Kobuta cooks Japanese-Sardinian plates in Cagliari off Largo Carlo Felice, a seasonal menu built for sharing in a room of maybe ten tables.
Order: The seasonal sharing menu, start to finish.
Tip: Closed Tuesday, and the kitchen writes a new menu each season; WhatsApp booking is the fastest way to get a table.
Pani e Casu sits on Via Santa Croce inside Cagliari's Castello walls, serving bread, pecorino and Sardinian home cooking a few metres from the ramparts.
Order: Pane carasau with pecorino and a glass of Cannonau.
Tip: Service windows are tight, one hour at lunch and ninety minutes at dinner, so book; Monday the door stays shut.
Panefratteria builds its Cagliari menu on pane carasau, the sheet bread softened into pane frattau and zuppa gallurese in a modern room on Via Azuni.
Order: Pane frattau, tomato, pecorino and a poached egg.
Tip: Closed Tuesday; there is a garden at the back and the grappa and Sardinian wine list is longer than the food menu.
Josto in Cagliari is Pierluigi Fais's Via Sassari dining room, an open kitchen working bottarga, mullet and Sardinian meat into minimal modern plates.
Order: The tasting menu, bottarga and mullet included.
Tip: The tasting menu runs 70 euro; Sunday is the one day the room stays dark, and the kitchen works Monday to Saturday.
Luigi Pomata cooks Carloforte tuna in Cagliari, three rooms and a port-facing terrace above Viale Regina Margherita, raw fish to open and red tuna to follow.
Order: Red tuna, raw then seared, the house speciality.
Tip: Lunch service runs 13:00 to 15:00 Tuesday to Saturday and is the cheaper way in; tinned house tuna is sold to take home.
Amano is Vincenzo Sorvillo's Cagliari dining room on Via Sonnino, where five or seven plates are chosen off the Gran Carta and served as a tasting menu.
Order: The seven-plate tasting menu at 100 euro.
Tip: Five plates run 80 euro and seven run 100, drinks and service excluded; the Gambero Rosso 2026 guide gives it two forks at 80 points.
