Brazilian Chefs Revolutionize Japanese Cuisine in Lisbon with After Dark Izakaya

The Brazilian Influence on Japanese Gastronomy in Portugal

In 2017, the Consulate General of Japan in São Paulo estimated that approximately 887,000 people in Brazil's largest state had Japanese ancestry. With a deeply rooted culture in Brazil, where tens of thousands of Japanese immigrants moved in the early 20th century, Japanese culture holds special significance in São Paulo, even having its own neighborhood: Liberdade, known as the birthplace of the best and most traditional Japanese cuisine restaurants in the metropolis.

The recent wave of Brazilian immigration to Portugal has brought this influence of Japanese gastronomy, which is increasingly gaining ground here as well. The latest example is After Dark, an izakaya (Japanese bar) that, under the hands of chef Matheus Martins, has been making waves in the Príncipe Real area, in the heart of Lisbon.

"I had the idea for the izakaya for a long time, and after a trip to Japan, we managed to put it into practice this year: basically, it was a matter of life or death—after the trip, either I stayed there, or I opened an izakaya here. Everyone ended up loving the idea, and we embarked on this adventure. Initially, we opened three nights a week; now it's five," the chef told DN Brasil in an interview at After Dark, which, during the day, operates as Boubou's Sandwich Club, the sandwich house of the Boubou's restaurant, where Matheus has worked since 2024.

The concept emerged from a conversation with Louise Bourrat, an award-winning French chef who runs Boubou's. A topic between the two for some time, the idea took shape four months ago, shortly after Matheus returned from his trip to Japan. Since then, the prestigious sandwich shop transforms at night into this innovative izakaya, bringing not only various references from the chef's trip to the East—from dishes to the counter and decor—but also much of his childhood.

This is because Matheus's relationship with Japanese cuisine goes way back: in fact, it has accompanied him practically since he was born. "My mother used to take me to restaurants in Liberdade when I was very little, a baby. She even tells me a story that at Takô, one of the first sushi restaurants in Liberdade, they made tiny hossomakis for me to put whole in my mouth when I was one year old," he recalls.


Connected to gastronomy since 2012, the chef left his hometown early to take a course in Melbourne, Australia. Upon returning to Brazil, he worked in various restaurants in São Paulo before moving to Fernando de Noronha, in Pernambuco, where he received, in 2022, the invitation to become the head chef of the Salta restaurant in Lisbon. He didn't think twice and packed his bags for Portugal.

Japanese Cuisine in Portugal

Since moving here, the fan and now specialist in the art of Japanese cuisine has seen a phenomenon become increasingly common. "You see many Brazilian chefs bringing this vibe of Japanese gastronomy to Portugal," says Matheus, citing as an example Habner Gomes of Yoso, a native of Minas Gerais who, in one year, led the restaurant to its first Michelin Star. "He's a guy with huge knowledge, an insane technique," emphasizes the chef, who also praises the work of other Brazilians at the helm of restaurants gaining space in the Lisbon scene.

"Lucas Azevedo is another who does incredible work at the helm of Ryoshi, super tasty dishes, as well as William Vargas and Gabriela Hatano at Omakase Hi. So even though it's not a city historically linked to Japanese cuisine, there are many Brazilian chefs bringing very good things in this sense," he explains.

For Matheus, who at After Dark started with a smaller menu and now implements other options (of seven or ten moments), Portugal has an advantage that facilitates the development of Japanese cuisine techniques: the products.

"The raw materials, the ingredients we have access to here, especially in terms of seafood, fish, and even meats from Galicia, for example, have a surreal quality. I think this marriage of what is available here in Portugal with Japanese gastronomy is perfect. Even though São Paulo has a very strong history and tradition with Japanese gastronomy, it's a place that still has some difficulty with product quality, something that Portugal does not lack," he reflects.


Well received by the public and his kitchen colleagues, Matheus considers that Lisbon has been a generous place since his arrival. "Being a Brazilian chef in Portugal, I see that I was very well accepted, both by the public and by the people I work with. Everyone embraced me from the start and gave me total freedom to create: I think Lisbon welcomed me in a very beautiful way," he says.

With only four months of operation, After Dark is still in its early stages, but the chef already talks about maturing the project and letting it grow naturally. "I have no plans to leave Lisbon now. I want to develop here, grow After Dark, and, who knows, explore new concepts in the future," he states. The idea of returning to Japan one day remains a desire, but for now, the mission is to continue lighting up Lisbon nights and reinforcing, with a Brazilian accent, the prominence of a new generation of chefs reinventing Japanese tradition in Portugal.