Table of contents:
The so-called "Little Tokyo" district is in my opinion not to be named so, because the Korean community is just as strong there, with many Korean restaurants, Korean cafes and in addition the largest Korean supermarket in Germany, represented as Japanese culture. But precisely because of the settlement of many Japanese and Korean restaurants, the selection and quality in the district around Oststraße is phenomenal.
Do you live in Düsseldorf or are you planning to visit this beautiful city on the Rhine as part of the Japan Day held here annually, then plan to visit at least the following restaurants.
Ryu and I live near Düsseldorf and have loved visiting the following restaurants and recommend these East Asian eateries from the bottom of our hearts. Through our experience of Japanese and Korean cuisine, we can tell you for sure where it's worth going.
Our Little Tokyo Menu
Korean Restaurants
Let's start with the Korean restaurants you should visit.
Yogi
Yogi is a relatively new Korean restaurant in the Oststraße district. This location gives you the feeling of sitting in a restaurant in South Korea. Here you order several dishes from the menu together with your friends and enjoy the food with lots of soju (Korean alcohol) and beer. Not everyone has their own dish here, but they are placed in the middle of the table, from which each of your friends can serve themselves.
Bibimcup
Bibimcup is a restaurant that initially specialized in the dish "Bibimbap". In the meantime, the owners have expanded the restaurant with additional seats and Korean dishes and are guaranteed to provide a cozy Korean dinner in the evenings.
Learn more about Bibimcup here
Hankookkwan
Hankookkwan is a traditional Korean restaurant that serves a variety of delicious dishes. The restaurant leans towards an authentic design on the inside and the atmosphere is cozy and harmonious. Hankookkwan is suitable for special occasions, because in addition to special Korean soups, 8 free refillable side dishes, there is the possibility of experiencing a Korean barbecue. However, you should reserve a table for the evening, that way you're on the safe side.
Learn more about Han Kook Kwan here
Food Jung
Food Jung is not a restaurant in the narrower sense, because you buy the food and eat it in another place. This small establishment consists only of a counter and a large open refrigerator. The specialization of the dishes at Food Jung lies in Korean meat dishes such as Bossam and Chokbal (Korean style pork knuckle). Here you can also buy Korean grilled meat and Banchan and thus prepare a fantastic barbecue evening or your own Korean barbecue.
Namu
Namu is a small Korean cafe that specializes in the Korean dessert Bingsu. Bingsu is a Korean ice cream that is layered with snowflake-like ice crystals and can be topped with toppings of your choice. Especially because Bingsu ice cream is very rare in Germany, you should visit this cafe and cool down on warm days with such a sweet temptation.
You can find our detailed report here.
Pochangmatcha
Pochangmatcha follows the same concept as Yogi, it just exists much longer near Oststraße. Here you also order different dishes together with friends and enjoy them together with beer and soju.
Japanese Restaurants
Now let's move on to the Japanese restaurants in Düsseldorf that you absolutely must visit.
Big Tuna Sashimi Bar
The BTSB is a phenomenal small Japanese restaurant near the Korean supermarket Hanaro Markt, right at the Oststraße stop. The BTSB specializes in the simple Japanese dish Donburi (Japanese rice bowl with different toppings). You can read about what exactly a Donburi is here. The special feature is, as the name suggests, the use of tuna. This restaurant only offers tuna Donburis (short tuna-don) in different variations. You can choose between several tuna-dons with different toppings and sauces. Fresh and juicy tuna steaks are used for the tuna, which are minimally pan-fried and therefore become particularly tender and juicy. The steaks are then cut into thin slices and placed on the don. We find the offered menu set extremely good, where you get a tuna-don, a homemade small miso soup and a drink for just 11 euros.
Learn more about the BTSB here
Naniwa
Naniwa is a Japanese ramen noodle soup bar in the middle of "Little Tokyo". This ramen bar is a very popular restaurant and here you often have to accept long waiting times in front of the restaurant, despite many seats. The restaurant serves many different ramen soups, which also offers Korean ramen soups in addition to Japanese ramen soups. This ramen bar is one of the best restaurants in Düsseldorf for us.
Takumi
Takumi is also a very well-known Japanese ramen bar in Düsseldorf. Takumi has several locations, meanwhile a 2nd Takumi has opened in Düsseldorf, as the first small Takumi is almost always fully booked. Here, too, you have to accept waiting times in front of the door.
Waraku
Waraku is a small Japanese "snack bar", similar to the Korean "snack bar" establishment FoodJung. In Waraku you can buy freshly made Onigiris for your Düsseldorf city trip.
Comments