Germany’s Asian food scene has changed substantially in the last decade. Here is an honest guide to finding genuinely good Asian food in Germany, using Munich as the primary example.
The German-Asian Food History
Asian restaurants in Germany until the 2010s were primarily Cantonese and Vietnamese restaurants adapted for German tastes — chop suey, sweet-sour pork, spring rolls — not the dishes that were actually eaten in Asia. The turning point came with: the expansion of the Korean community (particularly in Düsseldorf, which has Germany’s largest Korean population), the arrival of Japanese ramen culture (first genuine ramen shops opened 2012–2015), the growth of Thai food authenticity driven by Thai immigrants, and the general food literacy increase from German travellers to Asia. By 2026, Germany’s major cities have genuinely excellent options in several Asian cuisines.
Japanese Food in Munich
Munich has several restaurants worth serious attention: Izakaya (Steinstraße, Haidhausen) is the most respected Japanese restaurant in Munich by food critics — small, bookings required, izakaya-style shared dishes; Mifune Ramen (multiple locations) provides the closest to authentic Tokyo-style tonkotsu in Munich; Fukino (Maxvorstadt) is known for high-quality omakase at accessible prices; and Yoshino (Schwabing) for serious kaiseki-influenced tasting menus. For Japanese groceries and food products: Asian supermarkets in Schillerstraße, Sendlinger Tor, and the Japanese supermarket Yamazaki on Maximiliansplatz stock Japanese ingredients including sake, miso, konbu, and fresh wasabi when available.
Korean Food in Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf (not Munich) is the centre of Japanese and Korean food in Germany — it has Germany’s largest Japanese and Korean communities and the Immermannstraße (Little Tokyo/Little Korea) district. If you are travelling in Germany and want genuinely good Korean food: come to Düsseldorf. The Immermannstraße area has traditional Korean restaurants serving galbi, samgyeopsal, sundubu jjigae, and Korean fried chicken at authentic quality and reasonable prices. For ramen: Takumi (four locations in Düsseldorf, started the German ramen culture, multiple Michelin-recommended) is the reference standard.
Finding Asian Food Quality in Germany Generally
The indicators of authentic vs adapted quality: check the clientele (a Korean restaurant primarily serving Korean customers is almost certainly more authentic than one primarily serving Germans), look for hand-written or non-laminated menus, and avoid places that serve five different Asian cuisines simultaneously (pan-Asian menus are almost always a quality compromise). For Chinese food specifically: the best Chinese food in Germany is found in cities with substantial Chinese student populations — Berlin (Wilmersdorf, Charlottenburg), Frankfurt (Sachsenhausen), and Hamburg (the Chinese community near HafenCity).
