Do you crave Japanese food? Sushi? Noodles? Düsseldorf is the place to go for some authentic, tasty Japanese dishes.
A little about Düsseldorf
We had only been to this northern city once before, about five years or so ago. We flew out of the airport, and before we did, we wanted to watch a Fasching parade because I’d heard it was one of the best.
Fasching season is in the middle of winter, and while we were there, it was a cold, gray, misty day, which colored our reaction. We didn’t really give the city a chance and left with a “meh” feeling about it.
For more listen to our podcast: Weekend Getaway in Düsseldorf with Japanese Food and Altbier.
Skip to the present, and we kept hearing over and over how wonderful the city is! And importantly, for those of us who love sushi and other things Japanese, it was the place to go!
We did a bit of research and found out that it has the largest Japanese population in Germany, with many fantastic restaurants. Needless to say, we were sold, and off we went for a Düsseldorf weekend getaway where we would enjoy some great food and some alt-bier.
Japanese Food in Düsseldorf
The Japanese district is mainly found on Immermanstrasse, where there are food stores, cafés, boba tea, bookstores, and all kinds of things…most importantly tons of eateries!
After living in Japan for over five years, we missed many dishes. We were on the lookout for sushi, ramen, tonkatsu, tempura, soba, and onigiri. Of course, we couldn’t eat all of them in one weekend, but we were going to give it a go!
Sushi
Sushi was our number one dish we wanted to try. It’s so hard to find really good sushi outside of Japan. We have tried two places in Düsseldorf so far, and the more we go back, I’m sure we’ll try some more.
The very first evening, Jim found a sushi restaurant that was very close to our hotel a few blocks from Immermanstrasse. It was called Sushibar Fujiyama (Bahnstr.62). Upon entering, we felt its authenticity. A couple runs it, and the husband is behind the sushi case, ready to slice you your favorites, while his wife is the hostess.
We thought she was the waitress as well, but we soon found out that no, it was a robot. Again, how Japanese! Even though they speak English, we loved ordering in Japanese and having some of our favorite sushi.
The second one we tried was on recommendation from our hotelier. Eat Tokyo, right on Immermanstr., is an all-around Japanese restaurant, and what we love are the sushi boxes and gyoza. It’s become one of our go-to places because you can get just about anything there.
It’s pretty large, and we’ve always found a table. For other restaurants, we recommend you make reservations because they are small and fill up quickly.
Tonkatsu
The last place we lived in Japan was Kamakura, and there we had this perfect little tonkatsu place that we frequented. It’s one of Jim’s favorite foods, so it was high on our want-to-eat list as well.
Right on Immermanstrasse, we found one called Tonkatsu Gonta. It had a pretty extensive menu, and we all saw one we wanted to try. I got one with cheese, and Jim got the more traditional one.
We did have to wait in line here for about 15 minutes. This was a theme in most of the places on Immermanstrasse. The Japanese food is very popular. Make reservations!
Cold Soba Noodles
Japan is “mushi-atsui” in summer, which means it’s very hot and humid. Uncomfortably so. I can’t say I ever got used to it, but I did learn the best food to eat during the summer is cold soba. Yep, that’s right. Cold!
I probably lived in Japan for three years before I tried cold soba, but I loved it so much that by the time I left, I was ordering it during all seasons at least once a month. It’s addictive.
Needless to say, I wanted some.
We found Soba An (Klosterstr. 68), and it hit the spot! All of us love cold soba, so we all ordered platters and slurped it all up. Delicious!
Onigiri
Onigiri is one of those foods that you don’t really see in restaurants or even in Japanese food stalls. They are made at home or you can find an entire array of them at any convenience store – a combini.
It’s cheap and delicious, and there are so many good ones to try. One of my go-to’s is tuna, but I tried a lot of different ones.
As we were walking along Immermanstrasse, we noticed a couple of tables on the sidewalk where people were eating takoyaki and onigiri. Now, I’m not much of a takoyaki (octopus balls) fan, but the onigiri were calling to me.
I ordered the spicy karage (chicken), and let me tell you, I will never go to Düsseldorf and not get them. It just won’t happen. I dream about them; they’re so good.
You can go in and sit down or order from the window at Takoyaki Teppachi (Immermanstr.). I think it’s worth it to go inside because you can watch them make the food. There’s nothing better.
However, I’ve been so many times now that I just go out to the window to order, wait for it to be made, and then go on my merry way. I’m at the point now where I always stop here before I leave the city to bring some home with me. Yum!
Conclusion
German food, European food in general, is amazing! We love trying traditional dishes wherever we go. But sometimes, we crave Japanese food, so when we heard that Düsseldorf was the place to find authentic sushi and tonkatsu we were on our way.
The city did not disappoint. Now, it’s a place we go over and over again, just to relax, eat some excellent Japanese food and of course to drink alt bier.
Author Bio: Corinne Vail is a travel photographer, food lover, and a perpetual traveler who has been travel writing for over 14 years. For many years she lived overseas in Germany, Japan, Turkey, South Korea, and the Netherlands teaching the children of the US. military. She’s visited over 90 countries, and she’s not stopping anytime soon.