My Top 9 Favorite Restaurants in Asia

I recently traveled to Japan, Indonesia (Bali), Malaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand. During this trip I had some of the best food I have ever had! Each of these countries has such an amazing culinary scene so if you are planning on visiting any of these places for food you most definitely will not be disappointed!

I probably tried ~100 restaurants/food stalls during this trip but there were a couple that definitely stand out in my memory. Here is a list of 9 of my favorite restaurants from my trip that I think are a must try when you visit each of the following cities! They are listed chronologically based on when I visited as opposed to by how much I enjoyed each because it is so hard to choose between all these amazing spots!

1. Nikko Age Yuba Manju (Nikko, Japan)

The first dish that really shocked me during my trip is also probably the most surprising addition to this list. While I was staying in Tokyo I decided to make a day-trip to Nikko which was absolutely amazing, (checkout my last blog post to see my favorite cities in Japan), and the first food place that caught my attention was a small stall in the town square just up the street from the train station selling red bean paste tempura.

If you know me, you know that I don't really like fried foods and tempura isn't generally an exception. Also, based off my experience with eating red bean in Canada, I am, or rather was, personally not a very big fan of red bean either. When I bit into this tempura though it was heavenly. The red bean paste was silky smooth, slightly sweet, and had an amazing red bean flavor. The tempura was super crispy but still really light and on the exterior there was large pieces of flaky salt, making this the perfect sweet and salty dessert.

Even if you are not a big fan of red bean or tempura this is an absolute must-try when you are in Nikko and according to what is written at the vendors shop this is a specialty specific to Nikko!

2. Mendokoro Guriko (Nagoya, Japan)

I had a lot of really amazing ramen in Japan including two super famous spots for chicken ramen and duck ramen in Tokyo but this spot in Nagoya was probably my favorite by a slim margin. I believe there is multiple locations across Japan but I went to the Mendokoro Guriko in Nagoya.

The broth here is made with just chicken, which is surprisingly hard to come by in Japan, but sadly there was no non-pork protein options so I got it without meat and just added an egg. Despite not having any meat this ramen was still probably favorite from my time in Japan! The noodles were thin but very firm which I loved, the egg was absolutely perfect in texture and flavor, and the greens and onions on top were an amazing addition. Of course the highlight of this dish was the broth though which probably had the strongest chicken flavor out of the broths I tried without being too rich. I personally think this all made for a winning combination and I just wish they offered chicken meat as a topping as well!

3. Horumon Chiba (Kyoto, Japan)

This is the first restaurant I thought of when I started making my list. In Kyoto there are so many amazing restaurants but they are a bit on the expensive side. That also goes for this restaurant which is probably the most expensive restaurant on this list. While I typically opt for cheap eats and street food this restaurant was so good that I actually ended up going twice during my time in Kyoto!

This restaurant is pretty much a place that specializes in organ meat. The menu is just a list of different organ meats that changes depending on current availability. I am not a big organ person or even a red meat person but I wanted to try something I am not as used to so I decided to give it a go, and I am so happy that I did! All of the meat was amazing and the sauce that it was cooked with was phenomenal. My favorite cut was personally the beef cheeks but I also got to try things like stomach and other innards and I was shocked at how great everything tasted. They also had beef short rib which I got as my safe choice and it was so tender, juicy, flavorful.

They also grill all the meat at your table on a hot plate. This made the experience so much fun and the staff was so friendly! The workers couldn't really speak English but I had a whole conversation with the workers using Google Translate and they were all so friendly and nice!

During the grilling process all of the excess sauce and meat juices/fats drip into a bowl at the edge of the grill. At the end, you get a serving of udon or soba noodles which is fried on the hotplate with an egg and the meat dripping sauce. What an amazing concept! This restaurant is simple in the sense that it just offers a range of grilled meats but special in the perfectly developed flavors and expert service. This was probably my favorite restaurant in Japan and I highly recommend it if you are visiting Kyoto!

4. Warung Rama (Bali, Indonesia)

When I visited Indonesia I sadly did not get a chance to visit Jakarta where I hear you can find some seriously spicy food. Instead, I spent my time in Indonesia on the beautiful island of Bali. Here, the food is very different from the Indonesian food that I read about online. The flavors are generally very mild with tons of fresh, local ingredients! Despite the mild flavors the food was still amazing assuming you go to the right spot!

While a lot of Ubud, a popular community to stay at in Bali, has very touristy restaurants if you venture a little further our you can find some real gems. I personally walked to this spot right before closing through the dark night for half an hour because I desperately wanted some good local food and I am so glad that I did! I ordered the nasi campur, their signature dish, and saw her prepare my entire meal right in front of me with local ingredients that the chef gathers from the market each morning. When the food arrived the dish looked lovely and the flavor was even better, with each dish having such amazing well-rounded flavor.

If you are in Bali I highly recommend venturing out of the main tourist streets and getting some good local food and for this I specifically recommend Warung Rama!

5. Big Menu Restaurant (Hai Phong, Vietnam)

Vietnam had some amazing food and of course Hanoi had an incredible amount of great street food! Northern Vietnamese food is very different from Central and Southern Vietnam though apparently, with much milder flavors and a greater use of fresh ingredients. I obviously love super strong flavors so for me while all of the dishes I had were great nothing really stood out.

After Hanoi I got the opportunity to visit Hai Phong and Ha Long as well and Hai Phong is where I found what was probably my favorite restaurant in Vietnam! Hai Phong is a cute little city with a really lovely river waterfront that turns into a really fun place in the evening with restaurants setting up shop along the river. There is also a bunch of places where you can paint chalk figures which I didn't see anywhere else during my trip which was so cool!

Just past the main river walking street area is the restaurant that I absolutely loved. I went because it was packed with locals, not only was the street and interior full but there was also a whole back garden which was nearly full. I ended up ordering so many dishes like stir-fry beef, snails, noodles, etc. Everything was so tasty! The highlight was honestly probably the snails which were cooked to perfection and had a really interesting flavor. This place didn't have the absolute tastiest food I had during my trip but there was a huge amount of options all of which were really solid, and it was packed with locals so you know they're doing something right!

6. Wang Lang Market (Bangkok, Thailand)

Prior to visiting Bangkok I obviously had to checkout Mark Wiens's Bangkok travel itinerary on his blog. He suggested visiting Wang Lang Market and although it is a bit outside of the central tourist area I decided to make the trip to checkout this supposedly amazing food market!

When I arrived it started raining super hard and the market kind of started flooding which made it a bit harder to get around but I still managed to get through most of the market and was so surprised at the amazing food options and prices! All of the food looked amazing, there was great variety, and it wasn't very touristy so the prices were relatively low. I ended up trying two things from here, the first being an avocado smoothie with coconut water. The smoothie was super creamy with a great avocado flavor but also obviously really heavy so I saved most of it for later.

The second thing I tried was the star of the show, I wish I noted down the name but I posted a video at this spot on my TikTok which you can watch here. I got a variety of dishes including a stir fry and a papaya salad and everything was so delicious! There was a nice sweetness to the dishes balanced with savory goodness but most importantly it was probably the spiciest food I had on my whole trip! This was definitely the place where I felt I had the most authentic food in Bangkok.

7. Phed Mark (Bangkok, Thailand)

When I arrived in Bangkok I knew that one of my first stops had to be Mark Wiens's restaurant, Phed Mark! For those of you who don't know, Mark Wiens is my main inspiration for becoming a food vlogger. I have seen a countless number of his videos and I think it is hard to not get inspired by someone who is so positive and respects other cultures so much which is why I try my best to do the same in my videos :).

Since I am such a big fan I of course discovered that he has a restaurant in Bangkok and I heard they serve up a super spicy (Phed meaning "spicy" in Thai) authentic Thai dish called krapao, so I thought this place sounds perfect for me! It ended up being so perfect in fact that I ended up visiting twice!

Krapao is a dish composed of minced meat stir-fried with holy basil and chilies. Despite this seeming simplicity this is absolutely one of my top 3 favorite Thai dishes. At Mark's restaurant there is a variety of meats to choose from for the krapao including beef, chicken, pork, wagyu beef, squid, and a seemingly new addition of buffalo. They also allow you to adjust your spice level from 1-5 and of course I chose 5! Finally, the dish is topped off with duck eggs with a super creamy yolk.

The food was so savory, spicy, and overall incredibly delicious! I was truly impressed by the quality of food that Mark's restaurant serves up! Funnily enough though the level 5 actually wasn't as spicy as the food I had at the restaurant I mentioned above but it was still really nicely spicy. Overall, whether you are a Mark Wiens fan or not I think this restaurant is definitely worth coming to for krapao!

8. Kodeng Rattanakosin Noodles (Chiang Mai, Thailand)

During my trip, particularly in Southeast Asia, I used Grab A LOT. If you don't know, Grab is the main service in Southeast Asia for getting rides or ordering food and it is generally very cheap and the service is amazing! Some evenings I would get hungry and order food and of the restaurants I ordered from on Grab the most notable was probably Kodeng Rattanakosin Noodles in Chiang Mai.

I was looking for shrimp dumplings because this is what I was craving late at night and I came across this restaurant on Grab. These turned out to probably be my favorite dumplings from my trip and I actually ended up ordering them again the following night along with dishes like squid salad and curry. All of the dishes were so flavorful and the dumplings were so perfectly cooked, juicy, flavorful, and the shrimp tasted so high quality and fresh.

I have no idea how this restaurant is in person but if you are craving some delicious food for delivery in Chiang Mai I highly recommend this spot! Just make sure to translate the above name into Thai because I added the translated name here from the Grab app!

9. Khao Soi Lung Prakit Kad Kom (Chiang Mai, Thailand)

I had never tried khao soi prior to visiting Thailand but after my visit I can confidently say this is one of my top three favorite Thai dishes along with krapao and papaya salad! The way I describe is that it is kind of like the laksa that I have had but better, no disrespect to laksa though of course! Chiang Mai is considered the birthplace of khao soi so I had to try a couple of spots here, including the famous Khao Soi Lung Prakit Kad Kom. A lot of famous people have visited this restaurant and as I discovered it was for good reason.

The khao soi here was so incredibly rich and flavorful. It was spicy, creamy and savory with a perfect balance of flavors. With the addition of some extra chili and the usual sides of mustard greens and onions this was nearly the perfect bowl. I ordered the chicken but I also got to try the beef from my friend and both were amazing. I maybe wished that the soup on its own was a little spicier but I am also crazy about spicy food so regardless I would say this is a spectacular bowl of noodles!

Nearly all of the khao soi I tried in Northern Thailand was amazing but if you happen to skip over Chiang Mai and just visit Chiang Rai instead I actually probably had my second favorite bowl of Khao Soi here and it was in a super touristy area which surprised me so I would like to give it an honorable mention! If you visit Chiang Rai you obviously need to visit the famous White Temple, and luckily enough right across the street from the temple in a small food court there is a stand selling khao soi that will surely satisfy your cravings! I think the food court may be called Lanmanee Food Court based off what I see on Google Maps but it is pretty much the only place to get food near the temple so it's hard to miss. Definitely check it out if you get the chance to visit Chiang Rai!

Why no Malaysia?

If you follow me on social media you may know that I was a bit under the weather during my time in Malaysia. I got to explore Kuala Lumpur for a full day and Georgetown/Penang for a full day but none of the restaurants I went to really stood out. Everything I ate was very good but nothing was spectacular I guess. I hope I can visit Malaysia again soon so I can try all of the amazing food they have to offer though!

That is all for this post, if you have gotten this far I hope you enjoyed it! There are so many amazing restaurants in Asia and I honestly enjoyed probably 95% of the restaurants I went to so it was hard to choose favorites but I think these are some really good ones! If you want to see my trying these restaurants and others in action make sure to checkout my recent YouTube videos from Japan and follow me on TikTok. Also, checkout my other blog posts for more food and travel content. I hope you all have an amazing day!