Places in this guide
N°1Thai restaurantSAM & LIE
A Gault&Millau toque and the Table Gourmande mention for a Thai restaurant out in Saint-Andre: nothing else in the area comes close. The Lille press has called it the benchmark Thai table for years, and Google reviews back that up, very high across nearly a thousand of them. The pad thai is what people come for.
« It is the Lille locals' favourite place for Thai food, a real institution in the metro area. »
— Lille AddictSee the full place file8 mentions
N°2IzakayaAokamo
This is the only Asian address in Lille picked up by Le Fooding, which calls it a neo-izakaya. Behind it sits genuine chef intent: Ryo Nakamura, from Okinawa, and Remi Aboudiab turned Bleu Canard into a Japanese table without losing its bistronomy spirit. On rue Pierre Mauroy, two rooms, two moods.
« A neo-izakaya a wingbeat away from its parent house Bleu Canard, Aokamo is the new address from partners Ryo Nakamura and Remi Aboudiab. »
— Le FoodingSee the full place file5 mentions
N°3Korean restaurantDaehan
Daehan opened in February 2021 and has not emptied since, to the point that the kitchen had to rethink its menu, as Metropolys reported. Six local press domains have covered it, from Le Chti to Vozer. It is the table that put Korean cooking into Lille's habits, with one of the city's best Google ratings across more than 1,500 reviews.
« Stepping past the bamboo facade, my journey to Korea begins. »
— Le ChtiSee the full place file6 mentions
N°4Banh mi shopSmokey Banh Mi
Nine separate press domains, including La Voix du Nord, for a banh mi counter: the sign of an address that has become a landmark. Juliette Poly started at the Friche Gourmande in Fives before settling on avenue du Peuple Belge, where the Vietnamese sandwich is joined by salads and nems. Le Chti files it under budget lunch.
« Smokey Banh Mi: Juliette's Vietnamese street food arrives in Vieux-Lille. »
— La Voix du NordSee the full place file8 mentions
N°5Bao barCh'ti Bao - République
Ch'ti Bao crosses Asian street food with the North, literally: the steamed baozi takes on local fillings. Arounie Cagnon opened on rue Gombert in May, and the house shows the strongest review growth in this selection, with the best rating on the list. Actu.fr and L'Essentiel covered the launch.
« Ch'ti Bao is the restaurant that fuses Asian street food with the cooking of the North in Lille. »
— Lille AddictSee the full place file5 mentionsRating rising
N°6Thai restaurantGénéral Tom Kha
Martin, a young chef from Hazebrouck, spends his holidays in Southeast Asia and brings the recipes back to rue du Molinel. Seven press domains have followed, including a food blog that made it a favourite. The menu stays short, Thai and Vietnamese, which explains a very high Google rating across more than 850 reviews.
« This week, immediate take-off for Thailand with a magnificent, lightly reworked and gloriously festive cuisine. A favourite. »
— cestmeilleurquandcestbon.comSee the full place file4 mentions
N°7Sake barDaikanyama - bar et restaurant japonais
Daikanyama is the bar side of the Aoyama project, opened a few doors down rue de Gand by the same founder, and built for Japanese-style drinking rather than a full meal. Seven local press domains, including actu.fr and Le Bonbon, have told the story. Its Google ratings are among the highest in this selection.
« After Aoyama, the Daikanyama bar will bring Japan into your glass. »
— VozerSee the full place file6 mentions
N°8Japanese restaurantIzumi
Eight separate local newsrooms have written about Izumi since it opened, between Republique and Rihour, which is a lot for a city-centre Japanese restaurant. The point is consistent across articles: a menu that moves beyond assembly-line sushi, served in carefully composed bento boxes. The high Google rating across more than 750 reviews confirms the consistency.
« An upmarket Japanese restaurant in central Lille offering a fine-dining experience built around sushi. »
— Lille AddictSee the full place file12 mentions
N°9Japanese restaurantAoyama - restaurant japonais
Aoyama took the opposite path from the standard Lille Japanese: no sushi, no maki, but the bistro cooking Florian Rousies went to find on site, after several stays in Japan and a crowdfunding campaign. Eight local press domains followed the story. The room, at the top of rue de Gand, feels like a Tokyo canteen.
« At Aoyama, no sushi and no maki. Florian Rousies, 25, has made several trips to Japan. »
— actu.frSee the full place file10 mentions
N°10Japanese restaurantKISORO
Kisoro has held rue du Molinel long enough to appear in Le Chti's selections year after year, from 2016 to today. It is the station-side Japanese that Lille locals name first for unfussy sushi and sashimi, with a hot-starter menu that avoids an all-raw format.
« Kisoro is one of Lille locals' favourite places for Japanese food. »
— Lille AddictSee the full place file13 mentions
N°11Chinese restaurantMian Dian
The smallest Chinese restaurant on the list, and the cheapest: house-made noodles and dumplings, between eight and fifteen euros a dish according to Le Bonbon, in the student quarter near the Catho. Les Cachotteries de Lille sums the menu up in three words: soup, dumplings, rice. Yet its Google rating is among the highest here.
« Mian Dian is a Chinese restaurant specialising in traditional cooking, particularly known for its house-made noodles and dumpling dishes. »
— Le BonbonSee the full place file2 mentions
