I tried the Special Miso Ramen at Takumi 1st in Dusseldorf recently. FI'd give the overall…read moreexperience 8.3/10: - Soup: 9/10: Authentic/hearty - Noodle: 8/10: Doesn't "grab" onto the soup, a bit too tough/undercooked even after soaking still - Meat: 7.5/10: Decently cooked, cut was okay - Condiments: 7.8/10: Nice variety but not perfect balance - Atmosphere: 8.5/10The restaurant felt like ones in Japan which was nice. - Price: 8/10

After traveling around Switzerland for a week, it got to that point in the trip where we…read moredesperately needed Asian food. We were passing through Düsseldorf for half a day and saw they're known for their Japanese food, so we decided to check out Takumi! They have both indoor and outdoor seating available. AJITAMA TONKOTSU RAMEN: I'm a tonkotsu person and almost always order this over other types of ramen. Not sure if I was just so severely deprived of Asian food, but I felt Takumi's tonkotsu ramen ranked pretty high on my list! And coming from SoCal as well as having lived down the street from both major Japanese food hubs in Los Angeles, that's saying a lot! Good amount of pork, the noodles were cooked to the perfect texture, and the broth was rich without being overly salty. I don't usually enjoy other types of ramen so I can't speak for those items from their menu. But I slurped my entire bowl of tonkotsu ramen dry! KARAAGE: Large pieces with crispy exterior and super juicy interiors! I wasn't expecting much but in the end I was super happy we ordered this. Overall, amazing tonkotsu ramen located in Düsseldorf's Little Tokyo.

FOOD & DRINKS I have been at this location a few times…read morealready. All I get here is the banh mi and maybe a Vietnamese avocado smoothie. My preferred option is the banh mi dac biet which is basically their special with pate and meat. The baguette they use for the banh mi unfortunately isn't really fresh. They only toast it for a few minutes and it turns up more on the softer side. If you are used to the Subway bread, this might be ok for you but a Vietnamese baguette should be fresh, very crispy on the outside and very fluffy on the inside. The veggies tasted fresh, the pate was ok but not exciting and the meat were a few cold fatty cuts of pork. In my opinion the veggies could have been pickled a bit more. They just tasted like ordinary fresh veggies. The avocado smoothie was nice. SERVICE The guy who took my order was very nice and friendly. Same goes for the two cute Vietnamese girls. I asked for some Vietnamese chili with my banh mi and while they skimped a bit on the chili, the guy was only worried that I couldn't take the heat. ATMOSPHERE This place is small but has a few tables and some seats at the window. I would say the building is quite old but they made the best to make it look fresh and trendy. Some corners and decoration items really need some cleaning though. RATING I wish I could give this place one more star. I really do but the execution of the key components for a banh mi are just not up there yet. I mean its fine if you really want to eat some Vietnamese banh mi but for someone who has eaten so many banh mi around the world, I just can't justify 4 stars at that price.

3.5 stars. Very casual hipster Vietnamese place. Had the…read moresummer rolls and the veggie soup. The summer rolls were okay, but nothing to rave about. The veggie soup was surprisingly good and perfect for this fall day. Might still come again to try the bahn mi.