The Best Places to Experience Southeast Asian Cuisine in Minneapolis
Top places to get the real deal Southeast Asian food you were never expecting to find this far north.
May is Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. From special events, delicious food spots, museum exhibits and more, Minneapolis has many different ways to celebrate and learn about Asian culture all month long.
Mia's diverse collection displays plenty of art created by the AAPI community as well as Asian artists from around the world. Their curators work hard to find works that are reflective of all communities. Check out their Collection of Asian Art, which include works from China, South and Southeast Asia, Japan and Korean. They currently have a few exhibits exploring Asian culture including:
As a hub for showcasing food and shopping from Minneapolis' diverse communities, Midtown Global Market not only offers a wide variety of Asian cuisine including, Intown Sushi, Pham’s Rice Bowl, Momo Dosa, and Sabbai Cuisine, but it also is home to a unique Tibetan shop, Tibet Arts & Gifts, filled with rare clothing, accessories and home decor from the Himalayas.
At Como Park Zoo & Conservatory's Ordway Gardens you will find Minnesota's only top-curated Japanese plant collection. Within the garden is a Bonsai tree collection that honors Japanese art. The Charlotte Partridge Ordway Japanese Garden was created by renowned landscape designer, Masami Matsuda from Nagasaki. His creation serves to honor Japanese design principals using Minnesota plants and trees.
A permanent collection at the Weisman, Traditional Korean Furniture, includes about 200 examples of Choson dynasty furniture, 80 Silla dynasty stoneware pieces, close to 150 folk paintings and wooden bowls and utensils, in addition to other folk arts and crafts. The collection represents many types of wood, decorative material, and joinery techniques. On view until May 25, 2025 is Ebb/Flow: Pritika Chowdhry, Chotsani Elaine Dean and Courtney M. Leonard, tells the story of the invasive effects of colonialism through large scale, ceramic-based installation works.
An indoor and outdoor marketplace with over 125 stalls and shops, including 11 restaurants. Here you can browse all types of products from food and fresh produce, to clothing, home items, and accessories. The marketplace has grown to become a commonplace for Hmong Americans and given them a familiar sense of home with the community.
The Walker Art Center is one of the most visited modern and contemporary art museums in the country. Its exhibits bring together collections of art from communities and creators across the globe. Currently, it is showcasing the work of Minneapolis–based artist Tetsuya Yamada.
From exquisitely crafted ceramic sculptures to delicate drawings to documentation of the artist’s self-organized installations in surprising sites around the Twin Cities, the featured works highlight Yamada’s engagement with the connections between life and art.
Yamada’s artistic influences include the ancient Japanese forms of Noh theater and the traditional tea ceremony; the punk rock and skateboarding cultures of his youth in Tokyo; the modernism of Constantin Brancusi and Isamu Noguchi; and the democracy of the “readymade” object espoused by Marcel Duchamp. On view until Jul 7, 2024.
United Noodles is a pan-Asian grocery store located in the Seward neighborhood of Minneapolis. Here you can pick up and discover new ingredients and products from China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, Hawaii and more.
The University of Minnesota campus is surrounded by pockets of Asian culture powered by food, the people who prepare it, and those who enjoy it. Within walking distance from campus, you’ll find restaurants, food halls, boba shops, bakeries, and cafés representing Korean, Vietnamese, Chinese, Indian, Hmong, Thai, Japanese, and Polynesian cuisines. These places represent a piece of home for the more than 4,000 Asian students, many of which are international. The array of authentic flavors offers the opportunity to learn more about generations and traditions of the AAPI community in Minneapolis.
May 1, 2024
6:00pm
Milkweed Books
Join us as Milkweed Books welcomes award-winning author Dorothy Chan for a reading from their new poetry book Return of the Chinese Femme, an unabashed exploration of queerness, excess, identity, and
tenderness. Dorothy will read from their book and sit in conversation alongside poet Douglas Kearney, followed by time for audience questions and a book signing.
May 5, 2024
Minneapolis Institute of Art
Bong Joon Ho brings his singular mastery home to Korea in this pitch-black modern fairytale.
Meet the Park Family: the picture of aspirational wealth. And the Kim Family, rich in street smarts but not much else. Be it chance or fate, these two houses are brought together and the Kims sense a golden opportunity. Masterminded by college-aged Ki-woo, the Kim children expediently install themselves as tutor and art therapist, to the Parks. Soon, a symbiotic relationship forms between the two families. The Kims provide “indispensable” luxury services while the Parks obliviously bankroll their entire household. When a parasitic interloper threatens
the Kims’ newfound comfort, a savage, underhanded battle for dominance breaks out, threatening to destroy the fragile ecosystem between the Kims and the Parks.
By turns darkly hilarious and heart-wrenching, PARASITE showcases a modern master at the top of his game.
May 8, 2024
7:30pm
Cedar Cultural Center
The Cedar is honored to host this wonder-filled evening of openness and vulnerability with co-headliners MIZU using the vast sound-world of the cello in her intricately looped and layered compositions + OHYUNG,
Robert Ouyang Rusli's solo experimental project ranging from ecstatic pop and ambient drones to brutalist noise. Local artists/composers Meridian Shanewood and Ryann Daisy Swimmer support.
May 11, 2024
8:00pm
Cedar Cultural Center
Two-time JUNO and Songlines Award winner Kiran Ahluwalia’s open-hearted vocals have positioned her as one of global music’s most compelling cross-pollinators bringing together the disparate traditions of Indian music, West African Blues and Jazz.
With her band of electric guitar, accordion, organ, tabla, bass and drum kit, Ahluwalia creates boundary-breaking songs that invite us to explore the human condition, transcending the self by losing ourselves in a trance of groove and melody. Celebrating The Cedar’s mission to promote intercultural appreciation and understanding through the presentation of global music on this special springtime Saturday evening show.
May 13, 2024
5:00pm & 7:30pm
901 W Lake St,
Experience an exclusive culinary journey as Chef Yia Vang unveils Hmong cuisines that resonate with the rich history, contemporary essence, and future aspirations of the Hmong American narrative. Join us for an
unforgettable gastronomic adventure!
May 17, 2024
8:00pm
Cedar Cultural Center
For just over a decade, Prateek Kuhad has been quietly carving out a unique role for himself as a globally recognized pop musician from India. Originally from the northern city of Jaipur, Kuhad, who sings in Hindi and English, easily connects with fans of all ages and backgrounds. Praised by Rolling Stone India as "one of the country's leading singer-songwriters," Kuhad found a new wave of global recognition in 2019 when former President Barack Obama added the heartfelt breakup ballad "cold/mess" to his annual list of favorite songs. Following his acclaimed 2021 Hindi EP, Shehron Ke Raaz, Kuhad now arrives and tours with his third studio album, The Way That Lovers Do.
May 26, 2024
1:00pm
Arbeiter Brewing
Join us for our inaugural Asian Phoenix Festival on May 26th as part of our celebration of AAPI Month! Great food, cultural activities, market, music, and of course beer! More Details to come!
901 W Lake Street & 520 N. 4th St.
Chef Yia Vang's restaurants serve Hmong comfort food influenced by American flavors. You'll find dishes like Hmong sausage (Two housemade coarse-ground sausage links with Krunchy Chili Oil.), Khao sen rice noodles, Sticky spare ribs with tamarind sauce, and more.
Khâluna transports visitors across the ocean with its colorful array of food and dreamy interior. The soft and beachy atmosphere and Lao dishes for which Khâluna is known provides a vacation right in South Minneapolis.
Popular Northeast restaurant Hai Hai, serves Vietnamese street food. Inspired by dishes that Chef Christina Nguyen grew up eating at home, at family celebrations, and during several trips to Southeast Asia, you can expect to find more than just the standards like pho and pad thai.
From James Beard awarding winning chef, Anne Kim, this restaurant focuses on Kim's Korean heritage and culinary journey. The menu mixes bold Korean flavors with hints of the Midwest.
At Curry in Hurry grab delicious bowls of Indian staples and street food, including Tikka Masala, Coconut Curry and Biryani.
A family-run restaurant offering flavorful dishes of traditional Vietnamese food. Find passed down recipes of soups, rice & noodle dishes, and pho.
Gai Noi brings Laotian cuisine to the neighborhood of Loring Park through Chef Ann Ahmed's creative culinary recipes. Dip your sticky rice into some tomato Jeow, order a refreshing watermelon salad is topped with shrimp flakes and crispy shallots or the papaya salad. It's all meant for sharing, so bring some friends and try out a few menu items.
More Restaurants:
Japanese
Indian/Nepalese
Vietnamese
Hawaiian
The Best Places to Experience Southeast Asian Cuisine in Minneapolis
Top places to get the real deal Southeast Asian food you were never expecting to find this far north.
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