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Asian restaurant interior design covers an enormous range — from the calm minimalism of a Japanese sushi counter to the lacquered opulence of a Chinese banquet hall — yet the best Asian restaurant interiors share a single discipline: every material, every shadow, and every object on the table works toward one memorable experience. A great room makes the food taste better, keeps guests longer, and quietly persuades them to return.
This guide breaks down how to design an Asian restaurant interior across five major cuisines, then covers the universal decisions — layout, lighting, materials, furniture, and the artisan tableware that finishes every room. If you are focused specifically on Japanese or sushi spaces, see our deeper companion piece on sushi restaurant interior design.
1. Start With the Cuisine and the Audience
Before a single material is chosen, the room has to know who it serves and what it serves. The cuisine sets the cultural language; the audience sets the price point, the pace, and the mood. A fast, bright pan-Asian lunch spot and a hushed omakase counter can both be beautiful — but neither works if it borrows the other's interior.
- Who are your guests? Young professionals, families, tourists, or design-led diners seeking an occasion?
- What pace of dining? Quick counter meals, sociable shared tables, or slow multi-course evenings?
- Which cuisine leads? Commit to one design language and let it govern every later decision rather than blending three half-heartedly.
2. Five Asian Restaurant Design Concepts
Below are five proven directions — one per major cuisine — each with the materials that carry it and the tableware that completes it.
Japanese & Sushi
Japanese restaurant interior with shoji screens, pale wood and warm lanterns
Japanese design is the art of subtraction: pale and dark wood, shoji screens, tatami zones, negative space, and a muted natural palette. The sushi counter is theatre — the focal point where the chef works in full view. Keep decoration minimal and let the craft of the food and the room's quiet carry the experience. For the full treatment, read our complete sushi restaurant interior design guide.
The tableware should feel inherited rather than bought — hand-painted porcelain, deep underglaze blues, and the small irregularities of work made by hand.
Shop the Look: Japanese Tableware
Hand-picked from the Inner Union collection.
Chinese
Modern Chinese restaurant interior with lacquer red, dark wood and brass
Where Japanese design subtracts, Chinese design enriches. Think warm lacquer red, dark walnut, brass and gold detailing, and lattice screens — paired with large circular tables and lazy susans that put shared dining at the centre of the room. The mood is generous and celebratory, built for banquets and family gatherings. Dramatic pendant lighting and symbolic motifs add occasion without tipping into pastiche.
On the table, bolder is better: confident underglaze blues, fish and wave motifs, and pieces with a point of view hold their own against richly sauced, communal dishes.
Shop the Look: Bold Chinese-Style Tableware
Hand-picked from the Inner Union collection.
Thai
Thai restaurant interior with teak wood, lush greenery and golden light
Thai interiors are warm, lush, and sensory: carved teak, abundant tropical greenery, woven rattan, golden light, and accents of ochre and emerald. A small water feature or a wall of plants brings the outside in. The aim is a relaxed, slightly exotic intimacy — a room that feels like a warm evening even in mid-winter.
Rustic, earthy stoneware with organic glazes suits the bright, layered flavours of Thai cooking and the natural materials of the room.
Shop the Look: Earthy Stoneware for Thai Interiors
Hand-picked from the Inner Union collection.
Korean BBQ
Korean BBQ restaurant interior with grill tables, dark steel and warm wood
Korean BBQ is the most social Asian format, and the interior has to work hard around the built-in grill. Pair downdraft-vented grill tables with dark steel, warm oak, and durable leather banquettes, then drop a focused warm pendant over each table to make the cooking the centrepiece. The aesthetic is industrial-meets-cozy: energetic, polished, and built to take heat and heavy turnover.
Choose robust, heat-tolerant stoneware and plenty of small dishes for banchan — texture and durability matter more than delicacy here.
Shop the Look: Durable Stoneware & Small Dishes
Hand-picked from the Inner Union collection.
Vietnamese & Pan-Asian
Vietnamese restaurant interior with light wood, plants, rattan and natural light
Vietnamese and modern pan-Asian rooms are bright, fresh, and casual: light wood, plants and rattan, airy daylight, pale linen, and indochine touches in cream and pale green. This is the most flexible and the most Japandi-adjacent of the five — clean, photogenic, and easy to run at volume without feeling generic.
Simple, naturalistic ceramics with botanical motifs and soft glazes match the light palette and the fresh, herb-forward food.
Shop the Look: Light, Naturalistic Tableware
Hand-picked from the Inner Union collection.
3. Color and Lighting: Setting the Mood
Color and light decide how a room feels before anyone reads the menu — treat them as a pair.
Warm pendant and lantern lighting over an Asian restaurant at dusk
- Warm ambient light — paper lanterns, brass pendants, and 2700K warm-white bulbs make a room intimate and flatter natural texture.
- Focused task light — directional spots over the sushi counter, the grill, or the open kitchen turn the cooking into theatre.
- Dimmable everything — let staff move the room from bright and social at lunch to low and intimate at night.
Match the palette to the cuisine: muted naturals for Japanese and Vietnamese, warm reds and golds for Chinese, earthy ochres and greens for Thai, and dark industrial tones with warm pools of light for Korean BBQ. Plan color and light together, never separately.
4. Materials and Textures
Texture is what guests feel without consciously noticing it. The best Asian interiors layer a few honest materials and let them age in full view — patina is proof the room is real.
- Wood — bamboo, teak, oak, and walnut for floors, counters, and screens.
- Stone — slate, granite, and marble for durable, sophisticated surfaces.
- Rattan and woven fibers — baskets, light shades, and panels that warm up hard rooms.
- Textiles — linen, silk, and cotton for seating, runners, and acoustic softening.
Shop the Look: Natural Materials
Hand-picked from the Inner Union collection.
5. Furniture and Seating
- The open kitchen, counter, or grill — the central feature in most Asian formats; make it visible and light it well.
- Tables — circular for shared Chinese dining, built-in grill tables for Korean, low or standard for Japanese and pan-Asian.
- Seating — a mix of comfortable chairs, counter stools, banquettes, and floor cushions for tatami-style zones.
Whatever the cuisine, build the hero element — counter, grill, or open kitchen — from a single beautiful material, light it deliberately, and give guests room to lean in. It is the most photographed part of the room, which matters more than it used to.
6. Decor and Accents
Decor is where restraint pays off most. A few well-chosen objects say more than a wall of them, and the empty space around an object is part of the composition. Choose accents that could each stand alone — then use fewer than you think you need.
- Art and screens — scrolls, woodblock prints, lattice, and a simple ikebana arrangement.
- Ceramics on open shelving — tea bowls and platters that double as decor and as pieces guests actually use.
- Plants — bamboo, a sculptural branch, or lush tropical greenery depending on the cuisine.
Shop the Look: Decorative Ceramics
Hand-picked from the Inner Union collection.
7. Sustainability
- Eco-friendly materials — recycled and sustainable wood, bamboo, rattan, and natural fibers.
- Energy efficiency — LED and dimmable fixtures, efficient kitchen appliances.
- Durable, handmade tableware — pieces that last, reducing breakage and waste over time.
Sustainability and good Asian design share a philosophy: buy fewer, better things and let them wear in. Remodelista has long argued that the most considered interiors are also the most durable — built from honest materials that improve with age rather than degrade with trend.
8. Branding and Identity
Consistency turns a nice room into a recognizable place. The most memorable restaurants carry one identity from the logo and palette through the furniture, the lighting, the menu, and right down to the cup a guest drinks tea from. When every detail agrees, the room feels intentional; when they argue, even an expensive space feels generic.
A Note on Tableware: Where Interior Becomes Experience
Of every element in this guide, tableware is the one your guest actually touches. Walls and lighting set the stage, but the bowl in someone's hands is where the design becomes personal — and it is the most affordable place to invest in real craft. A single set of artisan ceramics costs a fraction of a fit-out yet shapes every plate that leaves the pass.
Shop the Look: Curated Artisanal Tableware
Hand-picked from the Inner Union collection.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you design an Asian restaurant interior?
Start with the cuisine and the audience, then commit to one coherent design language and carry it through layout, lighting, materials, and tableware. Use natural materials, layered warm lighting, and authentic ceramics, and keep decoration restrained so the food stays the focal point.
What is the difference between Japanese and Chinese restaurant design?
Japanese interiors subtract — pale wood, shoji screens, negative space, muted tones. Chinese interiors enrich — lacquer red, dark walnut, brass and gold, circular tables for shared dining, and dramatic lighting. Both rely on craft and symbolism, but in opposite directions.
What lighting is best for an Asian restaurant?
Layer three types: warm ambient light for atmosphere, focused task light over the bar or grill, and fully dimmable fixtures so the room shifts from bright at lunch to intimate at night. Aim for 2700K warm white and avoid flat overhead lighting.
What materials are used in Asian restaurant interiors?
Natural wood (bamboo, teak, oak, walnut), stone, rattan and woven fibers, paper and lattice screens, linen and cotton textiles, brass accents, and handmade ceramics — materials that create warmth and texture while ageing gracefully under heavy restaurant use.
What tableware should an Asian restaurant use?
Match durable artisan ceramics to the cuisine: hand-painted porcelain and ramen bowls for Japanese, bold underglaze pieces for Chinese and fusion, rustic stoneware for Thai and Vietnamese, and heat-tolerant stoneware for Korean BBQ. Buying coordinated wholesale sets keeps the table coherent and the unit cost low.
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