Eating great Asian food in Israel has become easy. Learning to cook it is a different story — until recently, that meant importing a cookbook and improvising. A growing number of cooking instructors have changed that: Japanese immigrants teaching miso-making in their home kitchens, a Thai chef with 28 years of Bangkok-trained experience running workshops from the Galilee, a Korean MasterChef finalist hosting private dinners in Kfar Saba. The options now span every budget and every corner of the country.
Whether you want a date-night sushi class, a corporate team-building afternoon, or a birthday experience that isn’t a restaurant booking, the options below are the best in each cuisine category.
Japanese#
Tomoko’s Kitchen — Moshav Bnei Zion#
The standout for authentic Japanese home cooking. Tomoko Nakamura made aliyah from Japan and teaches from her kitchen in Moshav Bnei Zion (between Netanya and Tel Aviv). The workshops cover miso-making, gyoza, tofu, koji fermentation, and traditional family meals — the kind of cooking that rarely appears on Israeli menus. Classes are taught in Hebrew, English, and Japanese, and skew toward small, intimate groups.
📍 Moshav Bnei Zion | tomokojapanese.co.il | @tomokojonak | 052-593-1115
Batyush — Multiple Locations#
Batya is a molecular biologist who retrained as a chef and now runs boutique Asian cooking workshops across Israel. The focus is sushi, ramen, gyoza, and steamed buns — with the precision you’d expect from someone who once spent their days in a lab. The combination of detailed technique and genuine culinary knowledge makes these workshops unusually good for serious home cooks.
📍 Private kitchen, location varies | batyush.co.il | @batyush_
Ella Barlev — The Japanese House, Ashdod#
Ella Barlev is a math teacher turned chef who teaches ramen, sushi, and dumpling workshops from her home kitchen in Ashdod. Her workshops are known for unusually detailed instruction — she writes out the science alongside the technique — and a generous teaching style that works well for beginners. The south Tel Aviv area has few good Japanese cooking options; this fills the gap.
📍 Ashdod (home kitchen) | @ellabarlevchef
Yarin Ben Shushan — Private Sushi Chef (Nationwide)#
A private Japanese sushi chef who travels to clients across Israel. Yarin offers traditional omakase dinners, authentic sushi workshops, and sashimi platter delivery. If you want a hands-on sushi class at your own kitchen table — with all the fish and rice brought to you — this is the most flexible option in Israel. Kosher-certified.
📍 Travels across Israel | WhatsApp booking | @yarin_ben_shushan
Thai#
ShamSiam — Rehovot (also travels to clients)#
Chef Eli Shamsian’s Thai cooking workshops are the most established in Israel. Shamsian is Persian-Israeli with deep roots in Thai cuisine and runs workshops from his kitchen in Rehovot or at clients’ homes across central Israel. The menu of workshop types is comprehensive: classic Thai, vegan Thai, Thai grill, Asian dumplings, and street soups. Tuesdays and Fridays are typical workshop days, with morning and evening slots.
Good for: corporate team events, private groups, birthday experiences. Vegan-friendly.
📍 Rehovot (also travels) | shamsiam.co.il | @sham__siam | 054-673-4521
Swadika Thai Food — Shemshit (Galilee, also travels)#
Chef Alon Hevel has 28 years of Thai cooking experience and offers workshops from his base in Shemshit in the Lower Galilee, with travel to clients on request. Workshop formats include standard, vegan, gluten-free, and children’s programmes, plus culinary tours and corporate team-building packages. Kosher-certified and vegan-capable — a relatively rare combination for Asian cooking in Israel.
📍 Shemshit, Lower Galilee (also travels) | thaifood.co.il | @sawadika_thaifood | 050-462-4111
Korean#
Chef Ash — Tel Aviv#
The most accessible Korean cooking workshop in Israel. Chef Ash runs hands-on sessions covering gyoza folding, ramen from scratch, Korean corn dogs, house-made sriracha, and more — from her home kitchen in Tel Aviv, or at yours. Private events, open group sessions, and corporate experiences are all available. Vegan options on request.
📍 Tel Aviv (also travels) | linktr.ee/Chefff_Ash | @chefff_ash | 054-565-0877
Begopa — Kfar Saba#
Tajin Kim-Doron is South Korean by birth and known in Israel from MasterChef Israel season 8. She hosts private Korean dining experiences and cooking workshops from her home in Kfar Saba — the address is shared upon reservation via Ontopo. The format is closer to a private dinner-with-instruction than a formal cooking class: you cook, you eat, you ask questions. With 58k Instagram followers and a genuine reputation for Korean home cooking, the waiting list can be long.
📍 Kfar Saba (home dining) | Reservations via Ontopo | @begopa_korean_chef | 050-236-6986
Chinese & Multi-Cuisine#
Bishulon — Tel Aviv#
Israel’s largest cooking school runs dedicated Asian cooking workshops as part of its broader curriculum: Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Indian, and sushi classes all appear on the schedule. If you want a more structured school environment — fixed curriculum, professional kitchen facilities, multiple class dates to choose from — Bishulon is the practical choice. Good for solo sign-ups rather than private group bookings.
📍 Tel Aviv | en.bishulon.co.il | @bishulon
Practical Notes#
Price ranges. Most independent workshops run ₪200–₪350 per person for a two-to-three hour session, typically including all ingredients and a shared meal at the end. Private group bookings (6–15 people) often work out cheaper per head. Bishulon prices are similar for open enrolment.
Booking lead time. Independent instructors — especially Tomoko, Begopa, and Yarin — book up weeks in advance, particularly for Friday mornings and weekends. Contact as soon as you have a date in mind.
Gift certificates. Several instructors (ShamSiam, Swadika, Chef Ash) offer gift vouchers on request — worth asking about if you want a present for someone who cooks.
Corporate and team events. ShamSiam and Swadika both explicitly offer team-building packages. Chef Ash also does group events. For a full private experience, Tomoko’s Kitchen and Begopa work well for smaller teams (up to around 12 people).
Languages. Most workshops are conducted in Hebrew, with several instructors also offering English instruction (noted above). Tomoko’s Kitchen is the only one that also teaches in Japanese.
For the full directory of Asian food businesses in Israel, see our Asian businesses directory.
