Exploring Fukuoka Hakata's Best Eats: Top Tips from Foodie Tour Guide

Looking to go beyond the bounds of Tokyo on your next Japan trip? Well, in that case, I think Fukuoka City might just be your answer. With incredibly close proximity to cities like Taipei, Shanghai, Seoul, and Busan, as well as direct access by train and plane from Tokyo, Fukuoka is becoming an increasingly popular tourist hub, especially known for its amazing food scene. Super duper fresh. This is something that I was sleeping on in Hakata. That's why I'm back in Fukuoka today to get some help from some local tour guides. They're going to be showing me around Fukuoka to find some local hidden gems. I am in Hakata. Hakata is a port town and Fukuoka's largest business hub, so it has a really diverse food scene and a lot of great locations you probably won't be able to discover without the help of some locals. Before we dive in today, make sure to subscribe so that you can help us make even more amazing Japan content if you're enjoying what you're seeing so far. And don't forget to hit the notification button so you know exactly when a new video drops. And without further ado, let's go meet our guide for today. Let's go explore Hakata! Oh, I think I see him over there. Hi, Mason! Hi, Shizuka! Long time no see! How are you doing? Yeah, great, great. But for those of you guys who remember our previous video in Hakata, Mason here took me around Hakata for his street food tour. So I'm going to be joining two of Mason's new tours that he made. We have a day tour and a night tour, so we're going to try both of the tours today. We're going to dive into the Fukuoka food scene. First, we will visit the Yanagibashi Rango Market, which is known as the kitchen of Hakata. And in a nighttime tour, this time we offer sake. All right, let's go explore Hakata! Okay! Let's go! We arrived at the Yanagibashi Rango Ichiba, also known as Umakamon Ichiba. Umaka is Hakata direct, which means tasty. Then mon is things, so tasty things. Marketplace. That's right. That's great! Well, that's the place to be! And they sell fresh seafood, vegetables, and traditional foods. But before we go, actually we have an option for those who want to enjoy the tour more. If you love to drink alcohol, we can grab a drink from the convenience store. Oh, what a great idea! All right, so we arrived at the Takemori Sengyo-ten, with a history of more than 80 years. Wow! Yes, and as you can see, they sell really fresh seafood. That's great! And what do you recommend to get here? Oh, well, so why don't we try two kinds of sashimi here? Okay! Yeah, one is a hotate, my favorite, and the other one is a tai. That's very cool! All right, let's give it a try! Okay, so we just eat it here? Yes! All right, so it's not a sitting situation. You can use the table and we'll kind of stand and eat. But what's cool is that you can eat it super fresh, like an actual fish market, which is not something you can do every day. All right, so we've got our soy sauce on the scallops and the red snapper. Let's each try a bite! I'm going to try the scallops first. Okay! Super duper fresh! This is very good, actually! Look at how thick the scallops are! They look amazing! So good! If you want some fresh seafood, this is a great place to stop by. Yes! All right, so let's finish eating sashimi and let's keep exploring! Perfect! So good! All right, so our next stop is here, the Takamatsu no Kamaboko. Kamaboko shop, so it's fish cake. Yes! Today, you can choose two. I want you to try gyoroke number one. Definitely! Yes, syllable one. And how about here, it's a tonkotsu ramen tempura. This is a kind of tempura, which has a tonkotsu flavor. And the fish cake is on the top, right? Exactly! It's called the naruto. Like from the anime! Yeah! But no, naruto actually means whirlpool. I think I have to try this! All right! So I'll get one of these, please. Sure! The gyoroke. Oh, actually, they'll heat it up for you. Oh, that's amazing! So you don't need to eat it cold! That's incredible! Okay! Let's enjoy! All right! Shall we crack into our beers? Yes! I'm super thirsty, you know? Me too! This is what happens when you walk around with the beers for a little while. All right! Kanpai! Oh! All right, let's start with the gyoroke. All right! Fish croquette. That is really good! Tasty! Savory! Wow! Honestly, it makes all the difference that she refries it for you before you eat. It's so crispy, lightly breaded on the outside. Okay, I'm really excited for this! Yes, you'll be surprised! I can't, I've never seen noodles in a fish cake before! Can you feel that? Yeah, the noodles! The noodle texture is so interesting! So creative! This is a great idea, and it's well done! Mmm, that's good! Yep! Great option to visit! Thank you! Where do we head to next? We'll have a little bit of a lunch, I guess. All right! Okay, so you know, Fukuoka is famous for ramen, but what many people don't realize is that it's also a city known for udon. Today, I'm going to try the traditional udon at the Ineba Udon here. I'm so curious what this is going to be like, so let's go inside and try Hakata Udon! Hakata Udon! Yeah, let's go inside! Thank you! Looks like it's a little traditional-style udon shop! Yeah, it is! But recently, plus the sliced beef, the Niku Goboten is getting popular. Which one do you prefer? I do prefer cold udon. Okay, sounds good! Let's do it! All right, let's give this a try! Yeah! This looks so good! I've never actually seen a burdock tempura before. Yeah, it's only famous in Fukuoka. Really? Yeah, you cannot try in Tokyo. I don't know about yours, but this is fantastic! This one has some really nice beef flavor in the broth. Always in the summer season, I usually eat the zaru udon. This is Hakata-style udon. Wow, definitely worth a try, whether you have the cold one for the summer or the hot one that has all of the toppings on it. This is something that I was sleeping on in Hakata. I had no idea about Hakata Udon. I don't know why. So good! Arigatou gozaimasu! Gochisousama deshita! Okay, we are heading to the cafe. Oh, a cafe! So maybe a little sweets for dessert? Exactly! I love that idea! Okay! Let's go! So this is our last stop for the daytime tour. It's a pop-up cafe called BONE. That's only open for a year and a half. It's already really popular. And it looks very stylish. Let's go in and give it a try! All right! So this is where we order. Oh, okay. So what do you recommend for this cafe to order? Okay, so BONE is very famous for puddings, like two special puddings and a roast coffee, too. It kind of feels like you've just slipped back in time a little bit. It feels like a... Like a retro style? Yeah, kind of retro, like a classic cafe. Like a cozy? Smells amazing! Here we go! Great! Ooh! It's a roasted coffee. Yeah, it's very rich, but also smooth. Just a relaxing cup of coffee. Yeah, absolutely. So should we try the pudding now? Yeah, why not? Okay, this looks so good! Mmm! That is really good! This one, too! Oh my god! If you like something that's a little bit alcoholic tasting, like a rum raisin, something like that, this is definitely for you. Do you have a favorite? If you had to pick one, which one do you go with, usually? I'll go with Nero. Yeah! I would say it's a very close call, but that sauce is incredible. It's bold. Right? Yeah. Well, nighttime tour as well. It's going to be a very full day of activities for me, so I can't wait to see where we're going to head to next. Okay, so let's go to the next location. I can't wait! All right, this is our final destination of the nighttime tour. Okay. It used to be a market, but this is a yokocho, like a drinking alley, which has restaurants and cozy bars. There was another market, Sangak Market, down the road, and they relocated to here, and only restaurants and bars remain here. Is it famous for tourists to come to? Not really, yes. And even local, you know, they're a little bit shy to enter the restaurants and the bars. It's more private. Okay, so in that case, it's always good to have a local tour guide who can introduce you, so it's easier to step in. Let's go explore! Let's go! This is really so pretty. There's some kind of traditional elements. Yeah. Lots of lanterns, lots of wooden doors. This is so cool. This is really cute. It's a lantern, but it's shaped like a kettle. Well, every time I bring the customer to the different bars, so you will know what to expect. Oh, that's awesome! Okay. So today, I recommend you to go to the bar over there. Okay, this one here? Yeah, come inside. Oh, this is so nice! What a cool bar! Yeah, it is. It's very small, intimate, sake bottles everywhere. You know, the name of this bar is Kouki-Isu Izakaya, which means air chair bar. Yeah. Can you guess, like, why it's called air chair bar? Is it because we're standing up? Maybe? Good guess! Is that right? Exactly, yeah, yeah. Really? This is a very creative name. This is so awesome. Oh, they offer aged sake. Aged sake? Yeah. Oh, I don't know if I've actually heard of that before. So in Japan, it's customary to pour each other's drinks. Yeah. That's the polite way, so I'm going to pour yours. Thank you so much. Here you go. Oh, it's hot! This is the aged sake, right? Yes, let's try. And he said it tastes better hot. You can drink it room temperature, but hot is recommended for aged. Exactly. Kanpai! Yay! The aftertaste is surprisingly fragrant and sweet. Shizuka, why don't you try a cold one? I would love to. I'm very intrigued about it because it's in a wine glass. It's not aged, but I'm expecting a similar experience. I think it's similarly sweet and fruity in flavor as well. Yeah, that's really delicious. This is a great shop. Both of these are really good sake. And it's actually made in Fukuoka. Mm, that's true. Which is great. You want to get the local stuff when you're in town. 21 years ago. Thank you for recommending a great bar. Let's all have a kanpai together and we'll see you guys outside in a second. All right, that was so much fun. Thank you so much for taking me around Hakata again. Thank you for joining my tour. So if you guys are interested in joining a tour, I have some very special information for you. We are actually offering 5% off of this very tour. If you use the code on the screen here and if you scan the QR code to book the tour or use the link down below, it's always nice to have a local guide to take you around. Instead of just exploring on your own, why not have a friend? Anyway, thank you so much again. Yeah, thank you for having me today. Thank you! And you guys should come visit Fukuoka. And if you enjoyed this video, please make sure to give us a like. Comment down below which shop you guys liked the most today that you guys would like to check out. I want to know it! Don't forget to subscribe, share this video. So we'll see you guys soon in another video. Bye! See you next time! If you enjoyed this video, click the photos on the left for more fun Japan adventures and click the one on the right to join the tour I tried today. See you next time!