Fukuoka

We had a short but brilliant stay in Fukuoka. We arrived in the evening with about an hour to spare for checking in to our hostel before meeting Yusei, an old summer camp friend of Vera's. Yusei is a Fukuoka local and he took us to a really cool local restaurant.
The type of restaurant is called an izakaya, we sat down on cushions on the tatami floor mats around a low table which already had a couple of bar snacks waiting for us, a shredded radish salad and edamame beans.
As the expert, we decided to leaveYusei in charge of ordering and he didn't disappoint! We had lots of different types of yakitori, the skewers which are the main feature of the menu in this type of restaurant. Yakitori means chicken skewer but actually there are all sorts available including pork, fish and vegetables. We had chicken thigh, chicken neck, chicken gizzard (!), pork belly and pork rolled with herbs which was probably the favourite. The yakitori are all cooked on a grill in the middle of the bar, in fact all of the food is prepared there which makes a really lively atmosphere in the restaurant. There were people sitting around the bar and also groups and families on the floor like us. Most people were also enjoying plenty of drinks which also adds to the atmosphere. We had Japanese beer and more of the plum wine which Vera had tried a couple of nights before. We also tasted soju and soda which is a bit like watered down pálinka.
As well as all the meat we had a few vegetable dishes like cabbage and tomato, and also some more unusual things like fried chicken skin and chicken scratchings.
It was great fun to meet Yusei and hear all about his life in Japan, his travels and his wife who couldn't join us because they have a baby on the way soon. It was definitely our most Japanese experience in Japan and a perfect way to finish our trip!Read more