Hakata Ramen and Local Food in Fukuoka
Part of the Fukuoka travel guide — see every topic in All Fukuoka Guides.
Fukuoka is one of Japan's best food cities, and many famous dishes started here. Meals are usually cheaper than in Tokyo.
Hakata ramen
Hakata ramen has a creamy pork-bone (tonkotsu) soup and very thin noodles. Choose the firmness: barikata, very firm, is popular. When you finish the noodles, order kaedama, a refill of noodles for about ¥150–200, and drop it into the soup. Ichiran and Ippudo both started in Fukuoka, and ShinShin in Tenjin is a local favourite. A bowl costs about ¥800–1,200.
Hotpots
Motsunabe is a hotpot of beef or pork offal with cabbage, garlic and chives, finished with noodles; it costs about ¥1,500–2,500 per person. Mizutaki is a clear, rich chicken hotpot, about ¥3,000–6,000 per person at specialist restaurants.
Mentaiko, gyoza and udon
Mentaiko, spicy cod roe, is Fukuoka's best-known food gift, sold at Hakata Station and in markets; try it on rice. Hakata gyoza are small, crisp dumplings cooked in an iron pan. Udon here is soft and cheap, about ¥400–700, and goboten udon, with fried burdock root, is a local favourite.
Where to eat
Yanagibashi Rengo Market, called 'Hakata's kitchen', sells fresh fish and has small restaurants. Hakata Station's KITTE and Amu Plaza buildings have whole floors of restaurants. Daimyo and Imaizumi, near Tenjin, are full of cafés and modern bistros.
Hakata Ramen and Local Food at a glance
| Hakata ramen | About ¥800–1,200; kaedama refill about ¥150–200 |
|---|---|
| Motsunabe | About ¥1,500–2,500 per person |
| Mizutaki | About ¥3,000–6,000 per person |
| Udon | About ¥400–700 |
| Food gift | Mentaiko from Hakata Station |
| Food areas | Hakata Station, Yanagibashi market, Daimyo, Nakasu |