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Come on, it's huge! Fukuoka free and easy travel, looking for restaurants? You've come to the right place with this video. Last time, I spent several days with friends and found 6 popular restaurants to personally try. The guys there were very handsome, and the girls were also very beautiful. I'll take you to Dazaifu, Kushida Shrine, and local shopping streets. This episode is completely self-funded, and the prices are affordable. Hurry up and check out the honest review of this episode. I am currently at Hakata Station in Fukuoka City. There are many good things to eat around Hakata Station and Tenjin, so my goal for this trip is to eat a lot of good things. I found that the prices in Fukuoka are cheaper than in the Kanto or Tokyo areas. Let's go. It's already 9 o'clock, I'm very hungry. Enough with the nonsense, let's go find some good food immediately. After walking a few steps from Hakata Station, we arrived at Sushiya Kotobuki. If you like sashimi, you can pay attention to this place. We looked online and found that the cost-performance ratio is very high, so we came to try it. The cheapest item on the entire menu is tuna salad sushi and tamagoyaki sushi, 80 yen per piece. I also saw Japanese people recommending tamagoyaki sushi online, so let's try it. In addition, there is also the raw beef "Unkai" for 990 yen, and the "Avalanche Sushi." Let's order it to see how much of an avalanche it is. Come on, it's huge! This is the Avalanche Sushi. Look, is the 80-yen tamagoyaki huge? It's huge. The owner specially made it for me just now because... I might have arrived too late at 9 o'clock, but he actually made the last portion specially for us. Thank you so much. Then our "Raw Beef Unkai" also arrived. So this is what "Unkai" means. Wow, it's full of smoke. There's salmon, 5 kinds of sashimi. Delicious! I don't think you can eat this in Tokyo. Hmm, delicious. Not fishy at all. The bill is 3250 yen. I want to say it's very cheap. My first meal in Japan, and it's so raw. My first meal in Fukuoka, it's so raw! It's all raw! The weather on the second day was really beautiful, and my mood was even better. I happened to be going to Dazaifu Tenmangu today. I went to the station to buy a ticket. Sigh~ Even if I hurry, it still takes a few minutes. Of course, directly using an IC card is much more convenient. So I advise all travelers to have a card with them. And now you don't need to get a physical card. Just open your phone and press two buttons, and it's done. With mobile Suica/PASMO, of course, you can top up with your phone. In your phone's Wallet, select Debit or Credit Card, select your bank, and pass verification. Then bind this card to your mobile Suica/PASMO, and it's okay! If you use a UnionPay card, there is no foreign currency exchange fee. Because my other credit card charges a 1.95% fee. You can refer to this website for exchange rates. Note! "UnionPay does not charge foreign currency exchange fees" only applies to 1) physical cards and 2) UnionPay cards bound to Apple Pay. There is a fee for ATM withdrawals. No queues, save time. You can top up anytime, anywhere. No need to know Japanese, it's so convenient that you can't go back. If you want to save money and avoid bank fees, you can look for the UnionPay logo in stores. Pay directly with your UnionPay card, or use your UnionPay card x SUICA/Pasmo IC card to pay. Use SUICA for transportation, SUICA for convenience stores, and SUICA for vending machines. Of course, you can use your UnionPay card in regular stores. Remember to check if your issuing bank has any offers, such as accumulating miles or various rebates. Enjoy multiple benefits at once. Another advantage of using UnionPay is that you can get more discounts at designated partner stores, such as Tsuruha Drug Store, Matsumoto Kiyoshi, Mitsui Outlet Park, Odaiba DiverCity, etc. There are too many to mention. You can go back to the UnionPay International website, select Japan, and you will see all the offers. We've arrived. The station is beautiful. From the station, you can walk along many shops or some torii gates to reach Dazaifu Tenmangu. You can see the three torii gates at a glance. Before heading to Dazaifu Tenmangu, you will pass through this approach. There are many souvenir shops, snack shops, and some character specialty stores. It's really easy to get lost. If you keep shopping, you'll run out of time to worship, especially when I see the Miffy store and the Sumikko Gurashi store. I really can't help but want to browse. There are also many limited edition products here. You can put them on your phone. Along the way, I found this famous specialty of Dazaifu. Actually, Dazaifu Tenmangu enshrines Sugawara no Michizane. It is said that in the Heian period, Sugawara no Michizane, who was exiled to Dazaifu, was treated as a criminal and could not go out to eat. An old lady saw this and used a plum branch to hang mochi and offered it to him through the gap. Thus, Umegae Mochi was born. Not knowing this legend, I foolishly thought Umegae Mochi would have a plum flavor?? I bought Umegae Mochi. It has a plum blossom pattern on it, but does it have a plum flavor? It has a slight mochi-like texture, but it's a bit firmer, not too chewy. The filling is... no plum flavor, it's all red bean paste. My friend said they wanted to go to Starbucks to charge their phones. Isn't this Starbucks beautiful? After coming in, I felt like it was Kengo Kuma's architecture. It turns out it really is Kengo Kuma's architecture because he likes to build structures with wooden strips, and this place uses 2000 wooden strips. Speaking of Dazaifu Tenmangu, there are actually three major shrines in Japan: Kitano Tenmangu Shrine in Kyoto, Hofu Tenmangu Shrine in Yamaguchi Prefecture, and Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine in Fukuoka Prefecture. These three Tenmangu shrines all enshrine Sugawara no Michizane, the god of learning, so many believers come to pray for academic success. Please note that the main shrine is currently under renovation, and a temporary shrine has been set up in front of it for people to worship, but it is not casual at all. Black pillars, wooden roofs, quite stylish. From behind the main hall of Dazaifu Tenmangu, you can go through this small path. Although it's uphill, you can visit two other shrines: Tenkai Inari Shrine and Kamado Shrine, the shrine of Tanjiro's surname in Demon Slayer. I introduced this place in another video about Fukuoka attractions in 2024. I filmed the beautiful autumn leaves at Kamado Shrine above. But in between, there is also Tenkai Inari Shrine. Walk for about 10 to 15 minutes, climb a flight of stairs. The shrine is not large, but there are many red torii gates along the way, creating a very mysterious atmosphere. But there are many mosquitoes. It's so beautiful. This is so special, this design. Adult hand. No! It's "Oiri Mamori." Okay, we're going to the next stop now. Goodbye Dazaifu. Dinner on the second day. Today it's also around 9 o'clock. We're looking for something to eat, but Fukuoka City really has a lot of good food and stays open very late, so you don't have to worry about not having anything to eat at night. Today, because the hotel I'm staying at is near Nakasu, I walked over to the Nakasu Yatai Street, the street behind me. There are many shops along the river. You can eat whatever you want. I have prepared a very detailed Yatai guide for you. The map link can be found in the text field below. Basically, you can see the locations of all Yatai in Fukuoka City. First, let's look at the most numerous blue ones, which are the Tenjin Yatai streets. There are over 50, mainly distributed around the station. The green ones are the Nakasu Yatai streets, with over 30 Yatai. The locations are more concentrated, usually along the river. And the Nagahama Yatai street, newly opened in June 2023, has the fewest but is concentrated on one street. Finally, there are a few black ones scattered in different corners of Fukuoka City, even in each district. All the information about what Yatai are available is here. Our strategy today is to eat at two places. The first is at the end of the street, the "Wu-chan Gyoza" restaurant. Come, come, you've worked hard. This is very "kimchi-like." I want to say when I was in Hong Kong, I ordered a whole bowl of beef tendon noodles, just beef tendon. I really like it. Delicious. Thank you. They are hand-wrapped on the spot, one by one, after you order. They are also pan-fried one by one. They probably don't pan-fry them one by one. When I saw the filling, it was white. I was wondering what it was. Vegetables and meat. I tasted garlic. Manager, what's inside the dumplings? Manager: Pork and onion. Ah! Is there garlic? Manager: A little. It's delicious, very delicious. Manager: Thank you :-) There's pork, there's cabbage. Not cabbage. I've lost my memory... I'm still not full. Ramen, ramen. The second restaurant we chose today. As soon as we sat down, they said there was only one noodle left. So we grabbed the last one. It's spicy, with a lot of filling. I think it's very Western, like pasta, but in reality, it's ramen. You have to mix it. I tasted a lot of black pepper. The noodles are very springy. The portion is quite large. We finally found that this noodle is a bit salty... First, we arrived at Kushida Shrine. This shrine has a long history. The second feature is a limited-time event held in winter. There is a giant mask that you can enter through its mouth to take a look. First, when you enter, there is a zodiac Eho-ban above. Zodiac refers to the twelve zodiac animals. Kushida Shrine was founded in 757 and has a thousand-year history. It is the guardian shrine of Hakata. Local residents are naturally familiar with it, and the "Hakata Gion Yamakasa" held here is also nationally famous. So when you come to Fukuoka City, you must come and greet the gods. After leaving Kushida Shrine, passing through this small street, we arrived at Kawabata-dori. I heard that this souvenir specialty store "Meigetsudo" is also quite famous. Hakata Tōri Manjū has a filling made from boiled adzuki beans. It's like a mooncake, but it has an egg flavor, like lotus seed paste mixed with egg yolk. It's quite delicious. What is this? There is a Yamakasa in Kamikawabata-dori. We saw a Yamakasa at Kushida Shrine. There is another one here on the left. Here! Kawabata Zenzai Plaza. Inside. Wow! It's huge. Actually, we walked here this morning not just for shopping. As it's a food tour, of course, we are here to find good food for you. Indeed, Ichiran Headquarters Main Store. We found it while walking. But there is also a famous specialty, Mentaiko. When you come to Fukuoka, you must eat Mentaiko. So I came to this very famous restaurant that serves Mentaiko rice. This restaurant has many people queuing. It's a famous, well-known restaurant. We came around 12 o'clock, and the queue was all the way here, down this road. After coming back, the queue was halved. Honestly, Mentaiko is not a Japanese food, but originated from Korea. It turns out that Koreans used to eat a type of fish called pollack very often, and the offspring of pollack are called Mentaiko. So if this fish is called Mrs. Chen, then its offspring are called Master Chen. The father of Japanese Mentaiko actually went to Busan when he was young and ate a kind of pickled cod roe. So he brought this memory back to the Hakata area and popularized Hakata Mentaiko. I think many friends will have the same idea as me: is it better to eat rice or noodles? So I ordered two types. You can choose the spiciness of Mentaiko and the amount of noodles yourself. Also, the original Mentaiko rice is very auspicious. Mentaiko symbolizes prosperity of descendants. White kelp symbolizes longevity. Seaweed symbolizes good luck. Not that "good luck" but collecting luck. And the special bento box used also represents overlapping happiness. I think this slightly spicy is a bit too mild, it could be spicier. What I think is done well is that compared to regular Mentaiko, it's a bit chewy. I didn't expect Mentaiko to be used as a main dish. At first glance, it looks beautiful, red and white. Japanese people love red and white. All the food is auspicious, and the colors are auspicious. Actually, in terms of taste, it's not much different from what I ate in Kanto. The main thing is that the texture is done very well, and it's not fishy. Some have a fishy smell. I bought a 7-11 Mentaiko onigiri before, and there were 3 of them. This rice satisfies my craving. Some people say Mentaiko is salty, not everyone likes it. Let's try the noodles. There are tomatoes, tomatoes, green onions, kelp, fish cake. I see what looks like chopped onions. Lots of flavors, very sweet. The whole soup is on the sweet side. I think this is very surprising. If you are having Mentaiko rice, it should be like this. Next stop, we arrived at Tenjin, Fukuoka Prefecture, which many young people like to go to. There are many shopping malls, and there is also an underground mall. There are also Yatai. Actually, when we were looking for restaurants, we found that many restaurants are in the Tenjin area. If you want to eat good food, you can choose to stay in Tenjin. And the izakaya below can be said to be the most exciting part of the entire episode. I want to say that our dinner time is getting later and later. It's 10:20 pm now. We saw online that this izakaya is very popular. Many people take pictures of the chefs. The handsome and beautiful staff are also very hospitable. The most photogenic and attractive thing about this place is the grill. Grilling fish. The fish is starting to change color. It's beautifully grilled. When you think it's cool enough to sprinkle salt, the way the staff sprinkles salt here is like a sprinkler. First, the appetizers arrived, then the skewers. The Mozzarella cheese we ordered is delicious. And I'm hungry. Mentaiko sardines. The presentation is very good, the plating is beautiful. I want to say the guys there are very handsome, and the girls are also very beautiful. And they are very hospitable, with good attitudes and smiling faces, and they chat with you. So it's no wonder they are so successful. And there's a show to watch. Sprinkling salt on fish is really a performance. I think looking around the entire restaurant, there are more women. You can walk from the station along the ground to KITTE shopping mall. In front of it, there is a very interesting mailbox, which is heart-shaped. This is the mail slot for children, which is very thoughtful. If you want to eat the "Ganso Hakata Mentaiko Jyu" that I introduced yesterday, there is also a specialty store selling bento boxes here. Back at Hakata Station, I want to take you to "Mai-ing Yokocho." There is a shop here that I want to try. I saw that many Japanese people recommend this cafe. It's suitable for me to find a place to kill time before going home. It is famous for a shell-shaped dessert. Since it looks so interesting, I decided to try it. This type of dessert originated in Italy. Pistachio flavor, chestnut flavor, Neapolitan flavor, should be vanilla flavor. There is also baked apple flavor and Fukuoka Sweet King strawberry flavor. Let's order these two to try. Unexpectedly, when I ordered a coffee, there was also a cat pattern. Wow~ It's crispy! So crispy!! Very crispy! It's a delicious pastry with many layers. As you chew slowly, there are many changes. We all agree that the apple one is a bit tastier, with apple pieces. It's not easy to buy. You can pay attention to this shop called "Kaichien." Besides Hakata Mentaiko bread, they also have Mentaiko toast, with Mentaiko spread on top. If you happen to be looking for something to eat at Hakata Station, a reader recommended me to go to Kisui Maru. Because as long as you order a set meal, you can eat Mentaiko as much as you want. There is also the famous ramen restaurant Ichiran, where you can also eat motsunabe. However, I don't really like it. Although I couldn't buy the Kaichien Mentaiko bread earlier, I can still find this Gion Yamakasa Mentaiko bread in the passage. Goodbye Fukuoka City. See you next time. This place is super fun!!