14 July 2017 Friday. Our flight took off at 0130 hrs. It was day break when the flight hovered above Fukuoka.
After custom clearance, Times Car Rental picked us and drove us to their office. The car that we would be using over the next 10 days.
It was around 1030 hrs when car rental document was settled. A little struggle – unlike Tokyo, the youngsters at Kyushu speak very little English. We drove to Tempura Hirao Honten for our blunch. It was quite packed when we arrived.
Fortunately the staff had us seated fairly quickly. We tried the appetizers. I especially love the squid marinated with some very tasty sauce. I had squid with every mouthful of Japanese rice. Very Good.
The vegetable tempura was really good. Prawn Tempura was the best I ever tasted.
A very enjoyable meal.
By the time we were done with the food…. the waiting bench were full of people and more people were coming through the door. I think this is a “Must” outlet for anyone who visited Fukuoka.
After lunch, we drove off to Tosu Premium Outlet. It was a very hot day and the placed was fairly empty.
The biggest bargain was Gap and half of the time we were in there.
Our plan was to park our car at Hakata Residence Hotel 2…. and shopped at Tenjin. It was a last minute call to go to the Hotel office first and locating that office took us hours. We completely missed Tenjin Underground City. It was nearly 1800 hrs when we finally get the hotel documentation settled.
After collecting of our “password” to the hotel room, we decided not to go to hotel, but headed for Chikae Fukuoka for dinner.
At Chikae Fukuoka, the seating arrangement is such that guests sit around the central fish tanks. It was dinner time, the guest all came in around the same time and the waitress were busy taking orders.
The staff collected fresh catches from the tanks.
We decided on a set meal….and the starter mitako (明太子）.
Immediately after the starter, the waitress start polishing the fresh wasabi followed by serving the squid sashimi.
Sashimi “stone fish” – very thin slice… fresh, sweet and tasty.
After Sashimi, we were served with cooked food.
Then came several small dishes and soup.
The filling stuff…. fried rice and noodles mixed with mitako (明太子）.
We really lost counts how many dishes were being served….and finally it was desert time.
The food was best we ever tasted. We really enjoy this culinary wonder. This is a “Must” try for people who visit Fukuoka.
After dinner, it was again some hardship to find Hakata Residence Hotel 2. When we finally reached to the Hotel, many people are struggling to enter the unit. A clip on using password to get the key and enter the building.
End of Kyushu Day 1. We have inexpensive but very good Tempura at Tempura Hirao Honten. I will always remember their very tasty marinated squid. We had outlet shopping and great bargain from Gap. We were overwhelmed by delicious food – dish after dish – at Chikae Fukuoka. It may be a little pricey (about the same as “The Line“ in Singapore） but it was very worthy.
Some struggle with Hakata Residence Hotel 2… but this kind of stuff happen once in awhile.
Continue to : Food and Festive Kyushu Day 2
enjoyandcreate.com 