The tempura bowl, I wish there was a bit more rice. Did they give me less because I'm a woman? It was a disappointing amount for someone with a big appetite. The taste was just okay.

There is a delicious izakaya near Shin-Iizuka Station that serves kushikatsu and shrimp dishes!

Delicious shrimp galore at "Ebirusu". After finishing work in the Iizuka area, I wandered around the area in front of Shin-Iizuka Station and found a place called "Ebirusu" that serves tempura bowls. They also have a variety of skewers and other dishes. I started with a glass of draft beer and ordered the shrimp trio that caught my eye on the sign outside - shrimp mayo, shrimp chili, and shrimp with basil for 700 yen. The shrimp were plump and juicy, really delicious. I wonder if the name of the restaurant comes from the shrimp dishes they serve. It was a great way to pass the time. Thank you for the meal.

<January 2016> I had work in Shin-Iizuka on this day. I arrived at the station and decided to look for lunch. I briefly checked out Tabelog, but I didn't have a specific place in mind, so I just came to this area. It was raining, but the restaurant was only a 5-minute walk from the station. The first place I saw was a French restaurant. I passed on a place that cost around 1600 yen and kept walking, when I spotted a sign for a seafood tendon that looked delicious. I was the first customer there! Even though I was alone, they seated me at a table and I was able to enjoy my meal at a leisurely pace. Now, about the seafood tendon. It was very generous in portion size. It had two whole shrimp, one large shrimp with batter, scallops, lotus root, pumpkin, and bell peppers. What surprised me was the unique way to eat it! The dipping sauce was made of ginger, sesame oil, and lemon. The ginger was refreshing and went well with the tempura! The sesame oil made it a bit richer. The lemon was refreshing. There was also matcha salt on the table, which I personally love. I could also have coffee after the meal, and the tempura didn't leave a heavy aftertaste. All of this for only 900 yen was a great deal! I would definitely want to visit this place again when I'm in Shin-Iizuka!

This is a newly relocated fried food restaurant near my workplace. They serve skewered fried food at night and tempura rice bowl lunches during the day. I visited alone for lunch on a Saturday. I arrived early and there were no other customers yet. For lunch, they only offer tempura rice bowls. After a short wait, a miso soup accompanied tempura rice bowl was served. It included a large shrimp, two small shrimp, squid, pumpkin, and various other vegetables. The bowl was a bit small, but it felt like a generous portion due to the variety of toppings. They provided three types of dipping sauces, and I chose the recommended ginger sauce. The tempura had a slightly thicker coating for the rice bowl, which allowed it to absorb the sauce well. The flavor was on the sweeter side and quite tasty. I thought the frying was done well. After the meal, I could enjoy a free self-serve coffee to relax. I also want to try their skewered fried food at night.

This is a shop located just a few minutes' walk from the Shin-Iizuka Station. It used to operate as a specialty shop for shrimp tempura in the center of Iizuka, but it seems that they have relocated and completely revamped their menu. According to a free paper, shrimp tempura seems to be the main dish during the day, but it has also changed significantly from before. And at night, they mainly serve deep-fried skewers and shrimp dishes. I visited the shop in the evening. The interior of the shop has counter seats as well as table seats, and it has a different atmosphere compared to the previous shop. It seems to be more comfortable for larger groups. The shop was quite busy when I visited. The main dishes at night are deep-fried skewers and shrimp dishes, so I decided to try both. First, I ordered a draft beer. The staff brought cabbage and a skewer tempura order sheet. You write down the number of skewers you want to order on this sheet and hand it in. At the storefront, avocado was recommended, but it was already sold out. It was past 10 p.m. when I visited, so it's understandable that popular items were sold out. I ordered four skewers - chicken liver, pork belly, beef ribs, and the shop's recommended camembert cheese wrapped in prosciutto, which cost a total of 810 yen. The frying technique is excellent. The beef ribs were juicy and tender, and the pork belly and chicken liver captured the original flavor of the meat. The camembert cheese wrapped in prosciutto was an interesting taste. I wonder if it would go well with wine. It seems like it would be popular with women, and I found it to be an interesting taste as well. For the shrimp dishes, I ordered the Ebi Lus Teppan (shrimp chili) for 750 yen and the Ebi Lus Ebi Mayo for 600 yen, which were both recommended at the storefront. As a finishing touch, I also ordered the Mini Tempura Bowl for 580 yen. Here are my thoughts on the dishes: - Skewers (4 pieces) for 810 yen: The frying technique is excellent. The shop's specialty seems to be the way they fry their food, which has been the case since the previous shop. The beef ribs were juicy and tender, and the pork belly and chicken liver captured the original flavor of the meat. The camembert cheese wrapped in prosciutto was an interesting taste. - Ebi Lus Ebi Mayo for 600 yen: The shrimp was deliciously firm. The shrimp used by Ebi Lus has always been of high quality. I usually don't eat the tails of shrimp, but I can eat the tails of Ebi Lus shrimp. - Ebi Lus Teppan (shrimp chili) for 750 yen: The dish was beautifully decorated with an egg. It seemed like they were trying to create an image of shrimp chili with egg. The taste was very good, especially the way the egg was semi-cooked at first and gradually solidified while eating it with the shrimp chili. - Mini Tempura Bowl for 580 yen: This dish had a refined amount of food, and I wanted something more, so I ordered it. It's a tempura bowl that seems to have inherited the genes of the old Ebi Lus. It had a large shrimp, two small shrimp, and vegetables like pumpkin and eggplant. The sauce was not poured on directly, and I was given three different sauces to choose from. I first tried the ginger-flavored sauce, which was deliciously sweet and spicy.

I visited this place for the first time the other day. It seems to have been relocated and now serves deep-fried skewers. I have never had a tempura bowl that exceeded my expectations before. There used to be a specialty tempura bowl restaurant in Namba, Osaka where you sit down and the tempura bowl is served to you. I used to frequent that place. Since then, for the past 30 years, I have not had anything that satisfied me more than that. This restaurant apparently only serves tempura bowls during lunchtime, so I entered with high expectations. The open price of 900 yen is discounted to 800 yen. The tempura bowl comes with miso soup and after the meal, you can choose between ice cream or coffee. The sauce for the bowl includes lemon, sesame oil, and ginger, and you can pour it yourself. I was initially going to choose sesame oil, but I remembered a recommendation for ginger sauce from someone's post, so I went with ginger sauce. The tempura was average, but the sauce was delicious. When considering the price would normally be 900 yen, the restaurant's skill lies in either making you think, "Is this worth the price for lunch?" or "It's delicious, so it's worth it." Personally, I think if there are other restaurants with competitive prices, I would choose a different place. It's not easy to find a place where you can be satisfied with a tempura bowl.