I visited a tempura restaurant in Kawabata Shotengai, a place I've always liked. I bought a meal ticket from the machine on the right side upon entering. It was before 12:00, but the restaurant was full, so I had to wait a bit. When I handed over my meal ticket, I was asked if I wanted a large, medium, or small portion of rice. I also ordered salted squid, which was served on a plate. The miso soup had different ingredients each day, which was a nice surprise. The prices had gone up since my last visit, with most meals now costing over 1000 yen. The system had changed too, with dinner service only and a switch from beer and highball to highball and lemon sour. The beer had changed from Suntory to Sapporo, and the highball from Suntory Kakubin to Dewar's. While most people ordered set meals, I always went for a la carte and highball. The tempura was still crispy and delicious, especially the burdock root. The onion and sweet potato were also tasty. The seafood and meat were also excellent, with perfectly sized ingredients. It was delicious as always. The evening menu was also recommended for its affordable and varied izakaya dishes.

This is the main store of "Tempura Daruma Ichiban" in Kamikawabata Shopping Street, where freshly fried tempura is served. For lunch on this day, I decided to visit this restaurant located near Kushida Shrine. Upon entering, there is a ticket vending machine where you can purchase your meal ticket. I chose the Tempura Set Meal for 1090 yen from the options available. The restaurant has table seats, counter seats, and even sunken kotatsu-style seating at the back. As soon as I sat down, a set including rice and miso soup was brought to me. The rice comes with pickles and squid salted guts, and you can ask for refills of these. The tempura set started with pumpkin and burdock. On the table, there are various condiments and tempura dipping sauce for you to season your tempura as you like. The third, fourth items were smelt fish and shrimp. The fifth, sixth, seventh items included white fish, squid, and eggplant. When the eggplant tempura is served, it marks the end of the tempura course. The restaurant is located near the Canal in Kamikawabata Shopping Street. Tempura Daruma Ichiban Address: 4-215 Kamikawabata-cho, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka City Phone: 092-282-6070 Business Hours: 11:00-22:00 (Last order 21:30) Closed: Open every day

Head to "Tempura Daruma Ichiban" located in the shopping street. Purchase a meal ticket at the ticket machine right after entering the entrance. Tempura set meal includes shrimp, squid, sandfish, white fish, and 3 kinds of vegetables. You can choose from large, medium, or small rice, and it comes with pickles, miso soup, and squid salted guts. The squid salted guts are refreshing with a strong yuzu flavor. They serve the tempura in the order it is fried, so you can enjoy it freshly made. Freshly fried tempura is definitely delicious! From 5 pm, you can also order from the izakaya menu, so it seems very convenient. Thank you for the delicious meal.

I went to "Tempura Daruma Ichiban" in Kawabata Shopping Street. I ordered the Daruma set meal and the pork tempura was especially delicious. Of course, the squid shiokara (salted squid innards) is all-you-can-eat, but I found the portion they serve each time to be small so I ended up ordering it five times haha. Both the tempura and the squid shiokara were delicious. Thank you for the meal today as well.

I found a nice shop in Kawabata Shopping Street. I was the only customer around 4:30 pm. I bought a meal ticket first. The tempura set meal and draft beer were delicious. In Hakata, tempura restaurants serve freshly fried tempura one after another, which is great! You can also get extra servings of squid salted guts. I don't want to go back to Tokyo!

This is a solo visit. There were counter seats and table seats, but when I visited, only the counter seats were available. As a shrimp lover, I couldn't resist ordering the shrimp tempura set for 1390 yen. The tempura shrimp were served first (a bit small), and then another shrimp was served at the end. They were freshly fried and delicious! The yuzu salted fish roe was served in a small dish upon request. Overall, it gave off a vibe of a nighttime tempura restaurant.

(2023.02.05) Tonkotsu ramen, mentaiko, and Hakata udon are popular among tourists in Fukuoka, along with the representative dish of Hakata tempura, which was established in 1978 at "Tempura Shop Hira'o." However, there is also a theory that the origin dates back to "Daruma Tempura Set Meal," founded in Yoshizuka in 1963. While looking for a place to have lunch, I walked from Hakata Station to Gion, then to Kawabata, and entered the Kawabata Shotengai shopping street. I spotted a tempura restaurant with a painting of Daruma, assuming it was a branch of Daruma, I decided to give it a try. However, I realized it was a different restaurant when I saw the set meals on the ticket machine were different from the Daruma in Yoshizuka. The restaurant had around 10 counter seats, two tables for four, and even a raised tatami seating area at the back, suitable for solo diners and groups. I chose the "Chicken Tempura Set Meal" from the 9 set menu options, ranging from affordable and healthy fish tempura to luxurious large shrimp tempura. The tempura service started with pumpkin, burdock, and chicken breast. The hot and crispy pumpkin tempura made me almost burn my mouth, while the moist and tender chicken breast tempura was enjoyable without being dry. Next came two pieces of chicken breast meat, which were surprisingly juicy and tender, with a satisfying crispy tempura coating. I savored the variety by dipping them in plenty of tempura sauce and enjoying the crunchy texture. Lastly, eggplant and two pieces of chicken thigh meat were served, along with a note to ask for salted fish roe. The meal ended with a delicious bowl of rice, accompanied by the requested salted fish roe. Overall, it was a satisfying lunch. One minor criticism would be the greasy and sticky floor, which is expected in a tempura restaurant, but it would be better if they focused on thorough cleaning rather than just laying mats.

I had lunch at a tempura restaurant in Nakasu Kawabata, Fukuoka. I bought a ticket for the Healthy Fish Tempura Set for 890 yen and sat at the counter seat in the back. Soon, rice, tempura dipping sauce, miso soup, etc. were served, and freshly fried tempura started to come out. First, burdock, shrimp, and pumpkin were served, and it seems like burdock tempura is popular in Fukuoka. Then, sweet potato, eggplant, green pepper, and sand borer were served before the meal ended. The salt was on the other side of the acrylic partition at the counter seat, making it difficult to reach, so I ended up eating all the tempura with the dipping sauce. Next time, I want to enjoy it with salt.

Daruma set meal for 1090 yen. You can choose the size of the rice (same price for large, medium, or small). I chose medium. Squid salted guts are free for refills. Comes with miso soup and pickles. Tempura includes shrimp, white fish, pork, squid, burdock, pumpkin, and eggplant. It was really delicious again this time.

Visited a izakaya and tempura restaurant in Nakasu Kawabata Street Shopping Arcade on July 27, 2022. Purchased a 990 yen meal ticket for the meat tempura set. Got a free extra serving of rice. The set included 2 chicken skewers, pork tempura, pumpkin, eggplant, and burdock root, along with miso soup, salted squid, and pickles. The salted squid was different from what I had expected, more like raw squid sashimi. The restaurant offers draft beer for 380 yen anytime, making tempura a great choice to accompany your drink. Great spot!

Daruma set meal for 1090 yen. Includes white fish, shrimp, squid, pork, eggplant, burdock, and pumpkin. Free extra rice. Unfortunately, prices have gone up since July. The freshly fried tempura is still delicious. The tempura set with 7 pieces is quite filling. Each item is tasty, making it hard to decide which set meal to choose.

I decided to walk back and forth in the Furafura Kawabata shopping street and chose here to eat. Since there was a line at the ticket machine, I couldn't take my time to choose, so I just ordered a tempura set meal with small rice. When I sat down and looked at the menu slowly, I wanted to eat this and that, so I added an eel fillet and pork to my order. I should have just ordered the extra-large set meal from the beginning! ^ ^

Upon entering the restaurant, purchase a meal ticket at the ticket machine on the right side. It seems that only counter seats are available during lunchtime. After handing over the meal ticket, you will be served rice, miso soup, pickles, and tempura dipping sauce. The squid salted guts will not be served unless you ask the staff. Tempura is served in the following order: burdock root, pumpkin, shrimp, white fish, squid, pork, eggplant. Tempura goes well with the sweet tempura dipping sauce. The squid salted guts are also easy to eat with a light flavor. Since there are few counter seats during lunchtime, you may have to wait a bit, so please be aware of that. Thank you for the meal!

It's a very late lunch or an early dinner. The photo shows pumpkin, burdock, and chicken breast plus pork, two chicken thighs, and eggplant, a total of seven dishes. Everything is freshly fried and hot, which tastes delicious. The drink is green tea, which is nice. I'm full now. Thank you for the meal. But I might need a late-night snack later.

I ordered the tempura set meal with rice for 880 yen. The shrimp included in it was not good. Even though it had a transparent and firm texture when cooked, it was not tasty at all. The shrimp seemed to be soaked in a lot of preservatives, which is a characteristic of shrimp like that. While the heat didn't make the flesh shrink and harden, the sacrifice of the shrimp's flavor was too great. The shrimp came peeled with only the tail left, and it seemed to be soaked in preservatives. It was similar to the shrimp tempura with a thin body and only the coating and tail left. The coating was crispy, and the rice was delicious. The miso soup was homemade. However, the shrimp, which should have been the star of the dish, was disappointing. There were two types of shrimp, and the larger shrimp might be better, but it's hard to say for sure.

Freshly fried tempura at "Daruma" on Kawabata Street. It had been a while since I walked around and noticed some new shops. Towards the south end, there's a tempura shop called "Daruma." They also encourage daytime drinking. Draft beer is only 380 yen all day long! Tempura dipping sauce and a tray are automatically provided as soon as you enter. At night, there are options other than tempura. I opted for a plate of 5 assorted tempura for 580 yen. The tempura arrives freshly fried in succession. Starting with shrimp and sandfish, and ending with a large piece of pork, bell pepper, and a large squid. The bill came to 960 yen for a nice little drink. Lovely place.

Daruma set meal with rice (medium portion) for 980 yen. Includes white fish, pork, shrimp, squid, and 3 kinds of vegetables. Comes with rice, miso soup, pickles, and free extra servings of salted squid. Tempura is served in small portions to maintain freshness. Be careful as it is hot. Tempura dipping sauce is sweet and rich. The portion was larger than expected and left me quite full.

Daruma has arrived at Kawabata Shopping Street! The tempura set meal costs 880 yen. First, you get rice and miso soup with various side dishes like squid salted guts and pickles, all-you-can-eat in Hakata style. Due to the current situation, it's order-based. Next, freshly fried tempura comes out one by one in Hakata style. Shrimp, burdock root, pumpkin, smelt fish, white fish, eggplant, squid - all freshly fried and delicious! Thank you for the feast!

I went to a newly opened restaurant called "Tempura Daruma Ichiban" in Hakata-ku, Fukuoka City on March 15, 2021. The restaurant opened on March 10th in a location that used to be a kushikatsu restaurant on the south side of Nakasu Kawabata Shotengai. They offer 11 menu items with two sizes, regular and small, priced 30 yen apart. I purchased the Chicken Tempura Set (regular size) for 880 yen from the ticket machine. The set included two pieces of chicken thigh, two pieces of chicken breast, chicken tenderloin, and three types of vegetables. The meal came with tempura dipping sauce, rice, pickles, miso soup, and salted fish guts. The salted fish guts here are whiter and have a thicker texture compared to the usual ones. They were delicious and could easily go well with a bowl of rice. The freshly fried tempura items like chicken tenderloin, burdock root, and pumpkin were served one after another. The chicken tenderloin, chicken breast, eggplant, and chicken tenderloin were crispy and delicious. It was a satisfying lunch. I wonder what the connection is between this restaurant and the famous Daruma in Yoshizuka. The restaurant's address is 4-215 Kamikawabata-cho, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka City. Their holidays are undecided.

There is also a daruma-san stall at Nakasu Kawabata. The layout inside the store is mysterious, with only about half of the counter space available, likely due to it being a former shop. I ordered the special selection. First, it was mainly vegetables, then seafood, and finally meat. As someone from Kanto, I'm not used to having meat in tempura, so it was a fresh experience. The taste gradually becomes richer as you go along. The freshly fried tempura is delicious, but it's a bit too crispy, almost like fritters. Also, as a Fukuoka tempura shop, they serve squid salted guts and pickles, but due to COVID, they only come in small portions unless you specifically ask for more, which is a bit disappointing. I think Hirao's might be better.