Foodtrippin' Fukuoka

It has been a long time since I've had a "proper" food trip. So I was glad when my friend invited me on a food trip to Fukuoka. My extensive research tells me that Fukuoka is a city on Kyushu island and that it is famous for hakata ramen. I booked a flight on Peach for a short trip to Fukuoka.

My friend arrived in Fukuoka two hours before I did and he already scoured the area for the famous ramen place Ichiran. We lined up for their famous ramen and we were not disappointed. I am proud to say that I am no longer intimidated by the size of their ramen bowls as I was when I first got here.

I won't attempt to dissect the flavors of this one, but this is certainly one of the best I've tried so far. After drowning in a hearty ramen bowl, we explored the city a little. We visited the Castle Ruins and Ohori Park. Our sightseeing involved sitting in every bench after about 30 or so minutes of walking. It was so much fun, actually, because I didn't want this trip, or any trip, to rival the Amazing Race. I enjoyed the pace.

We were more excited about dinner time. Fukuoka is famous for open food stands called yatai. At around 7 in the evening, we ventured out the city to search for these stands. We were told there were more than a hundred of them around Fukuoka and we were lucky that some are located just five minutes away from our hotel.

You can smell the aroma of food from a mile away.:)

Delicious yakitori.

Weird looking mentaiko, a kind of Japanese roe.

Gzoya topped with mentaiko.

Motsu nabe, oily and satisfyingly delectable innards in soup. Just looking at these pictures makes me hungry! I cannot wait to embark on more food adventures!###