Tsukimaru Restaurant

So here is the question: what do you actually do in Fukuoka after school, in the evenings? Maybe, school is over and you want to grab something nice to eat before going home, plus you'd like to practice your new Japanese skills in the wild? And, perhaps you want to socialize with your new friends. But you definitively don’t want to go to the English spoken "International Bar" nearby where you already went yesterday or the day before.
Well, to make it short: don't forget Fukuoka is one of Japan's food capitals. So you might want to try the local specialties, in a somewhat hidden dining place.
Walk with us into the heart of the city, along those tiny little streets where two cars have to be careful to pass each other unharmed and let’s not forget they always have to be on the lookout for the few pedestrians, which makes the roundabout ten minutes rather pleasant.
Take your time to smell into the backstreets and to sample the aroma of freshly grilled chicken, Miso soup and vegetable stews. But we are going to walk past all these delicacies to reach Tsukimaru Restaurant in the Daimyo district. By the way, the restaurant's name implies the round shape of the moon ... ... which you can see it here on those late lazy summer nights ... ...
Open the heavy wooden door and you`ll enter a well lit and cozy Japanese dining spot. To be greeted by the warm welcome of chef Su-san, who left the salary man’s dreary world following his personal call to cook the local food. In addition、some new deal, which here in Japan always means fresh, seasonal ingredients in an attractive and mouthwatering display of skill and experience.
OK, but we came here to eat the special hotpot tonight. (As a matter of fact, a little bite of sashimi as a starter is never to be undervalued, so we just had this first, and a complimentary spicy chicken meatball to finish the hors d' oeuvres). And here comes the famous Motsu - Nabe, a pork hotpot dish that is an old legacy of the city of Hakata.
An old-fashioned ceramic pot is being placed on your table and you can watch a delicious mix of vegetables being cooked in a savory pork broth. Steam rises, juices mingle, everything slowly begins to bubble ... ...
This is originally a peasant's dish, so when it is finished do expect a nice bite of ~ well, we finally have to confess it ~ “pig's stomach”. Oishii, is the Japanese word for delicious, and its local companion umakka, falls a little short in describing this singular aroma. It is salty, hearty, and a down to earth tasty sweet delight. (To be honest, you wouldn't notice the stomach thing if we hadn't told you. Moreover it is a very cheap price for the bragging rights concerning what you have eaten in Fukuoka. A beer or two won't hurt either, so we are leaving the place two hours later with a belly full of excellent food; good drinks and the energy to walk back home to study Japanese again. Perhaps a little after a slight detour into one of the welcoming old-fashioned lit bars on the way, but that is another story.
This, we as a matter of discretion, won’t be telling on this blog.

So, see you in Fukuoka's heart any time soon.

PS: a final word for the feeble-hearted (does a word such as feeble-stomached exist in the English language?). You might eat a great Nabe - hotpot with shrimps in it at Su-sans Tsukimaru restaurant as well, losing a lot of the unique taste, and the bragging rights.

But that is, as always, yours to decide.

Tsukimaru Restaurant
Fukuoka City,
Chuo Ward,
Daimyo 1-8-33
Eito Building, 1st (=ground) floor