Fukuoka 3-Day Solo Trip: Hakata Ramen, Nakasu Yatai, Tanushimaru Kappa Town & Ukiha Old Town — Cindy and Dion's Trip

An Australian-style roastery in a leafy alley, known for light roasts, serving espresso and Aeropress. Too hot to sit outside that day. Cindy and Dion had a filter coffee with Papua New Guinea beans, which she found lightly peachy, and a cold brew made with koji milk that has a hint of ginger.

（Hakata Station ramen street）

Hakata Station has its own ramen street, and Cindy and Dion's favourite tsukemen shop has a branch on it. The queue was long but moved fast. They ordered the premium spicy tsukemen at ¥1,700 and the spicy tsukemen at ¥1,350. The dipping soup is very thick and full of flavour, and it is still the best tsukemen they have had.

（Hakata Marui, same building as imonne）

They stopped here for a small gift for a friend's child, and one thing was for Dion.

They had the matcha gelato mochi, and Cindy found it very chewy.

Specialty coffee in a shop done entirely in black. They shared an espresso banana shake and a cafe latte here, the last stop before Dion left for Seoul, and she rates the coffee as decent.

A few minutes' walk from the hotel. Every night at 8 PM there is a dance performance on the building's terrace. It lasts about 15 minutes.

At night the streets get much livelier, with yatai food stalls along the road. She doesn't name a stall.

Tanushimaru calls itself "Kappa Town", after the turtle-like yōkai of a local river legend, and kappa turn up all over town. For Cindy the station building itself is the most unique of them, cute in pastel green and yellow. Trains are infrequent, so she had less time here than she wanted.

A cafe right next to the station with kappa merchandise and a kappa-themed menu. She had the kappa gelato, ¥500, a little kappa made of matcha ice cream with cereal and biscuits on top.

（from Chikugo-Yoshii Station, Ukiha）

Ukiha's old town was a post town in the Edo period. Many buildings were rebuilt after a large fire in 1869 and are well preserved. She found the river lush and the town peaceful, like anime scenery.

A neighbourhood bakery she came across by chance. The shelf includes a Totoro cream puff at ¥240. Staff recommended the mentaiko baguette, mentaiko being a Kyushu speciality; it has a spicy kick, and she calls it "a random find but so so good".

An old house open to the public, once home to a wealthy Meiji-era family. The interior is traditional but as grand as a mansion, and she says places like this inspire her.

She changed trains here to get back to Fukuoka. The train system takes some figuring out, she says, and sometimes you have to accept a detour. She waited an hour for what she thought was the right train before realising it was the wrong one, with a cafe au lait made with Kumamoto milk to pass the time.

She found her way back to the city eventually and ended the day at the mall's life-size Gundam.

A bakery near the hotel with a line already waiting before opening, rustic and warm inside. It is also known for mentaiko baguette, but she had had one the day before and picked something else; it was crowded, so she took it to go. The choco France (¥356) has a crisp crust and a rich chocolate filling, and she calls the bread amazing.

A stationery shop that reminded her of the film Letters to Juliet. It sells paper goods, washi tape and writing supplies, and one corner holds postcards printed from old photographs. It left her with the sense that handwritten letters still matter here.

A kissaten open since 1966, with an antique interior that feels like stepping back in time. The coffee is made with a siphon. She had the Noda blend with fresh cream on the side and a pudding. You add the cream yourself to build your cup, and the pudding is the firm kind only a classic kissaten makes. It is the kind of place she wants to keep coming back to, and she takes its long run as a good sign.

Motsunabe, a hot pot of beef intestines, is another Fukuoka dish she counts as a must. There is a single-person portion, with miso or shoyu broth. She had miso and added champon noodles, and the miso broth went well with the tender motsu. She ends the trip saying Fukuoka might be her favourite region for a food trip.