japan food diary pt. 2
Oita, Beppu, Kitsuki, Kumamoto, and our last days in Fukuoka
I’m back in Manila and trying to get back into the swing of things. I know I’m making strides in working through my anxiety because looking at vacation photos no longer fills me with dread. I know it might not seem like a big deal, but this is huge for me. Until recently, I loathed looking at photos from a trip and would put it off as long as possible, ideally until the feelings they produced cycled through the negative ones and settled comfortably into nostalgia (such a Cancer, I know). Now, as I look back on photos from the trip, sure, I feel a bit sad that it’s over. Mostly, though, I feel grateful.
Sunday (Feb 11)
Lunch (Beppu)
We took the train to Beppu from Oita so we could check out Beppu Hells, an onsen theme park we were curious about. Since we still had to catch a bus to get there, we decided we’d grab lunch at the station.
It was almost noon, and most of the restaurants were packed, so we popped into the first one that had a table. Joff and I shared a shrimp pesto and a tomato-based seafood pasta. When they arrived, they looked like they’d be bland. The sauce looked watery and was barely clinging to the noodles. Thankfully, both ended up being surprisingly flavorful, the pesto especially.
Snacks
I spotted a Cremia stand at Beppu Hells so of course I got one. I don’t know if I’ve been spoiled by the knock-off one in Kiwami Food Hall (whose lengua de gato cone is dare-I-say superior to Cremia’s?) but it didn’t quite hit as hard as I remembered.
After Beppu Hells, to make the most of our three-day JR passes, Joff suggested we check out a nearby town called Kitsuki. His pitch was that it was a more traditional Japanese town with houses that samurai used to live in. It ended up being lovely, but eerily deserted. It felt like a ghost town. We later found out that most places were closed because it was National Foundation Day.
We barely saw anyone on the street save for a few tourist stragglers like us and the occasional souvenir shop. Kitsuki’s known for its paved slopes that descend from one street to another and also provide picturesque views. Eventually, traversing the slopes made us hungry. Thankfully, I remembered I had the perfect snack in my bag.
Before leaving Kitsuki, I bought these snacks at Lawson.
After a slight snafu with our commute back to Oita, during which we missed one bus and accidentally got on the wrong train, we arrived back in Oita, tired and thinking about where to eat for dinner.
Dinner
We considered just grabbing food from the nearest konbini and calling it a night but we didn’t want to potentially miss out on something good on our last night in the city. We remembered the Sri Lankan restaurant that caught our eye the night before and walked over. We ordered the shrimp and squid curries.
For dessert, I got a strawberry eclair from Family Mart.
Monday (Feb 12)
We were leaving Oita for a day trip to Kumamoto (city number five in three days) before heading back to Fukuoka, so we got up early to catch the train. But first, breakfast.
Lunch
Before getting on the train to Kumamoto, we got two eki-bentos.
And a Manneken waffle. A few years ago, I had a delicious waffle and cream sandwich from them that I'll never forget. This one didn’t quite live up to that, though it was still good in its own right.
As we walked out of Kumamoto Station, we stumbled upon a food market that was right outside. One of the stalls was selling grilled oysters. I remembered that Kumamoto oysters were a thing, so I convinced Joff to try them. As much as I love oysters (in theory), a bout with amoebiasis years ago made me swear them off permanently.
Snacks
We walked to Kumamoto Castle and found food stalls and souvenir shops fronting the castle. Unlike the castle, you didn’t have to pay to get into this area, so Joff and I decided we’d just try some of the stalls and admire the castle from this vantage point.
The first stall that caught my eye was the chikuwa stand. Chikuwa is a tube-shaped fish cake that can be stuffed with various things. The potato salad-stuffed one particularly piqued my interest, and I’m so glad I tried it.
I didn’t expect it to be still warm and crisp from frying. It was delicious and so much better than I thought it would be. It’s definitely something I’ll be thinking about for a while, and I kinda regret not getting another before leaving.
We also got an uni cream korokke that looked better than it tasted. The uni was slightly bitter, but the korokke itself was nice and crisp. Overall, though, it felt like it was missing something.
After visiting the Contemporary Art Museum of Kumamoto, we headed to the station to get the train back to Fukuoka. But before that, we spotted a stall selling korokke. We got a fish broth one and a pumpkin one, and they were hands down the most delicious korokke I’ve ever had.
Dinner
After getting to Fukuoka, we decided to just find somewhere to eat at Hakata station. As usual, most places were either full or had queues, so we dipped into one where we could get a table right away. We saw a soba place that fit the bill.
We had low expectations, but as is usually the case in Fukuoka, the food ended up being amazing.
I got the negitoro and soba set. The bowl of soba was huge and the negitoro was so rich and tasty, even better than the one we had at Uuki. We also shared some shrimp and shiitake kushikatsu.
Tuesday (Feb 13)
Lunch
Because we had such a perfect day of eating on Monday, Tuesday ended up being kind of a dud. It was our last full day in Japan, so there was a bit of pressure to do it right. And since I don’t do well under pressure, I couldn’t decide where to get lunch. Joff had been wanting to try this burger place he’d seen on YouTube, promising me they’d have veggie burgers (it said so on Google Maps). It was just a street away from our hotel, so we went with that. The path of least resistance and all that.
When we got there, Joff asked the owner, an older American man, if they had veggie burgers. He said, “We don’t do that kind of thing here.” Joff told him I don’t eat meat, and the owner quickly launched into a story about how he grew up in California, that his parents are vegetarians, and that he could probably just make me something with egg, cheese, and mushrooms, so I said sure.
I overheard him telling the cook not to add any sauce, that they’d let the umami from the tomato serve as the sauce. It sounded promising. Unfortunately, it did need the sauce (and a sprinkle of salt on the tomato would’ve been nice). Since we’d ordered fries, I was able to dip the sandwich in some of the delicious BBQ sauce they make in-house. It was a perfectly serviceable sandwich that could’ve been great with a little bit more seasoning.
Snacks
After a bizarre visit to a mini-pig cafe (would not recommend) and hungry for a snack, Joff and I popped into the first place that looked like it served decent food.
We ended up at One Drop, where we had some perfectly fried squid karaage and a sizzling sardine and potato dish.
Dinner
By dinner time, I was beat. I had my period, so my energy was sapped. We stopped by a grocery store near the station and bought our dinner there: salmon nigiri and salmon rolls, a bento of random dishes, potato salad, pickles, and a salad. And a Mont Blanc ice cream bar for dessert.
I was feeling pretty good as I munched away on the pickles, feeling like we’d made the right choice. Why spend on a restaurant when you could get a perfectly good meal at the grocery for half the price? Welp, I spoke too soon, because as soon as I popped one of the salmon nigiri into my mouth, I knew it was too good to be true. I guess we should’ve been more suspicious about the discount sushi but we were in Japan, I reasoned, surely they wouldn’t let sushi spoil. Reader, I was wrong. Everything else was good, though.
Wednesday (Feb 14)
Lunch
The plan was to get lunch at Hanabi, a spot known for its sushi. We were thinking we’d get our last sushi fix of the trip and check out a neighborhood we’d been wanting to, Ropponmatsu, where it’s located. We took the bus to the nearest stop and walked over to Hanabi when, lo and behold, we find that it was closed (never trust Google Maps in Fukuoka, at least when it comes to operating hours).
Apparently, a lot of shops and restaurants are closed on Wednesdays. Misguidedly, we sought out another sushi place based on Google Maps reviews about a ten-minute walk away, only to find that it, too, was closed. Exasperated, we decided to walk back to Udon Byori, a place we’d passed earlier that we knew was very much open. We ended up having the best meal there. So good that Joff and I would stop intermittently between mouthfuls to look at each other and acknowledge how good it was.
That concludes my Japan food diary. If you’d like to support my work, you can check out my Patreon page where I’ll be releasing bonus content regularly beginning in March. You can also support the newsletter by sharing it with a friend (or two) who you think might like it.
Next Saturday, I’ll be sending out Culture Catch-Up #2!
As always, thanks for being here. 🖤