点评:BACKGROUND:
While Osaka is known as Japan's Kitchen with Dotonburi, Tokyo has its Shinjuku street food.. Fukuoka's famous Yatai street food seemed the most authentic to me as the stores are literally mobile carts on the street, especially since Yatai or 屋台 in kanji means "shop stand" in Japanese. Based on a documentary, this stretch of Yatai along Nakasu River is probably the last daily Yatai street standing (~6pm~4am), and some of the stores were legit older e.g. those handed down and currently being run by second-gen owners!
WHAT TO EXPECT:
From Grand Hyatt hotel / Canal City Mall, we simply crossed a road and bridge before arriving at the bustling stretch of Yatai. The riverbanks of Nakasu River were gorgeous with glittery lights hung up for Christmas, and seeing the entire street lined up with steamy little huts on a winter night just ramped up our anticipation... seemed like the perfect weather to try some piping hot Oden and addictive Mentaiko dishes while we bask in the steam gathered in the insulated tiny booths. Prices were pretty attractive too at just 700~1000yen (<8usd) per dish.
Alas, we didn't. Got turned away because our kids had to be at least 9 years old. Not sure why they set it as 9 year old but... perhaps it was drunk o'clock and with long queues forming after 10pm, it kinda made sense that they preferred adults who'd spend more e.g. consume more alcohol during these golden hours, that's why they had to keep the (slightly younger) kids out.
TIPS:
Good to visit earlier e.g. 6pm~7pm when they just set up, as there wouldn't be queues at each Yatai store yet and they just might let the younger kids in.
Plenty of Izakayas and convenient marts along the Yatai street, so you'll have somewhere to turn to for those late night snacks if you can't get into any Yatai stores!
Still pretty to snap some pictures along the river, and further down the river, the Wakato suspension bridge glowing at night.
翻译:背景:
大阪以道顿堀被称为“日本厨房”,而东京则以新宿街头美食闻名。在我看来,福冈著名的屋台街美食最为正宗,因为这些店铺实际上是街上的移动推车,尤其是“屋台”在日语中的汉字意思就是“摊位”。根据一部纪录片,中洲川沿岸的这一段屋台可能是目前仅存的每日营业的屋台街(下午6点至凌晨4点),而且有些店铺确实历史悠久,例如那些由第二代老板传承至今的店铺!
行程安排:
从君悦酒店/运河城购物中心出发,我们只需穿过一条马路和一座桥,就能到达熙熙攘攘的屋台街。中洲川的河岸挂满了圣诞彩灯,美得令人窒息。冬夜里,看到整条街上排列着热气腾腾的小木屋,更让我们更加期待了……这天气真是完美,我们一边在隔热小隔间里享受着热气腾腾的关东煮和令人上瘾的明太子料理,一边享受着热气腾腾的关东煮和明太子料理。价格也很诱人,每道菜只需700到1000日元(不到8美元)。
可惜的是,我们没有。因为我们的孩子必须年满9岁,所以被拒之门外。不知道他们为什么把年龄限制定为9岁,但……也许是因为当时是醉酒时间,晚上10点以后排队排得很长,所以他们更倾向于在这些黄金时段消费更多(比如喝更多酒)的成年人,这也是情理之中的,所以他们不得不把(年龄稍小的)孩子拒之门外。
小贴士:
早点去很不错,比如……下午6点到7点,他们刚刚开始营业,因为每个屋台店还没开始排队,他们可能会让小孩子进去。
屋台街上有很多居酒屋和便利店,所以如果你进不去任何一家屋台店,你也有地方可以买夜宵!
沿着河边拍几张照片还是很美的,再往下游走,若户吊桥在夜晚闪闪发光。