Despite its location outside the perimeter of Hakata Station, people flock to Toritori Kenkyudan to enjoy its many signature chicken dishes. The restaurant opened in 2013 with Hakata Jidori, a local brand of free-range chicken, as the centerpiece of the menu. While the main event is the yakitori skewers, the chicken ramen, with soup made from whole chicken carcasses, is very popular. Choose from three varieties: soy sauce, salt, and paitan—a rich, milky white chicken broth for which they’ve discovered the exact temperature to cook the chicken to reduce aroma and maximize umami. Bowls of ramen also come in half-sizes so you can try more than one flavor in one sitting. To enjoy the menu to the fullest, try some chicken dishes cooked over high-grade Tosa binchotan charcoal from Kochi and then wrap up your meal with a bowl of chicken ramen. The karaage (deep-fried chicken) is not to be missed either!
Menu (plus tax): Light salt ramen in golden soup ¥650 (half ¥400), nostalgic soy sauce ramen ¥650 (half ¥400), rich paitan ramen ¥700 (half ¥450), assortment of five rare cuts of chicken ¥1,000, char-grilled jidori thigh ¥780, karaage fried chicken ¥580, draft beer ¥530, craft beer ¥630, highball ¥500, seasonal sake sampler (4 types) ¥900
Lunch menu (tax incl.): Light salt ramen in golden soup ¥650, nostalgic soy sauce ramen ¥650, rich paitan ramen ¥700, karaage set ¥730
*Foreign language menu: None/Credit cards accepted/Reservations: Possible (Dinner only)/No smoking
Originally published in Fukuoka Now Magazine (fn253, Jan 2020)
