出汁 酒吧巡礼之旅

If you’re interested in checking out Yatai food stalls in Fukuoka, this is the way to do it! It’s also a great first-night adventure in the city because Bruce is extremely knowledgeable and shares generously. My partner and I spent 4+ hours with Bruce, and we’d do it again in a heartbeat. We walked all over the city and stopped in three different Yatai stalls, eating tapas/pintxos style. Every bite of food and each drink we tried was delicious. It was a great intro to Fukuoka/Hakata, and a perfect way to visit the Yatai stalls, which could be intimidating to navigate for the first time on your own.

Absolutely amazing! Great food and lots of fun. Solid twelve out of 10!!

Hakata yatais are WHERE IT'S AT and there isn't a better person to show you the best places to try out than Bruce. I came to know about Bruce through a Youtube video he did for Japan byFood, so I was fairly sure coming into the tour that we'd be well taken care of. And Bruce did not disappoint! The thing about yatais is that their operational hours and days can be very unpredictable, so you need a tour guide who really knows the yatai scene and is not wedded to following a specific plan or script. Our tour was set for a Sunday night, so when we met Bruce, he explained that, although he had a plan in mind, there was a good chance we'd need to improvise along the way because it was a Sunday night. He proved to be right, as we needed to pivot right from the start because the madam running the first yatai he wanted to introduce to us did not set up for the evening. We ended up hitting a total four yatais, which included Ultra C (great oden), "Riverside Restaurant" (cozy izakaya serving some righteous ramen), Tomochan (grilled skewer goodness), and finally Bar Ebi-chan (literally an awesome bar sitting in the middle of the street run by a very professional couple). We chatted, ate, drank and laughed throughout the evening. Before we knew it, we'd been touring for almost 4 hours. Time flew by so quickly. A sign of a great tour and a great tour guide. We'll see you again, Bruce!

Had a great time with Shehab, showing me the real Osaka experience. He's so kind helping me beyond the call of duty with getting trains, etc. Highly recommended!

We had such an incredible time with Bruce! Without his help my husband and I never would’ve had the courage to attempt going into the yatai stalls by ourselves. Bruce made the process very smooth and comforting. He has incredible social skills, and he’s amazing at putting everyone at ease. He was so much fun to interact with. Plus he knew all of the best spots, and all the best specialty dishes to try—it was all just so perfect! THANK YOU Bruce!! Even though we had just a short time together, we’ll never forget you and this incredible yatai tour <3 I really can’t recommend this tour enough!

My partner and I had such a wonderful time on the tour. Satsuki was amazing, very knowledgeable (as she’s a local) and welcoming. So happy we did this tour.

Shun was very eager to share his love and passion for Japanese alcohol. I was particularly happy to learn local way of drinking Sake with Dashi. This is the type of experience I am looking for and he did a great job bringing us to 3 hidden places.

Good food and good sake with Shehab! It was nice that we got to choose our menu at some place. We were the only one, so it was a private tour of some drinks and food! Highly recommend!

Shun has incredible taste in food and has a deep knowledge about sake. I was the only person in this tour and he was able to tailor the tour to my requests. I asked to try some sake and eat what the locals eat. I'm deeply humbled by his knowledge and exposed how much I didn't know about Japnese cuisine and sake. First stop was a hidden izakaya where the proprietress served a style of food called obanzai, essentially drinking food if you come from a culture that has that concept (I'm Vietnamese, it's very familiar to me). We had a couple of shots of sake and enjoyed a conversation over the snack and sent me recommendations. We continued to a sale tasting where I discovered that had been ignoring an entire classification of sake due to my own ignorance as Shun explained each sake in the flight of sake served to me. We ended off the night with miso ramen from a local favorite ramen shop. My mind was blown and stomach was happy. My only suggestion for Shun is to carry a sign that says "Shun" or "By Food Tour". We arranged a meeting point, but didn't mention how to recognize him. Other than that, I wholly recommend Shun as a tour guide. I'll gladly book him again if I have some folks with me, they need to experience what I experienced!

What a fantastic experience. We met Bruce on a rainy evening and he still found us an excellent yatai where we enjoyed wagyu beef. Unagu (conger eel) tempura and other delicious dishes. Deciding the rain had eliminated some of our yatai choices we went hunting for other options - and found two off the hook gyoza restaurants. One was a favorite of Bruce and the other a recommendation from the Yatai chef. They were both excellent in different ways. We finished the evening with a delicious bowl of fukuoka's signature ramen and a pleasant walk home. Bruce's knowledge of all things food and Japan was impeccable and his ability to assist us in finding the best choices for our taste despite the weather was exceptional. 10 out of 10. Would recommend .

Bruce was awesome. So welcoming and knowledgeable about the area, having lived here for 40 years and counting. Not only did he bring us to Yatai stalls that were amazing, but he personally knew each and every owner like family. It really felt like going out with an old friend to all his favorite spot and introducing us to his friends. I would highly recommend and will definitely see him again when I come back to Fukuoka!

We had a great time with Bruce and learned a lot about Yatai culture and the food scene in Fukuoka City. Well worth a try if you’re a visitor to this city.