Good Restaurants in Fukuoka, Part 2: The Minami-ku Edition

Indian: Parkash (Takamiya Station, Takamiya)


For the most part, "Curry" in Japan just means a simple brown powdery sauce poured over rice. But there are a surprising number of really good Indian restaurants run by Indian immigrants in Fukuoka, at least 5 I can think of. One of my favorites is Parkash, above in Takamiya. When you leave the station you descend into a square with a fountain and statues. To your right are two restaurants, McDonalds and Parkash, pictured above (picture from Kenko's blog).

The food is good, it's clean with a good atmosphere, and the staff is really friendly. The main attraction, like most places, is curry with Nan bread. Prices vary depending on times of the day. Ranked in rough order from cheapest to most expensive- Weekday days, weekday evenings, weekend days/holidays and Weekend Evenings. The upside of this arrangement is that if you happen to be around Takamiya around lunch on a weekday, you can get a good vegetable curry set for about 600 yen.

American: Burgers from Okinawa (Noma)
Noma 2-5-13 Open 11:30-22:00, Closed Wednesday
Delivery 092-512-1259
Recently opened from a restaurateur that used to operate in Okinawa, catering to US military. At first glance, the burgers look pretty typical, but the secret weapon is the meat. They aren't kidding when they say "home-made"- the proprietor actually grinds the hamburger himself from base meat each morning and seasons it himself. Other than that, it's additive free. You've never had a burger that tasted so healthy. With most burgers, all the extra condiments basically serve the purpose of masking the fact that you're essentially eating low-grade meat that wouldn't be edible otherwise, but these patties stand on their own. My girlfriend complained it looked small for the price, but a lot of that has to do with the shaping; its two or 3 times as thick as most burgers.

Click to enlarge the menu. As you can see, prices range from 450 yen for a small standard burger to a whopping 1450 for a "regular" (read: American size) double Avocado special. I recommend the Hawaiian burger, with bacon and pineapple. Looking at it now, the menu says it's especially popular with foreigners, and sure enough, I made a beeline for it. Click the photo of the menu to enlarge and get a taste for what you're in for.

Directions- head south down Takamiya-dori from Tenjin until you get to Ohashi. Past the post office, there's a large intersection (Noma intersection) with a large tunnel on your right and a bicycle shop ahead on the far right corner. Turn right down the tunnel. Out the other side, it'll be on your left. If you live in the neighborhood they also do delivery.

Thai: Osha (Ohashi)


Abe Bldg. 1F 1-23-21 Ohashi, Minami-ku, Fukuoka 092-551-2175
Open: 11:30 ~ 14:00 / 18:00 ~ 24:00 Closed Monday

Most Thai restaurants try to go upscale and charge an arm and a leg, which is a shame, because if you've spent much time in Thailand you know that the really good food to be had is at the cheap roadside stalls. How come every Thai restaurant has to have a dress code and zen Buddhist statues by the door? Why can't you just get the cheap stuff? Now at Osha, you can. I remember coming directly from Thailand and finding it too a bit lacking, but now that I have some distance from the original food and have lowered my standards a bit I think its great, at the least some of the best food of its kind in Fukuoka. They put a good deal of effort into getting the original ingredients. Even basic spices and vegetables that can be bought in Japan are imported if the Thai variety differs in any way. They were kind enough to give me fresh thai ginger for my own cooking, for free.