Daidai — Restaurant in Fukuoka

chicken restaurant that, I believe, requires a booking and no walk-ins allowed? We were seated as soon as we arrived and were told to use the QR code to order our drinks, fried chicken and noodles, or rice for the end of the meal. The interior of the seating area was simple and clean.

Over the whole course of the meal, we had around 2 main waiters serving us and then like 1 or 2 others popping by. The whole meal took around 2 hours, not because there were a lot of courses but because everything was quite slow. I mean... really slow.

Service: slow. When I first ordered some water, it took them quite a while before they brought it. Then, when I asked for a refill , I had to ask 4 times before I got any! The first guy probably forgot, then the 2nd guy said it's coming, then the 3rd person also forgot... I'm not sure how. The restaurant wasn't even thaat busy since there weren't a lot of seats, and half the time, I saw 1 or 2 waiters just walking around not doing anything (this happened ALOT). For one of the courses (the vegetables), the waiter who set everything up said it's a 10 minute (? i forgot the exact time) wait, and then he used the hourglass timers to start timing (the timers were 5 minutes, I think.. it was basically half of the total time we needed). Then, once the timer ran out, a few minutes later, another waiter came over and stirred the pot and restarted the timer - fine. Then, once the timer ran out again, it took the original waiter like 5 minutes before he came over, and he ended up turning the timer AGAIN. Then, once the 3rd timer finished, it still took him like another 5-10 minutes before he came over. So the original "10 minutes" ended up being like 20-30 minutes.

Then, for the last part where we ordered noodles/rice.. they never came. After we finished the previous course, the staff didn't come over until like 15-20 minutes later and started handing me a menu asking me if I want any rice/noodles and I told him I've already ordered via the qr code. I'm not sure why he didn't just check beforehand. Then it took them another 10 minutes before they brought the noodles and then another 5 minutes before we got the rice. Summary: very slow service. Service wasn't in particularly "bad" but just really slow, and it felt like half the staff were just daydreaming the whole time. (I noticed a female staff serving 2 tables next to us, and she was a lot quicker, so I guess it depends on who serves you)

Taste: The soup was amazing! The first cup you have at the start is nice and clear.. after cooking the vegetables in the soup, the soup becomes more flavourful and has more depth to it. Chicken were ok, not dry, and tasted normal - nice but pretty normal. DO NOT get the fried chicken. They use chicken breast, and its super dry. Think it's the worst fried chicken I've ever had in my life. Overall, the amount of food doesn't seem a lot, but it's enough if you're not super hungry, and given the long waiting times in between each course, you end up getting full from waiting. For the price we paid, it's not really that great. The soup was the best bit, and that was about it. For the same price, you can try something else.

Even the bathroom was really dodgy. It was sooo dusty (dust/cobwebs or whatever it was) and felt like half the stuff needed fixing. When the next door toilet flushes or opens the tap, the tap in the toilet I was in would suddenly start releasing water. It's definitely the worst toilet I've been in in Japan.

Booking fee: when making a booking online, you need to pay a deposit of the actual cost of the chicken hotpot per person. But when we got the bill at the end, they didn't deduct it, so I believe the initial amount is a deposit they have on hold and only charge you if you dont turn up. If you do, they just cancel the deposit that was...

Unique. Difficult to find this type of cuisine. Boiled chicken in pot of chicken stock. They only have 2 dishes on their menu. A set of boiled chicken and some fried chicken as side. We ordered 2 sets of boiled chicken priced at JPY4,750 each. Fresh chicken, killed that morning according to the waitress. One of the staff cooked the meal at our table. Order rice or noodles to finish. They have a selection of alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks, and sake. They use up the whole pot of chicken stock for the meal. A set is probably half a chicken, and they boil it many ways. Reservation required. Our reservation at 8pm was the last booking they took for the evening. We made our reservation a few days in advance through TableCheck reserving with our credit card so they will charge for no shows. Closing time around 10pm, but the last order is probably around 8pm. We spent JPY10,500 for the 2 of us. Worth a try....

“Mizutaki” describes a type of hotpot from Fukuoka where the same chicken broth is used to serve three courses: first chicken thigh and wing, then minced chicken is formed into balls, and last vegetables such as cabbage and mushrooms. The pot is cooked at your table and all preparations are done by the servers there, so you can just sit back and enjoy. With each course served, you are also served some of the stock soup, which changes flavors subtly with each additional course. My favorite course was the first chicken meat cooked to tender perfection.

For appetizer, you can also order karaage (fried chicken) by the piece. The piece is large enough for one to be enough per person.

Highly recommended for those looking to enjoy hotpot with a regional twist. The atmosphere is clean and minimal, with plenty of space between the tables. Make sure to call ahead in advance to reserve a table...