ShinShin KITTE Hakataten — Restaurant in Fukuoka

My experience was surprising to me because this place really missed the mark on different accounts. I’m very disappointed and can’t believe I found bad food in Fukuoka.

Not much of a wait to get seated for two adults around 16:30 on a weekday. There was a QR code for the menu in different languages. The menu at the seats were in Japanese, but Google translate camera made it easy to navigate.

Service was as you’d expect from a typical ramen joint. However, there’s a sense of stiffness and lack of friendliness to be felt. This was surprising to me because generally service is good in this area. I’ve had nicer service at the McDonald’s around the corner.

Zenbu-nose ramen ¥1110 The problems I had with this ramen started with the noodles. They were overcooked and too soft - perfect for a 90-year-old grandma who can’t chew well. I wish there was an option to select firmness. Next the broth was very oily. This seemed off to me because ramen broth is usually oily but this was exceptionally oily. It was shining like a bald man’s head. Taste - mid. I could not enjoy this ramen at all.

Shin-shin ramen ¥930 Way too many green onions The noodles were also very very very very soft. It wasn’t just with the more expensive ramen. Broth did not taste good and was also too oily.

Fried rice ¥390 Fried rice should be fragrant, but this was tasteless. It had too many pieces of fish cake that the rice looked pink. The meat in this rice is so poorly cooked that it felt hard like bones and could not be eaten. I would stay far away from fried rice here.

Cucumber side dish ¥390 Cucumbers were soaked in sesame oil and lost their crunchy texture. I was very disappointed...

Now I understand why there is always a long queue for this ramen. Our first hotel was actually located near their first store and we were always so amazed at how long the queue is even up into the night.

And when we decide to check out the ramen street at hakata station, we found that they have another branch and we only queued like 15 mins before we got our seat.

Hands down one of the best ramen I have even in fukuoka. Soup was on point, right level of greasiness that coat every strand of the perfectly cooked noodles. Eggs were perfectly cooked and the condiments you can add into it allow you to make the best combinations of flavours as you wish.

I ordered a horumon (offal) fried with cabbage and miso on a hot plate, it was so good that I even felt like ordering a white rice to go with it.

Told myself I will go back there whenever I am in Fukuoka and must tried their fried ramen...

Ramen was tasty, but not the style I like. I like soup that is oily, rich, and thick, but the soup here was more like a pork stock. My parents loved it but it wasn’t really my cup of tea. The noodles of the ramen was also too thin for my liking, but I guess they have to make the noodles thin otherwise the ramen would be too mild tasting. Pork of the ramen is very good, and the egg was pretty good too.

Soup: 6/10, Noodles: 5/10, Pork: 9/10, egg: 8/10

The original fried rice was surprising. Tasted better than I expected. I would definitely order the fried rice again. Gyoza was good, but nothing out of the ordinary. If too full no need to try in my opinion.

Menu had nice pictures and was clear, easy to order with the staff. Restaurant’s aircon was slightly too weak and I was sweating while eating. Staff was...