Yakitori Hachibei | Hakata — Restaurant in Fukuoka

Authentic Yakitori restaurant which serves only Robata (skewers) with chicken as the primary meat.

Food was good, especially the chicken chicken wing which we ordered twice of. There are some vegetables as well but everything was grilled. Oh, but they did provide free raw cabbage that can be refilled as many times as you want.

Alcohol drinks were fair in price and basically had your basic Japanese choice of alcoholic drinks: Chuhai, Highball, beer, wine, Sochu, etc. No impressive cocktails and nothing to brag about here.

Service was below average for a Japanese restaurant. First of all, the greeting wasn't that great perhaps because we were not locals. Service level was definitely not in par with other restaurants we've been to locally. Also, they don't speak much English and was not helpful with explaining what things were in English. We had to rely on the very limited english menu which could come as a surprise afterwards.

All in all, ok for a single visit or to have...

Hachibei is hands down my favorite yakitori restaurant in Fukukoka. They have several locations around Tenjin and Hakata.

This particular Hachibei is actually inside an open-plan food court together with several other eating and drinking establishments. It is open throughout the day, so you can pop in and have a couple of skewers and beers whenever you are in the vicinity. Not for groups as most of the seats are around the counter, with only three tables at the back.

We finished 19 mouthwatering skewers ranging from butabara (pork belly), wagyu boneless short rib and outside skirt, different chicken parts (wings, meatballs, skin) to asparagus, shiso rolls and shiitake mushrooms. We also ordered a caesar salad, onigiri (rice balls) and chicken soup. It was a gratifying meal which did not cost a fortune. The bill for the food plus two drinks...

The food is passable… However, a big issue is the shady and shonky behaviour of unexplained charges and forcing purchases of drinks. We were told it’s mandatory to buy drinks for each diner, irrespective of anyone wanting it or not. When asked about a dish on the bill that was apparently cabbage (small appetiser) often served by restaurants. They explained this is the same as cover charge per person.

Look, I have no issue if the restaurant want to have a minimum spend per person, but this should be called out clearly. This kind of shady and underhanded behaviour left a bad taste in our mouths.

My recommendation to anyone else is to avoid this kind of places, there are plenty of good offerings around that has great food without these kind of...