Hakata Motsunabe Maedaya Sohonten

I happened to find this restaurant, Hakata Motsunabe Maedaya Sohonten, while searching for a motsunabe restaurant near Hakata Station on the Internet. It is a popular restaurant that ranks No. 1 in the number of online reservations in the Tabelog. I thought, “If it’s popular among locals, it can’t be bad,” and headed to the restaurant first thing after checking into my hotel during my visit to Fukuoka in the summer of 2024. Well…

Bringing dignity to motsunabe. is the catchphrase of Hakata Motsunabe Maedaya Sohonten.

I arrived at Hakata Motsunabe Maedaya Sohonten around 9:00 p.m. on a weekday evening. I was lucky enough to get in easily, but even after the peak dinner time, new customers kept coming in, and there were crowds of people waiting to get into the restaurant. It is extremely popular. In fact, this restaurant is said to be the purveyor of celebrities such as entertainers and professional athletes. Indeed, there were many autographs displayed in the restaurant. I was far from my seat, so I don’t know what kind of people were there…

Aside from that, the Hakata Motsunabe Maedaya Sohonten has a total of 70 seats, including counter seats, table seats, and tatami room seats. In addition to the six counter seats in front of the kitchen, there are enough counter-style table seats for 10 people, so even a lone customer like me can use the restaurant without worry. The restaurant’s catchphrase seems to be “Bringing dignity to motsunabe”. If you ask me, the interior of the restaurant is a bit more upscale than most restaurants specializing in motsunabe. However, all the waitstaff are young people, and it is not a high-class restaurant where you have to dress up, so you can use the restaurant without any hesitation…

Wagyu Motsunabe Miso Flavor: By far the most popular menu item that 70-80% of customers order at Hakata Motsunabe Maedaya Sohonten, how does it taste?

Let me introduce the overwhelmingly most popular menu item at Hakata Motsunabe Maedaya Sohonten that I ordered this time: Wagyu Motsunabe Miso Flavor (priced at 1,540 yen per person plus tax). Maedaya also basically requires a minimum order of two servings of motsu nabe, but they will gladly make it for one person only if you come alone…

Well, after a little more than 10 minutes of waiting after ordering, the motsunabe was brought in front of me…

The soup is poured to the very edge of the pot like this. When the soup is simmering, it overflows into the cassette stove…

I decided to start with the broth… this broth is quite sweet. It is not unpleasantly sweet, but rather a complex and well-cornered sweetness that is well supported by the dashi broth. And along with the sweetness, the garlic is quite effective. I can’t really verbalize it, but it is a very memorable flavor.

This nabe is filled with beef and vegetables! There are a total of 8 pieces of beef entrails in the pot, which is more than enough for one person. Of course, they are plump and have no smell at all. The fat that melts in your mouth is irresistible.

Also, the amount of vegetables in this nabe was amazing. In addition to the beef stock, there were chives, tofu, konnyaku, enoki mushrooms, cabbage, burdocks… The amount of cabbage and burdocks in particular was so overwhelming that I could have eaten all of them and still been full. Perhaps it is the broth from these large quantities of vegetables that supports the complex flavor of the dashi broth.

So, normally, after finishing the nabe, I would go for zosui (rice porridge) to finish the meal, but this time I was so full that I decided to pay the bill as it was. Even at the checkout, I was a little worried that the nabe might actually be for two, but it was fine. I was lucky that the price was lower than I had expected (note: an additional charge of 380 yen plus tax is required for appetizers). As one would expect from a restaurant that ranks No. 1 in the number of reservations on the Internet, celebrities and famous athletes frequent the restaurant. It’s no wonder that celebrities and famous athletes frequent this restaurant……..

【Bonus】The bonus item this time is the “Gyu no Sumotsu”, which I ordered as a snack before the motsunabe was served (priced at 680 yen + tax). Apparently, this is also a Hakata specialty, and Hakata Motsunabe Maedaya’s sumotsu is made from the rectum, a rare part of beef from which only 300 grams can be obtained from one head of Wagyu beef. The crunchy texture and the sourness of the ponzu (Japanese sauce made of citrus juice and ponzu citrus juice) are a good combination, and I’m hooked. It would be a perfect accompaniment to beer.

Examples of other menu items at Hakata Motsunabe Maedaya Sohonten (prices do not include tax)

• Wagyu beef motsunabe soy sauce flavored – 1,540 yen per person
• Wagyu spicy motsunabe (spicy beef hot pot) 1630 yen per person
• Ikizukuri squid (directly from Karatsu Yobuko) 100g 1580yen and up
• Maedaya’s homemade cod roe: 980 yen
• Hakata chirimen (noodles) with shredded green onion 340 yen
• Zosui (rice gruel) 340 yen
• Champon noodles 280 yen

Maybe “Mr. or Ms. Maeda” will have a good thing for you when you visit the restaurant? To get to Hakata Motsunabe Maedaya Sohonten, a 6-minute walk from the nearest station, JR Hakata Station.

Maybe “Mr. or Ms. Maeda” will have a good thing for you when you visit the restaurant? To get to Hakata Motsunabe Maedaya Sohonten, a 6-minute walk from the nearest station, JR Hakata Station.

This is how Hakata Motsunabe Maedaya Sohonten looks like, but there are signs like this all over the restaurant…

It seems that if “Mr. or Ms. Maeda”, which is the same as the owner’s surname, uses the restaurant, something good will happen. Although I am completely out of the zone, I quite like this kind of playful attitude. If you are “Maeda-san” and have received this service, please leave a note in the comments section below. By the way, “Maeda” is the 31st most common surname in Japan. Not that it matters, but “Ohori” is ranked 1414th in Japan…

Now, here are the details of the restaurant…