Ralukii

Have you ever heard of “Pepetama”? Pepetama” is a creative pasta dish created by Ralukii, a “super” popular Italian restaurant in Hakata. Simply put, it is like a combination of peperoncino and carbonara. It has many fans among celebrities such as Sadaharu Oh, Gal-Sone, Ryoko Yonekura, and Hanamaru Daikichi, and popular YouTuber Ryuji and others have published arranged recipes, making it a very popular pasta in Japan….

Of course, I have had my eye on Ralukii’s Pepetama for a long time, and if I ever get a chance to visit Hakata one day, I will definitely go there to try it! So, in November 2023, I was scheduled to visit Fukuoka, and I was able to make it to the restaurant this time. Well…

Seats inside, but you can bring your pets… Popular Italian restaurant near Ohori Park, Ralukii is a restaurant like this…

I visited Ralukii on a Friday around 10:30am. It was 30 minutes before the official opening time, and there were already 5 customers in front of me in a short line. Between this time and the opening time, the line easily exceeded 30 people. Including the five people in front of me, there were many groups of women in the beginning, which made me a little nervous in my mind, “Is this a restaurant with a fairly high percentage of girls too?” But later on, I was relieved to see some hard-working men and customers with small children. Even a lone loner like me can use the restaurant without any problem…

According to Retty, the restaurant seats 30 customers in total, but a quick look around the restaurant gave the impression that it could accommodate a few more. The three sofa seats in the back of the restaurant could seat about six people if they were packed a bit…

Another thing to note is that pets are allowed, even though all the seating is inside the restaurant. Of course, it would be difficult to bring a large dog, but a small dog like a toy poodle can have lunch in the restaurant even on a rainy day. If you would like to dine with your pet, why not call the restaurant before visiting? In case you are wondering, Ralukii does not accept reservations, but if you talk to them in advance, they may be able to offer you some suggestions…

I’ve wanted to try this for a long time…Ralukii’s signature dish, “Pepetama”… How was it?

Let’s take a look at the target of our visit, Ralukii’s signature dish, “Pepetama” (large portion, priced at 1485 yen+ yen including tax). (large portion, priced at 1,485 yen (tax included) + yen). Here is a photo…

Like this, it is covered with a generous amount of sauce that looks like egg soup. As one would expect from a large portion, the volume of the dish is very generous. You can also add a set that includes soup, salad, and garlic toast (price: plus 330 yen), but this time I ordered it by itself. Actually, I found out later that this was a mistake, but I will explain that later.

Let’s have it right away… I took the first bite and said, “Whoa!” It would be easy to say that it is really a combination of peperoncino and carbonara, but it is not that simple. The sense of balance between the two is wonderful.

It is difficult to explain in words, but the peperoncino and carbonara are not mixed together to create a new taste, but rather the sauce itself is mixed, but each flavor can be enjoyed independently of the other. If I had to say so, I can’t feel the creaminess of carbonara (so it seems more like egg soup), but when I try it, it’s just a regular peperoncino. At the same time, it has the texture of pasta soup, and you can eat it as pasta soup with beaten eggs without feeling uncomfortable at all… It seems easy to make it taste like this, but I think it is actually very difficult. Personally, I think it is very difficult to make it taste like this.

The thickness of the pasta is about the same as a slightly thin spaghettini. The surface of the pasta is smooth , and it goes down your throat nicely. The aroma of garlic that wafts into your nose after passing through the throat is irresistible. The sauce is riddled with coarsely chopped garlic, which seems to be very beneficial to the body. On the other hand, the spiciness of the chili peppers is moderate, probably due to the effect of the eggs (you can request the spiciness when ordering), but later on…

You can add-on as many chili peppers as you like with homemade Tabasco, so if you are worried about spiciness, it is better to order less spicy at first.

“Pepetama.” Once I tasted it, it was really unstoppable and I finished the pasta in a few minutes. There was quite a bit of pasta sauce left at the bottom of the bowl, and I was beginning to think, “If only there was a pasta refill like the Hakata tonkotsu ramen…” “Well, that’s impossible, isn’t it? I was just about to drink up the remaining soup, thinking, “Well, that’s impossible…,” when I noticed that the customers around me were using garlic toast to collect the remaining sauce.

At this moment, I thought, “I screwed up~!” with my order. I thought. At the same time, I was relieved that I was still at the stage where I could make up for that mistake. I hurriedly called the waitress and ordered an additional garlic toast (price: 385 yen including tax). If you order it by itself, you get something this big…

Use this one…

Eat this way…

This is the way to eat one set of pasta, up to the point where you collect all the pasta sauce. Looking around, it seemed that all the customers except for me had ordered pasta with additional set…oh no, that was a close call.

I left the restaurant after enjoying the original Pepetama at Ralukii like this. I was satisfied far beyond my expectations, and I’m already determined to return to this restaurant. If you don’t dislike garlic, I highly recommend this “Pepetama” is highly recommended. The only drawback is that the overall price is a bit high, so it is not suitable for everyday use. is so amazing that you may not be able to try the dozens of other pasta and pizza dishes on the menu…

Examples of Ralukii’s other pasta menus (prices include tax)

• Ripe tomato, bacon and garlic 2090 yen
• Pepe natto (fermented soybeans) – 1,650 yen
• Carbonara with cod roe: 1,925 yen
• Okura, natto and bacon – 1870 yen
• Uni Bonara 2,200 yen
• Pepe-tama. Spicy ¥1705
• Cod and green peppers – 1,595 yen

There are also many other creative pastas and pizzas, as well as a special “Lunch of the Day”…

Pepetama pasta sauce is also on sale…Access to Ralukii is a 4-minute walk from the nearest station, Ohorikouen Station on the Fukuoka City Subway Airport Line.

Ralukii, a very popular restaurant in Hakata, also sells the Pepetama frozen pasta sauce introduced here. It has a shelf life of 365 days and is priced at 972 yen per bag (one serving), and can be purchased through Amazon and Rakuten, so you can recreate Ralukii’s Pepetama at home…but I am concerned about the rather low star rating in the Amazon product reviews. Hmmm, what should I do…well, even if it turns out to be “bad”, it would be good for a story, so I might buy it if I feel like it. I’ll post the link below so you can give it a try if you’re interested too.

らるきい監修 ぺぺたま。 パスタソース 160g 1人前 冷凍

Amazon参考価格：972円、楽天参考価格：972円

Amazonで買う

楽天で買う

Now, here are the details of the store. Restaurant data is here…