Tempura Restaurant Hirao Head Shop

Hakata is a place of many delicious gourmet foods, from tonkotsu ramen to Hakata udon, cod roe, motsunabe, mizutaki… but I had no idea that tempura was also a popular gourmet food. I learned about “Hakata-style tempura” when I visited a restaurant called “Tempura no Yama” in Minoh, Osaka, and wondered, “Where can I get Hakata-style tempura in Hakata?” I was curious and researched on the Internet, and ended up at the restaurant I am introducing here, Tempura Restaurant Hirao.

I heard that this restaurant is very famous in Fukuoka. The main restaurant, located near Fukuoka Airport, has been awarded the “100 Best Tempura Restaurants in Fukuoka” in the “Tabelog” for two consecutive years since 2022. Some online articles even say “celebrity purveyor”. Come to think of it, when I visited the Maki no Udon Airport Branch next door in the spring, there was a huge line outside the restaurant even before it opened…

With a restaurant like that, you can’t go wrong with the taste, right?” So, on the last day of my stay in Hakata, I went to Tempura Restaurant Hirao Head Shop before boarding the plane. I moved the time from lunch time, when it is likely to be crowded, and visited the restaurant around 2:30 p.m. “If it’s around this time, the wait is short,” I said. I assumed that the wait would be short at that time. I assumed that the wait would be short at that time, but in fact it was…

アイドルタイムも関係なしの大混雑…ある日の午後に発生した天麩羅処ひらお 本店の行列の長さや待ち時間について、ありのままをお伝えします

The line at the restaurant was so long that it didn’t even matter that it was during idle hours… I will tell you the truth about the length of the line and the waiting time at Tempura Restaurant Hirao Head Shop that occurred one afternoon!

When I arrived at Tempura Restaurant Hirao Head Shop at 2:30 p.m., there was a line of about 20 people outside the restaurant. I was disappointed to see this situation. I thought it would take at least 30 minutes… “Well, it can’t be helped,” I gave up and got in line at the end of the queue. Fortunately, I had a lot of time to spare before boarding time, so I was able to keep my peace of mind.

As I gradually advanced to the front of the line, I found a ticket vending machine before reaching the seating area. Don’t forget to buy the meal ticket here before taking the seat. There are a total of eight set menus, all priced at around 1,000 yen. This value for money is probably the reason why Tempura Restaurant Hirao is so popular. Of course, if the set meal is not enough, additional tempura can be added one at a time. It is better to purchase a meal ticket ahead of time, but you can also order additional items after you actually start eating…

Now, the line moves further forward and I finally get to the seating area! And then, I was even more disappointed. This is because there were many more customers waiting to be shown to their seats in the seating area. The restaurant has benches placed near the wall, and since the restaurant has a long structure in the back, there is room for about 30 people to sit on these benches. In other words, when I arrived at the Tempura Restaurant Hirao Head Shop, there were more than 50 people in line. Still, I was lucky that day, and the waiter called out to me when I was the seventh or eighth person in line, and I was shown to my seat ahead of the customers in front of me.

In the end, the wait time from the beginning of the line until I was seated was about 40 minutes. This restaurant has only counter seats, but the total number of seats is 54, so it is a reasonably large restaurant. For that reason, the turnover of customers is not so good…it was very crowded, no matter what the idle time was. When visiting this restaurant, you need to be prepared to accept a considerable amount of time to spare and wait.

Tempura Set Meal: Experiencing authentic Hakata-style tempura at the very popular Tempura Restaurant Hirao Head Shop in Hakata…how was it really?

Let me introduce the signature tempura set meal (price: 940 yen including tax) that I ordered at Tempura Restaurant Hirao Head Shop. There were seven kinds of tempura items that day: yellowtail, squid, pumpkin, eggplant, green bell pepper, mackerel, and white meat. At Hakata-style Tempura, deep-fried tempura is served one item at a time, so you have to wait quite a while to capture the whole picture…

About 10 minutes after the first dish arrived, and after 6 dishes had arrived, I couldn’t wait any longer to take a picture. The longer I waited, the more the tempura tasted worse and worse, and that was unavoidable. I should start eating without waiting for the remaining one. Of course, if you don’t have another purpose, such as posting on a blog or social networking site, I definitely recommend that you start crunching down on the first dish that comes out without doing this.

Now, let’s get to eating… The batter is thin and crispy. The tempura ingredients are all large enough and fresh enough to be shipped directly from the production area. On the other hand, the dashi broth was sweet soy sauce based, but it was quite light, perhaps due to the grated daikon radish. Thus, compared to the Hakata-style tempura I had at Tempura no Yama, it was quite light, but I personally felt that it was a little too light and not enough…

Fortunately, there were four kinds of seasonings on the table: salt, curry salt, yuzu kosho, and chili pepper (and pumpkin, for some reason!), so I was able to compensate for the lack of flavor by using these. I tried them all, but I would recommend the curry salt the most.

Like this, I finished the tempura set meal at Tempura Restaurant Hirao Head Shop in about 10 minutes. The price of less than 1,000 yen is definitely a good deal for such a meal, and it is no wonder that the restaurant is so crowded every day. However, apart from the taste, I was bothered by the fact that the wait staff washed their hands very quickly and carelessly. I understand that they are very busy, but I wish they would do a better job when handling food…

Other set menus at Tempura Restaurant Hirao Head Shop (prices include tax)

• Shrimp set meal (4 shrimp, 3 vegetables) 1090 yen
• Usual set meal (shrimp, white meat, mozzarella cheese, white meat, rice cake, 2 vegetables) 1040 yen
• Favorite set meal (shrimp, squid, pork, white meat, 3 vegetables): 1,040 yen
• Irodori Set Meal (Hamo, shrimp, white meat, squid, 3 vegetables) 1,040 yen
• Ajiwai set meal (shrimp, chicken thigh, white meat, squid, 3 vegetables) 940 yen
• Chicken tempura set meal (4 chicken thighs, 1 white meat, 3 vegetables) 940 yen
• Vegetable set meal (7 vegetables) 840 yen

The hidden specialty, salted squid can be ordered by mail order…To get to Tempura Restaurant Hirao Head Shop, take the Nishitetsu bus bound for Kami-Umi from Fukuoka Airport Station on the Fukuoka City Subway Airport Line, the nearest station, get off at Mushiroda bus stop, and walk for one minute.

At the Tempura Restaurant Hirao Head Shop, squid pieces are served along with tempura…

Apparently, the salted squid is very popular. The squid meat is firm and sweet, and the aroma of the yuzu peel is refreshing… To be honest, I liked this better than the tempura. I could eat three bowls of rice with just this, and of course, it is perfect as a snack with beer! You can order this salted squid fish from their online store, so whether you are a drinker or not, please give it a try!

Here are the details of the restaurant…