Hello🖐️ Today’s Fukuoka restaurant recommendation is Hambak Steak Japone(ジャポネ), located near Nakasu Kawabata Station. The restaurant is run by an elderly couple, and we were the only foreigners in the restaurant when we visited, so it’s a local restaurant with not many Korean reviews. I love hambak steak and it’s close to my hostel, so I recommend it because it’s a place where you feel like you’ve come home to a warm home-cooked meal : )
Fukuoka Restaurants Access to Japone
I’ve traveled to Japan a lot, but I think it was my first time to visit Fukuoka in the middle of July. I went for a short period of time due to work, but the summer in Japan was really hot 😂 It was slightly less hot than Phu Quoc, Vietnam, which I visited just before, but it was like stepping into a sauna. I thought my hair was melting off my head during the daytime, so if you’re visiting Japan in the middle of summer, I recommend you to be prepared for the heat. For example, bring a hat, parasol, sunglasses, etc. to shade yourself from the sun.
I visited during my lunch break and it was about a 7-minute walk from Nakasu Kawabata Station, where I was staying. According to Google Maps, the restaurant is closed on Sundays and is only open for lunch from 11:30 to 14:00 and dinner from 18:00 to 20:00. The hours are short, just in time for a meal, so you’ll need to time your visit well.
About Zappone
The interior is fairly small compared to most restaurants, with a large round table and bar seating for 8 or 9 people. It’s run by an elderly couple, with the grandfather making the food and the grandmother serving and paying the bill.
I was warned that there might be a wait because it’s a popular place for locals, but luckily there were seats available so I was able to sit down right away👍 Once you’re seated, they offer you a towel and ice-cold water with ice cubes. It was really hot outside, but drinking ice water saved my life lol.
As I was getting into the atmosphere and carefully trying to take pictures of the store, the owner told me that you can’t take pictures of the inside of the store❌ (but you can take pictures of the food). There are many places in Japan where you can’t take pictures like this, so you have to be careful. I panicked a bit and didn’t take a picture of the menu.
Where to Eat in Fukuoka: Zappone
Before the hambak steak, we were served a salad, soup, and rice, which are included in the set menu. The soup was clear and light, so it was easy to drink. The steaming rice was scooped right out of the rice cooker, and the slightly sticky white rice was very appetizing👍.
The hamburger steak came with french fries, vegetables like spinach, and lotus root vegetable fries. The lotus root vegetable fries were chewy, not crispy, and were a delicacy👍.
The Wapung hamburger steak had a nice savory flavor and moist juiciness, and it tasted similar to the salty bulgogi seasoning with the grated garlic. The demi-glace hamburg steak tasted just like the hamburg steak we know, with a deep and smooth sauce. Both dishes were not overpowering and felt like eating at home : )
The hamburger steak was grilled on an iron plate, so when I pressed it slightly, the juices trapped inside came out.
It was perfect with warm white rice. I thought the large size of 280g would be a lot, but I ate it all in no time. I recommend men to order the large size. Even if you eat all of it, you don’t feel it and the flavor is not stimulating, so I ate it deliciously well until the end : )
Organizing reviews
We’ve introduced you to Japone, a hamburger steak restaurant in the Nakasu neighborhood of Fukuoka.
It’s a hamburger steak restaurant that feels like a home-cooked meal, served slowly and carefully. It was delicious to eat the freshly made hamburger steak while chatting in the small interior👍 It’s not a very special flavor, but it’s the kind of restaurant that you want to eat often as if it’s ordinary, so I think I’ll go there again next time I’m nearby : ) I had a good meal.
