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Located on the second floor of "FOLEO Hakata," "Manpei" is a unique restaurant that will surely catch the attention of all udon lovers out there. The restaurant, which is about a 15 minute walk from JR Takeshita Station, is the only restaurant in Fukuoka that specializes in "maru-ten udon." Maru-ten is a kind of tempura that is often used as an udon topping in Fukuoka. They are made by deeply frying disks of smoothly ground fish. Unlike the widely known crispy tempura, maru-ten is deep-fried without batter, which provides a soft and tender texture. At Manpei, the maru-ten is fried immediately after an order has been made. There are 10 different kinds of maru-ten available, including yam, cartilage, and bacon. One topping changes each month to ensure that diners get to sample wonderful seasonal ingredients!

The owner, Mr. Hirai, used to work at a Japanese restaurant. He draws on his previous experience as a chef of Japanese cuisine, to deliver exceptional dashi (broth) that helps bring out the flavor of the udon noodles, and tasty maru-ten made using a special technique. A delicious "tsuyu" (sauce) used for the udon dishes is made out of dashi from nothing but natural ingredients. Mr. Hirai is committed to quality seasoning and does not use any salt at all! The udon noodles are also home-made! They are boiled using a pressured cooker (a technique which is quite uncommon in Fukuoka), resulting in a perfectly balanced texture that is soft and chewy. The set menus (conbo offers) are well worth checking-out! Enjoy a bowl of ika-don (rice topped with cuts of fresh squid) or gyu-don (rice topped with wagyu beef) as an accompaniment to maru-ten udon for under 1000 yen!