Stay at The Royal Park Hotel Fukuoka.
"Just right" surrounded by brightness

There are many hotels in the Hakata area, but while there is nothing particularly flashy that makes it stand out among them, The Royal Park Hotel Fukuoka 's exterior is clean and has Standard sense of friendliness and elegance that comes with being a relatively new building.

Check-in is completed at the front desk, which is bright and brisk, yet has a friendly feel to it. Although it is a lodging-oriented hotel, including a so-called business hotel, the inside of the building was conspicuous with a moderate sense of luxury and cleanliness.

You need the card key you received at the front desk to choose your floor in the elevator. For an impatient person like me, it was a little troublesome, but there was also a sense of security in the hotel's high level of security awareness.

Let's go to the room.
I put my large travel backpack on the floor and collapsed onto the bed. Spread out and extend your arms and legs. It's the happiest moment when staying at a hotel. My wife opened the carry case and took out her belongings and began to check the room.

The room isn't that big, but it doesn't feel cramped. Just the right size, clean and calm space. The wallpaper pattern has a European taste and is casually elegant. Free Wi-Fi in the hotel was also connected without problems.

I would like to mention the size of the bathroom. Even though it is a room in a reasonable price range, you will be able to take a good rest in the bathtub. My wife was also happy, saying, "The bath is beautiful! It's spacious!" The sink and bathroom are separated, and a rain shower can be used in the bathroom. The Amenities are in original packaging, giving it a special feeling.

We rested for a while in our room and decided to have an early dinner outside.

It is said that the roots of motsunabe can be traced back to after World War II when motsu meat, which was often discarded as an unnecessary part, was seasoned with leek and soy sauce and cooked in an aluminum pot. .

We visited Hakata Motsunabe Yamanaka, a famous motsunabe restaurant that is about to celebrate its 30th anniversary. I ordered the Motsunabe and the Karashi Mentaiko.

"Menta" in Karashi Mentaiko means pollack in Korean. Originally in the Korean peninsula, there was a dish using pollock cod and red pepper. The founder of Fukuya, a grocery store in Hakata, repeated trial and error to reproduce the dish he ate in Busan, and developed the prototype of the current karashi mentaiko. In 1957, it was first sold in Japan under the name "Mentaiko". After that, the number of producers who followed suit began to increase, and Hakata became a mecca for mentaiko.

Motsunabe and mentaiko. Both can be said to be relatively new local dishes that became popular after the war. Is that why? Not too fancy, friendly and youthful. We left "Yamanaka" with full stomachs and satisfied faces.

I sat at the counter seat and talked to the bartender. We are a recently married couple and this is our first visit to Fukuoka. The bartender silently made cocktails and listened to us. He was born and raised in Fukuoka, and when I asked him rambling questions such as "Where do office workers in Fukuoka usually drink?" , Daimyo, Tenjin, Nakasu, and other areas of Fukuoka City.

When asked about the recommended menu, he introduced three original cocktails that were conscious of "autumn".

The first type is “autumn color”, which is characterized by a beautiful orange color. It's fruity, but not too sweet, and has a refreshing taste.

My wife's favorite was the shiso leaf gin. A cocktail that boldly uses mashed shiso leaves and has a great visual impact. It's also refreshing.

My favorite was "Autumn Harvest". A cocktail that uses citrus juice such as kabosu and grapefruit and vodka, with pink salt on the rim of the cup. It's like a rich and refreshing salty dog. It's easy to drink, but it's a solid vodka-based liquor, so be careful not to drink too much.

The bar will make original cocktails using seasonal ingredients, and plans to prepare a menu that colors events such as Halloween and Christmas.

When asked about the special points, he told me that he is conscious of the refreshing taste so that he can feel refreshed on his tongue because he assumes that he will stop by after eating. The attention to detail was lovely.

“Personally, I like the casualness of izakaya,” the bartender told me. . The bar is open to non-guests as well.

After leaving the bar and getting tipsy, we returned to our room and took a relaxing bath in the large bathtub. The bed was made by Simmons, which is also used in luxury hotels. Without exaggerating, I haven't had such a deep sleep in a long time.

No matter how authentic it is, you can eat so much mentaiko.

At the Chinese restaurant "Precious ONO HAKATA" on the first floor of the hotel, breakfast is served buffet style, but I found this sinful dish. Surprisingly, mentaiko is all-you-can-eat. It was visually impressive as well.

There were many other attractive points of breakfast.
For example, Chinese rice porridge that you can order when you are seated, or salt ramen to finish.
Salt ramen has a gentle and elegant taste. As a ramen lover, I was immersed in the joy of being able to eat ramen in the morning. My health-conscious wife seemed to like the Chinese rice porridge.

The buffet corner has about 30 kinds of dishes, mainly Chinese. I was a little surprised when I heard that it was Chinese food in the morning, but when I tried it, it wasn't heavy, and there were Japanese and Western dishes, so it was fun to choose. This restaurant is based in Fukuoka and is operated by the ONO group, which develops unique restaurants in various genres from Japanese cuisine to auberge, and the quality of each dish is guaranteed. Imagining the level of a normal "hotel breakfast" may be a little confusing.

While I was arguing with my wife, saying things like, "It's pretty good," and "No, it's pretty good," I ended up eating too much even though it was breakfast. Of course, the sinful mentaiko was also served to my heart's content. Fukuoka may have more mentaiko than we think.

I went back to my room, packed my things, and got ready to check out. Somehow I regret it.

“Isn’t the inn the same no matter where you stay?”

What I want to say to myself from a few days ago, who was thinking like that, is the extremely obvious thing, "No matter where you stay, it's not the same."

We left The Royal Park Hotel Fukuoka with a warm send-off from the front desk.

After leaving the inn, we headed to various places in Fukuoka City that the bartender told us about last night. I took a walk around Tenjin and Daimyo.

As I heard in advance, Fukuoka City is a compact city with various areas. Tenjin, Kyushu's largest downtown area; Daimyo, a lively area with small shops and restaurants; Nakasu, a restaurant district famous for its street food stalls; and Hakata, the center of Fukuoka City and a surprisingly large station. These unique areas are adjacent to each other within walking distance.

There is a bus network that runs throughout the city, making it easy to move between areas. Also, the Nishitetsu Bus app that runs in Fukuoka City is very good, and if you select a destination from your current location, it will tell you the nearest bus stop and arrival and departure times. It is recommended because it can be used intuitively.

Although compact, it doesn't feel cramped. Rather, there are many spacious roads that are beautifully paved, and it feels good just to walk. Yes, this city is "just right".

Hakata is one of Japan's oldest port towns.
Since ancient times, Hakata has prospered through trade with the Korean Peninsula and the continent, and it is said that rice farming was first introduced to Japan.
A port town with a long history. Maybe that's why the people of Hakata are kind to outsiders. I feel the deepness of the pocket that even unique and quirky people and ideas are accepted.

For example, taxi drivers and convenience store clerks. I sensed a bright and sincere thoughtfulness in their small responses and responses. In particular, the taxi drivers taught me about the city in a friendly way, even if they were a little busy.

There was an episode like this. It happened when we were about to go to Hakata Motsunabe Yamanaka. We had set our destination as "Yamanaka" on the taxi dispatch app, but in fact there was a sushi restaurant called "Sushi Kappo Yamanaka" in Fukuoka, which is also popular, and we were wrong. I had specified a different destination. However, the taxi driver learned the mistake from our conversation and sent us to Yamanaka for Motsunabe.

The whole city was accepting of us, the couple, who were "strangers." It was one night and two days that I felt like that.

Well, this wasn't the end of the trip. There was one thing I wanted to confirm. My wife and I agreed.

"Let's go to the hotel for lunch."

The lunch served at Precious ONO HAKATA restaurant in The Royal Park Hotel Fukuoka is of such quantity and quality that it will definitely satisfy anyone, unless they are a big eater.

You can choose 2 or 3 main dishes, plus a buffet menu with about 30 dishes, a soup bar, and a drink bar. If you choose 2 main dishes, the price is 1,890 yen, and if you choose 3 main dishes, it's 2,390 yen. How reasonable. My wife was delighted when she found medicinal rice porridge at the buffet, which was lined with colorful plates.

For the main dish, I ordered "Sichuan green pepper dandan noodles" and "Specialty! Low-temperature rare green pepper beef string". My wife ordered "Shrimp with Orange Mayonnaise Sauce" and "Sweet and Sour Pork with Black Vinegar".

The Sichuan green pepper dandan noodles were more authentic than I expected, and they were a hot and spicy gem. Low-temperature rare green pepper beef silk is a product that is full of spirit as it is advertised as a "specialty". He skillfully brought out the umami of the ingredients and harmonized them at a high level.

By the way, when I returned to the hotel, the taste of lunch was not the only thing I wanted to confirm. I wanted to feel the atmosphere of this hotel again.

The interior is bright, open, and clean. The staff warmly welcomes travelers and treats them. The food is delicious and they prepare more dishes than you can eat. It's not as luxurious as a luxury hotel, but it feels safe and comfortable. just right.

This inn looks like the city of Fukuoka itself. I thought so. That's what I wanted to confirm.

"What kind of city is Fukuoka?"

How would I answer if asked?

"There's everything, and it's moderately urban."
"The food is delicious and the prices are cheap."
"He's bright and has a lot of good-natured people."

That's right. But I would like to add one more thing.

"A perfect town with just the right accommodations"

For me, Fukuoka was such a city.

• This article and images are current as of September 2021.