Tempura @ Shokudo Maruni, Solaria Stage, Tenjin, Fukuoka

 

Deep-frying things tend to make things better. And putting that said deep-fried thing on a stick? What are the possibilities? Probably endless! But to be honest, this place is a top recommendation which I have been visiting many times. Also, thanks to my friend Mita for the dinner. Looking forward to hosting you again. With that out of the way, lets get going shall we? 

Time to head in, shall we?

Shokudo Maruni is an izakaya style tempura restaurant located in the basement part of Solaria Stage, located close to one of my favourite sushi spots (click here if you would like to know more). Specialising in tempura, almost everything is deep-fried. But having said that, their menu is pretty extensive and actually, really exciting. I had a friend from Indonesia that I had not seen for a long time visiting Fukuoka. As we have no idea what to have, why not a place where they serve a little bit of everything? That is where Shokudo Maruni comes in. 

With my grape soda not too far away

Ordering here is relatively easy as there is a tablet for each table. And with photos everywhere, I had little trouble translating the menu. Well more because it was not really necessary. Once the order is sent to the kitchen, they will get right into the cooking while the first thing to satiate you is the otoshi. I am not really a fan of otoshi as I feel like you are paying for something you did not order. However, this one was pretty good. It was a shot of potato soup which can put a lot of regular Western-style restaurants to shame. Creamy, sweet, and a little decadent, this was such a great start to the meal. Soon after we finished our compulsory, our golden morsels followed suit. 

What a display!

For the first round, we got ourselves shrimp, pumpkin, shiitake mushrooms, oysters, and scallops. And within minutes, everything was gone with relative ease. Every ingredient was fresh and succulent to the bite, even the pumpkin which is usually woody in texture. Served on a stick, it made eating much more convenient as well. The batter was light and expertly fried, giving it a crunch finish without making the entire meal feel like an oil slick. The mark of a skilled chef. 

Succulent...

Although I can easily say every stick was good, special needs to be made to the scallop. It was sweet, juicy, and had a great mouth feel. It is quite amazing to see that even though nothing much has been manipulated, the flavours are really pronounced.  

Pick your poison, if you wish!

Also, you can really diversify the experience.  Each customer is given 2 types of tempura dipping sauce, dark dashi and light dashi. Additionally, you are also given the change to try various flavoured salts. In addition to the classic white salt, there is also matcha and plum (?) salt. Each has its own unique flavour. Personally, I feel the matcha one matches with stronger flavoured stuff like beef and pork, while the plum one fares better with lighter and sweeter tasting items like seafood and vegetables. 

Deceptively tasty

Speaking of lighter tasting, the next stick was the sweet potato. This was incredibly sweet and had a floral aroma to it. Imagine sweet potato fries, but more sophisticated. With a dab of the dark dashi, this simple spud became an absolute flavour bomb, which was so easy to devour. Having said that, we did mention of some beef. And over here, they serve wagyu on a stick. Now that was something. 

Deep fried beef anyone?

The beef was expertly fried and had an amazing texture. It was chewy and slightly bouncy. However, this to me was a good thing as it has an awesome bite to it. Imagine slightly above medium rare, but not well done. Also, being wagyu, this has a more buttery flavour due to the higher fat content. With a dab of matcha and you get something truly special.

Blowfish! With another stick of shrimp on the left. 

But if you want to go all the way in terms of unique offerings, then why not try the fugu? Yes, they have blowfish on a stick. It was rather tasty, with the fish meat just flaking off so easily. It had a mild sweetness to it. This was topped with grated daikon and dressed with a dab of ponzu, thus leading to a contrast in flavour and texture. A multi-faceted bite! In all honesty, fugu itself is a vanity dish and it is prized more because it is hard to source and devenom. In any event, it was still something I would eat again, from this place at least. 

The finale.

To finish things off, we had crab with crab miso, which is actually not really miso. Instead, it was mashed crab insides. Without a doubt, the most seafood-ish thing we had this meal. It was intense and felt like the ocean just hit my mouth. It was quite tasty though, but since there is the crab miso on top, no sauce was needed for this one. 

Another angle of the entrance. 

We actually ordered a lot of stuff, and as such, it is fairly possible that I may miss out on some stuff here. Still, that should not deter you from trying this place out. Each stick ranges from 100 yen to 300 yen on average, with exceptions to the wagyu on a stick and the crab which clocks in at a steep 480 each. And that was the most expensive thing we had that night. So if you want something pretty special and loaded with variety, it is hard not to recommend this place. If you fancy a go, then the address is as follows:

〒810-0001 Fukuoka, Chuo Ward, Tenjin, 2 Chome−11−3 Solaria Stage Basement 2F