Tempura Hirao Main Store

Tempura-dokoro Hirao (Main Store) is a tempura specialty restaurant in Fukuoka City. They fry tempura right in front of you and serve it immediately—delicious in itself—and they also focus on high-quality ingredients such as seafood and vegetables, making it even better. Freshly cleaned squid is partly made into tempura, and the remainder is turned into ika no shiokara (salted squid). Their salted squid is made using only salt and is handled so strictly that it’s meant to be eaten within five days; it is also very popular. The food is simple yet tasty and reasonably priced, made possible by thorough management. Ten-kasu (tempura bits) can also be taken home for free. The most popular item, the “Okonomi Set,” includes shrimp, squid, pork, white fish, three vegetable items, rice, miso soup, and ika no shiokara. You buy a meal ticket, wait at your seat, and freshly fried tempura arrives one after another. There are many tempura shops, but Hirao’s commitment to truly fresh-from-the-fryer tempura is worth trying. Access is about a 15-minute walk from Fukuoka Airport Station toward Higashi Hirao Park.