While in Japan I discovered yatai culture. A yatai is a small, mobile food stand with a few seats around the outdoor kitchen. In Fukuoka there were dozens of these stands lining sidewalks late night near popular drinking areas. After a full night of izakaya hoping and a bar or two you’ll stumble to one of these stands for a meal to top it all off. This helps fight off the potential hangover and the food just tastes so good. The stand pictured served mainly gyoza, handmade to order, but others will serve ramen or yakisoba or any number of other popular drunk foods.
Even here you’ll find that quality is king as these chefs make their meals to exacting standards. We tried both shiso gyoza and shrimp gyoza, but when we asked him to make shimp & shiso gyoza he refused, because it goes against his flavor philosophy. Gotta admire that dedication to perfection. Oh, and they were pretty much the best gyoza I’d ever had.
I’m sorry I didn’t get to try more yatai while in Japan, but now that I know they exist I’m pretty sure I’ll be visiting much more often. Nothing quite like it exists in NYC – the closest that could be considered a yatai would be Otafuku on 9th Street in the East Village. Sadly, I’ve never actually been there, but that will change very soon.
Kampai!