About this site

Find Restaurant

Online Reservation

Show instant booking only

Language

English

More Than Chicken Soup: Mizutaki at Hakata Hanamidori

Update-Date: Oct 8, 2026

Author: Micaela Braithwaite

Categories: Nabe Mizutaki (chicken hot pot)

More Than Chicken Soup: Mizutaki at Hakata Hanamidori

Discover mizutaki, Fukuoka’s iconic chicken hot pot, at Hakata Hanamidori Chikushi Exit branch. When researching Fukuoka local specialties, you may come across the spicy and pungent motsunabe, but mizutaki is a much more accessible first step into the hot-pot world. If this is your first time trying Japanese local food, this healthy dish is light, easy on the stomach, and flavorful while still encompassing an entire cultural experience. Enjoy juicy chicken simmered in collagen-rich cloudy broth, complete with an English menu and welcoming kimono-clad service just a few steps away from Hakata Station!

Micaela Braithwaite

Regional blogger living in Kyushu for over 20 years

Born in Canada, I first came to Japan when I was 17 years old, and I never looked back. Over 20 years I've been sharing and speaking on the unique culture in Kyushu, including the diverse food scene across the differing regions, and how they have captured my heart. Join me in exploring some of the best of Kyushu's food culture.

Discover Mizutaki: Fukuoka’s Delicious Collagen-Rich Chicken Hot Pot

Every culture seems to have its own version of chicken soup, and the restorative qualities of a warm bowl of chicken and broth are almost universally understood. So what happens when you put a Japanese (and distinctly Fukuoka) twist on that familiar idea?

The result is a chicken hot pot dish known as “mizutaki.”

Mizutaki is one of Fukuoka’s best-known local dishes, alongside its richer cousin, motsunabe. While motsunabe comes loaded with beef offal, garlic, chives and bold seasoning, mizutaki is comparatively light and accessible: chicken simmered in broth with vegetables, eaten with ponzu and other condiments. It’s a dish that looks simple on paper, but once you taste it you’ll understand the hype.

Mizutaki Ryotei Hakata Hanamidori

The story of Hakata Hanamidori begins in 1949, when Yoshiharu Kawatsu, who worked in wholesale at a chicken shop called Torizen in Hakata’s Yoshizuka shopping district, opened a restaurant on the second floor of the store.

Fresh chicken is delivered to each Hanamidori restaurant every morning. Their own branded chicken, “Hanamidori,” is raised in open-air poultry houses with plenty of sunlight and fresh air, and is fed a specially formulated diet containing ingredients such as seaweed and herbs. The result is chicken that is notably high quality and rich in umami flavor.

The bones are also an important part of the equation: they’re simmered to produce Hanamidori’s signature cloudy white broth, rich in collagen and smooth enough to coat the ingredients without feeling particularly heavy.

Hanamidori now has restaurants across Japan, but for this visit we went to the Hakata Station Chikushi Exit branch, conveniently located just a few minutes from Hakata Station, which is Fukuoka’s main transportation hub and the gateway to the rest of Kyushu.

We arrived at lunchtime and it was busy, with reservations and walk-ins arriving at a steady pace. Women in kimono moved through the halls, serving guests in cozy partitioned rooms and bringing dish after dish as each course progressed.

We asked to see an English menu and were presented with a well-organized version alongside an English instruction sheet explaining how to enjoy the meal. Even if you don’t speak Japanese, there’s very little guesswork involved here, which makes Hanamidori an easy place to try mizutaki for the first time.

As this is a popular restaurant, advance reservations are highly recommended—and conveniently, you can easily book online in English, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, or Korean.

Mizutaki Ryotei Hakata Hanamidori Hakata-eki Chikushi-guchi Branch

Open: Lunch 11:30 am - 3:00 pm (L.O. 2:00 pm) / Dinner 5:00 pm - 11:00 am (L.O. 10:00 pm, Drink L.O. 10:30 pm)
Closed: Year-End and New Year's
Average price: [Dinner] 5,000 JPY
Access: 5-minute walk from JR Hakata Station
Address: 1F, Ekihigashi Sun City Bldg., 1-13-31, Hakataeki Higashi, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka-shi, Fukuoka Map
More Details Reservation

The Hana Course

We ordered the Hana Course (5,500 JPY), a substantial course that lets you experience several different parts and preparations of the chicken, including thigh meat, minced chicken, liver and heart, before finishing with zosui rice porridge and dessert.

Before the main pot arrives, several smaller dishes introduce local and seasonal flavors. Our meal moved across some fairly different ends of the Fukuoka flavor spectrum: salty and spicy mentaiko, smoky jidori chicken, sweet castella and aromatic morsels simmered with sansho.
It almost acts as a crash course in local Japanese flavors before the mizutaki itself begins.

Your server guides you through the entire process, so there is very little room for error. But if you’re the kind of person who likes to know what you’re getting into before you walk through the door, here’s how it works.

Step 1: Taste the pure broth first.

First, you drink the broth.

Before adding sauces or vegetables, you’re encouraged to taste a small cup of the cloudy chicken soup by itself so you can understand the underlying flavor of the dish. It’s mild, savory and full of chicken umami without being particularly salty.

Step 2: Savor the first Bone-in Chicken with Ponzu & Yuzu Kosho

Then comes a perfectly cooked piece of juicy bone-in chicken.

Dip it into the ponzu in front of you,a soy-based dipping sauce with a sharp citrus tang, or add a little yuzu pepper, a pungent paste made with yuzu peel and chili pepper.

At this point, the quality of Hanamidori’s chicken becomes immediately obvious. The meat is remarkably dense and rich, especially compared with the relatively delicate broth surrounding it. That first piece makes you look forward to seeing what happens as each new part of the chicken is added to the pot.

Step 3: Enjoy The Rest Of The Chicken as it Comes!

The minced chicken is sweet and light. Heart and liver aren’t ingredients many non-Japanese might hesitate to gravitate toward, but here they were mild, creamy and surprisingly approachable without a strong aftertaste. I recommend trying it. The thigh meat is rich, while the skin remains juicy without becoming overly oily.

Step 4: Add Vegetables to the Deepened Broth

Vegetables come toward the end, once the broth has accumulated the flavor of everything that came before them. They absorb the chicken stock as they cook, giving you another slightly different version of the same soup.

And this is one of the most interesting parts of mizutaki: the broth you taste at the beginning of the meal isn’t quite the same broth you’re eating by the end.

Mizutaki Ryotei Hakata Hanamidori Hakata-eki Chikushi-guchi Branch

Save Room for Zosui

By this point, we were already pretty satisfied. The Hana Course is easily enough food for dinner, and was a very substantial lunch.

But after enjoying the bones through the broth, the meat itself, and even the heart and liver, there was still one final stage.

Rice and fresh egg were added directly to the remaining soup to create zosui, a soft Japanese rice porridge that absorbs the concentrated broth left in the pot. After an entire meal built around extracting and layering chicken flavor, the remaining soup essentially becomes the final dish.

Dessert followed with a smooth custard pudding, once again putting eggs at the center of the meal.

By the end, what stood out to me was how completely the course explores a single ingredient. Broth, meat, skin, minced chicken, organs and eggs all appear in different forms. Very little feels wasted, and the quality of those ingredients is what allows a meal that is, in theory, quite simple to remain interesting from beginning to end.

The Secret Is Freshness

After our meal, I had the opportunity to speak with the restaurant manager, Mr. Iwami.

When I asked what turns such a simple dish into a full culinary experience, his answer came back to the same thing Hanamidori has focused on from the beginning: the chicken.

Fresh chicken is delivered to the restaurant every day, and he emphasized that maintaining that freshness is fundamental to the finished mizutaki.

For first-time visitors, he had another recommendation: try pairing the meal with sake.

The restaurant carries a selection to choose from, and if you’re unsure where to begin, simply ask the staff what they recommend with your course.

Mizutaki may be one of Fukuoka’s quieter specialties compared with the garlic, offal and punchier flavors of motsunabe, but that restraint is also part of what makes it so approachable. It takes something almost everyone understands (chicken soup) and slowly turns it into something distinctly Hakata.

You’re going to have to taste it to believe it.

Mizutaki Ryotei Hakata Hanamidori Hakata-eki Chikushi-guchi Branch

More Hakata Hanamidori Branches

In Fukuoka (Hakata)

Mizutaki Ryotei Hakata Hanamidori Tenjin Branch

Open: [Saturday, Sunday, National Holidays] Lunch 11:30 am - 3:00 pm / [Weekdays, Saturday] Dinner 5:00 pm - 11:00 pm / [Sunday, National Holidays] Dinner 5:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Closed: None
Average price: [Dinner] 5,000 JPY
Access: 5-minute walk from Nishitetsu-Fukuoka Tenjin Station on the Nishitetsu Tenjin Omuta Line
Address: B1F, Tenjin MENT Bldg., 1-20-2, Imaizumi, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka-shi, Fukuoka Map
More Details Reservation

In Osaka

Planning to visit Osaka during your trip? You can also enjoy Hakata Hanamidori’s signature Mizutaki there!

Hakata Hanamidori Osaka Shinsaibashi Branch

Open: [Weekdays, Saturday] Lunch 11:00 am - 2:30 pm (L.O. 2:00 pm) / Dinner 5:00 pm - 11:00 pm (L.O. 9:30 pm) *L.O. Food 9:30 pm, Drink 10:00 pm, [Sunday, National Holidays] Lunch 11:00 am - 2:30 pm (L.O. 2:00 pm) / Dinner 5:00 pm - 10:00 pm (L.O. 9:00 pm)
Closed: Irregular
Average price: [Dinner] 5,500 JPY / [Lunch] 1,500 JPY
Access: 1-minute walk (directly connected to the station) from Exit 8 of Shinsaibashi Station on the Midosuji Line, 5-minute walk from Osaka-Namba Station on the Hanshin Namba Line
Address: B2F, Hotel Nikko Osaka, 1-3-3, Nishi-shinsaibashi, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Map
More Details Reservation

Hakata Hanamidori Umeda Hilton Plaza Branch

Open: [Weekdays] Lunch 11:00 am - 3:00 pm (L.O. 2:00 pm) / Dinner 5:00 pm - 11:00 pm (L.O. 9:30 pm) *L.O. Food 9:30 pm, Drink 10:00 pm
Closed: Irregular
Average price: [Dinner] 5,500 JPY / [Lunch] 1,500 JPY
Access: 1-minute walk from Nishi-Umeda Station on the Yotsubashi Line, 3-minute walk from Umeda Station on the Midosuji Line, 8-minute walk from Umeda Station on the Hankyu Line, 1-minute walk from Umeda Station on the Hanshin Main Line
Address: 5F, Hilton Plaza West, 2-2-2, Umeda, Kita-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Map
More Details Reservation

レストランの指定

FAQ

Q1: How do I make a restaurant reservation through SAVOR JAPAN?
A: Click the "Reservation" button in the article, select your preferred date, time, and menu, then fill out your contact details to complete the booking.

Q2: Are there any booking fees for using SAVOR JAPAN?
A: No, it is completely free. There are no hidden fees for searching or booking restaurants. You only pay for what you eat and drink at the restaurant.

Q3: Will I receive a confirmation? How do I check in?
A: Yes. You will receive a "Reservation Confirmation Email." Upon arrival at the restaurant, simply show this email to the staff to be seated.

Q4: How can I change or cancel my reservation?
A: You can change or cancel your booking via the link provided in your confirmation email. Please check each restaurant's cancellation policy in advance.

Disclaimer: All information is accurate at time of publication.

Thank you for reading our article.

Our goal is to take your culinary journey to the next level by helping you find the best restaurant. With SAVOR JAPAN, you can search and make reservations for

the Nabe and Mizutaki (chicken hot pot) restaurants found in and around Fukuoka that fill your needs.