ラーメン海鳴福岡空港店

Quelle surprise! Fukuoka Airport has a new ramen-only zone, with 10 shops to serve you. I had no idea!

I remember the airport being under construction six months before.

The mix is about half local and half from other parts of Japan. Instead of any proper research, I jumped into the one that was most crowded. U7RI, pronounced Unari.

Unari has four or five shops in Kyushu serving local-style tonkotsu soup blended with gyokai for a bolder, fishier flavor.

The soup is boiled for around 20 hours and then blended with another soup made from niboshi (dried baby sardines) and Japanese dashi. Their menu showed an appealing ラーメン辛子明太子, ramen topped with mentaiko. True Hakata style!

It used to be that only ramen shops you’ve never heard of, and would never want to go to were at the airports of Japan, but times are changing. This ramen street will be a must-hit for me anytime I fly out of Fukuoka. The problem is that Unari is one I could go to again, it was really good.

Keep in mind that this is at the domestic terminal. There is a free shuttle between the international and domestic, so you could potentially plan a visit given enough time. Enjoy!