Proof that nice guys don’t always finish last can be found at Yokayoka. Just over a half-year old, on most nights you’ll find the place packed and bustling. It can be intimidating being the only non-Japanese customers, and making matters more complicated is the fact that the menus, which come glued into the front pages of children’s books, are written solely in Japanese and romanized English. But running the show is a genial Japanese man who happily and enthusiastically comes to the rescue of non-Japanese guests, patiently answering questions and making suggestions—although you might not want to take all of them. (For example, on our last visit we took his pantomimed recommendation for anglerfish liver, which was delicious, but passed on the cod sperm [thankfully not acted out].) With an atmosphere that’s part warehouse, part ski lodge, this izakaya (“drinking restaurant”) serves dishes that you won’t find in most Japanese restaurants, specialties from the southern islands of Kyushu and Okinawa. This is eye-opening Japanese food at perhaps its least subtle, with various kinds of seaweed, fermented seafood, spicy roe and a kimchi-like palatte of garlic, onion and chili figuring prominently. Nabe (hotpot) is hugely popular here (you’ll see a steaming pot on nearly every table), but it’s probably not what you’re accustomed to. Sets include stock, vegetables and even sliced prik kii nuu on the side. The focus is on the fatty, salty soup, not the meat, even if it is wagyu beef; the pieces are bite-sized, but, cut from the stomach and surroundings, nearly impossible to chew your way through. Yokayoka also does decent sashimi, but usually we focus on rarer, robust offerings like grilled mentaiko (spicy cod roe), their terrific chicken tempura served with salt and yuzu or bitter gourd stir-fried with a Spam-like canned meat. Finally, “yoka yoka” means very good, but it also is the name of a “community currency” system in Hakata. You can’t use these as payment here, however, nor do they take credit cards. Fortunately, as if placed there by the aim-to-please proprietor, there is an ATM machine only steps from the front door.
