Gluten-free Tempura! 米粉てんぷら工房 天 in Fukuoka

*This Izakaya only uses rice flour and is advertised as gluten-free.

Komeko Tenpura Kobou is a gluten-free Izyakaya in Fukuoka, Japan, close to Nishijin station. They claim to be the worldwide first gluten-free Tempura restaurant, and they offer a variety of different Tempura with meat, seafood and vegetables as well as noodles, dessert and special lunch and dinner menus.

Komeko Tempura Kobou (sometimes spelled “Tenpura”)米粉てんぷら工房 天
Google Maps
Instagram
Hot Pepper (Japanese site)

(Even though “Tempura” is the correct English spelling, “Tenpura” is actually closer to the Japanese word and the Izakaya is spelling their name on Instagram as “Komeko Tenpura Kobou” I will keep on referring to them with that spelling.)

My experience at this Izakaya was so great, that I’m not even sure, where I should start to talk about it. Their Tempura for one were extraordinarily good, but I think what made the dining experience so special was the people working there.

If you are not familiar with Izakayas, they are basically a Japanese type of restaurant with a big bar counter and sometimes a few tables where people can order food and alcoholic drinks. On the internet, it is often mostly described as a bar, but I would say many Izakayas are closer to being a restaurant with a bar-like atmosphere. That being said, as much as not every bar is dark and/or noisy, the same goes for Izakayas. Komeko Tenpura Kobou is one of the smaller, quieter and bright Izakayas, where you can either have lunch or enjoy a calm evening with a friend, as I did.

Komeko Tenpura Kobou is located in a small alley in Nishijin, which is a nice area with several restaurants, bars and stores on the one side and a more quiet residential area on the other side. Having our Airbnb in that area was a lucky coincidence which let us visit Komeko Tenpura Kobou 米粉てんぷら工房 天, but I would also recommend the area to anybody else who stays for several days in Fukuoka.

As we entered the restaurant, we were warmly welcomed by a woman and a young cook, and we were chatting with them almost all our time during dinner (me, madly happy to talk in Japanese again after a long time and my friend in English and partly Japanese by using translation tools). That doesn’t mean though that you have to chat while spending your time there. Next to us sat another woman from the Netherlands who exchanged a few friendly words with us and them calmly enjoyed her wine.

They had menus in English and Japanese and had a variety of single tempura pieces, noodles and different bowls to offer, but I decided to try the 贅沢天コース (I’m not sure how it was named in the English menu, but it translates to something like “Luxury heaven course”) for 4000 Yen which was a pretty fair price. If you eat something that is not an entire course, though, you can also walk out with a 10 dollar bill (well, depending on your appetite, but how often do you find gluten-free Tempura!)

The 贅沢天コース course included a tempura salad as an entry, as seen in the picture above, different Tempura made out of shrimp, scallops, white fish, saltwater eel, squid and other seafood, as well as different vegetables, noodles (made of rice or brown rice flour, hot or cold depending on what you choose) and a dessert. But there were also more options for meat or vegetables, which seemed to make my friend happy, who doesn’t usually enjoy seafood.

Since I lived in Tokyo for a while do like Tokyo a lot too, especially since I can meet a lot of friends whenever I return there, but it is also a very busy city filled with many people. Fukuoka on the other hand, still being a fairly big city for German standards, seems to move at a slower pace and every restaurant or café I entered was filled with small special encounters.

I talked a lot to the staff at Komeko Tempura Kobou about gluten intolerances, travelling and food and I had a lot of fun, hearing how they carefully prepare their dishes and how they not only have guests from all over the world but also many from Japan, who have no allergies but come because of the taste. The staff also talked about how they came to use a special rice flour, and it was nice to see that they seemed to really enjoy their work there, and took pride in what they do.
(And I think, even though I was lucky to hear a lot of their stories because I spoke Japanese, they are also happy to make small talk through translation tools and answer any question they can).

They also recommended me to the gluten-free Churros place I introduced in the last blog and another gluten-free café/restaurant I went to the next day. (so, dear cook at Komeko Tenpura Kobou, know that I fulfilled all the food missions you gave me that day haha).

I’m not sure how long it will take me to return to Fukuoka, but I do plan to show my husband around the next time and visit with him Komeko Tenpura Kobou again, since he is a fan of Tempura and Japanese Izakayas like me.

Before I left, I bought a package of their rice noodles they also sell online (1950 Yen for one package). I haven’t tried them out yet but since they are the same as they use at the Izakaya they can be nothing but good (but, to be honest, I still have no idea yet how to make a good soup base, which I probably should have thought about before buying them).

Noodle cooking introductions I received (as a note to myself not to forget):

1.Place the noodles in a pot with boiling water for 1 minute to 2 minutes
2. Rinse them under running water to remove any sliminess

I heard there is also an online store selling their products, but I’m not sure if they would also ship abroad.

If anyone is interested, I will let you know later how the noodles turned out at home, being cooked by an amateur haha.