A note on the words: guru-kawa is chicken skin wound round a skewer and grilled, a Hakata (Fukuoka) specialty; the name refers to the way the skin is coiled. Tare is the sweet soy glaze brushed on grilled skewers, as opposed to plain salt. Mentaiko is spicy marinated pollock roe, and mentai mayo is that mixed into mayonnaise. Oden is an assortment of things simmered in a light dashi broth, here served on skewers, and daikon is the large white radish that goes into it. Yakitori is a grilled chicken skewer shop. Chibita, mentioned in passing, is a cartoon character famous for always carrying a skewer of oden. Nakasu is Fukuoka’s nightlife district. Prices are as of this writing (August 2026).
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Kawa no Soba on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
I want to eat something good today too. This is Hangover Meshi. Nights in Fukuoka are long. Thinking about what local specialty I had not eaten yet since arriving, the next thing that came to mind was chicken skin skewers. I have seen it on television — people saying they could eat any number of them. Just how good are they, then? So off I went, straight to a shop that looked like it would sell chicken skin.
A shop whose selling points are chicken skin and ramen, I suppose.
Step inside and the pleasant clutter of the place is very reassuring — the usual sort of izakaya.
Oden on a skewer, 350 yen
House specialty: Hakata guru-kawa, 400 yen a skewer
The house specialty called Hakata guru-kawa is a chicken skin skewer, and apparently it comes from Hakata Fudo, a sister shop of Kawa no Soba. A classic chicken skin skewer from a yakitori house twenty years in business. Sounds good to me. I definitely want to try it.
The house guru-kawa comes in more than one flavor.
Right, let us have one straight away.
Yes — very good. Tender, with a texture all of its own. Perhaps it has been steeped in a sweet tare. The sign said it takes four days to prepare, so for something that vanishes in a second it is a very laborious little thing. And it goes perfectly with the mentai mayo sauce, does it not. I could certainly eat any number of these.
The tare version is the basic form. The sweetish tare and the savor of good chicken fat get along far too well.
Yes, I might really manage twenty of these. The salt version is cleaner, but the chicken flavor is strong enough that salt alone is more than good enough. Hard to give up either one, salt or tare. I like them both.
And then the thing that made me sit up: these oden skewers.
This is Chibita’s oden, surely! I am not sure I have ever seen oden on a skewer look this neat.
The look of it is charming. Daikon soaked through with broth like that ought to fall apart the moment you put it on a stick.
Proof that they handle it carefully, I should think. The oden is good.
So: chicken skin skewers eaten, and I am thoroughly happy. The oden looks striking and the chicken skin tastes good, which makes this izakaya a very fine one indeed. I wish it were near my house. It was an ordinary izakaya, and yet oddly satisfying. They are apparently open until four in the morning, so do drop in on your way home from a night out in Nakasu.
Kawa no Soba (Ramen / Nakasu Kawabata Station, Kushida Jinja-mae Station, Gion Station)
Tabelog dinner rating ★★★☆☆ 3.4
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
