I went to Kikutarou on the 1st floor of Amu in Kokura Station. They have a wide variety of warabi mochi drinks, and on weekends there is often a long line. One big difference compared to the shop in Kokura Minami is that there is no eat-in space and they don't seem to have deli items. The space in this store is not very large, so I think they have the maximum selection they can offer here! They also have ohagi and nama dora. I usually end up going to Nama Dora, so I bought various types of ohagi that I had never tried before! I usually prefer sweet bean paste, but I reconsidered and thought that coarse sweet bean paste was good too. (No one asked for that) Pistachio... it's intriguing, right? I'm curious too. I was planning to share them with my family at home, but when I put them on the dining table, my mother had already eaten them. I wanted to review them! I asked my mother and she said they were delicious. Well, as long as they were delicious, it's all good. Traditional Japanese sweets are visually beautiful and have a different charm from Western sweets.

A gourmet lover from the workplace recommended a shop in Kokura Station that offers delicious dango and warabimochi drinks. I tried it during a business trip and loved the stylish atmosphere. I was surprised by the variety of sweets they sell, and they all looked delicious. I chose the warabimochi drink with black sugar kinako and hojicha dango. The warabimochi in the drink was just the right size, sweetness, and texture, and it was delicious. The next day, I ended up getting the coffee milk version as well. The dango had a perfect softness and paired well with the filling. It seems like there can be lines on weekends, but it's recommended to visit on weekdays when it's smoother to buy.

◉Genre: Japanese sweets ◉Area: Amu Plaza Kokura, Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyushu City ◉Access: A few minutes walk from JR Kokura Station ◉Parking: Available ◉Credit card payment: Not available ◉Number of visits: First time ◉Number of reviews: 1 On this day, I casually visited the "Kasho Kikutaro Amu Plaza Kokura Store." ◇Exterior and Interior Located on the first floor of the JR Kokura Station-connected commercial facility Amu Plaza in Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyushu City, this Japanese sweets shop is an offshoot of the main store in Minami Ward. It seems quite popular, with a stylish open-style exterior. ◇Seating: None ◇Menu Composition Featuring unique fresh dorayaki as the flagship item, as well as roll cakes, Kitakyu-gashi (traditional sweets from Kitakyushu), karinto (deep-fried dough cookies), skewered dango (sweet rice dumplings), and more, each item has its own unique touch and presentation. I ordered the following: - Butter Dorayaki (250 yen) → Including tax I hadn't visited since buying skewered dango a few times at the main store. The butter dorayaki, which had a low chance of disappointment, was as delicious as expected, with plenty of butter. The sweetness was just right, although some people may have different preferences due to the combination of Japanese and Western elements. Personally, I liked it. However, it does have a typical sweetness to it. ◆Strong Points It seems like their popularity is still on the rise! ◆Customer Service Average ◆Summary During a conversation with a shop owner of a certain Japanese sweets shop, I felt a sense of nostalgia... I'll probably go buy some skewered dango there again. Thank you for the meal.

I often see the place bustling, not sure if it's because of accounting or waiting for a table, but it's always busy. I ordered 4 kibidango and 2 strawberry daifuku at the Amu store. The cashier seemed to be a student part-timer. They seemed overly enthusiastic for serving food. The service felt like a university festival atmosphere. I hope they receive better hospitality training in the future. The kibidango had a rough, hard mochi texture which wasn't to my liking. I prefer mochi that sticks together firmly. The strawberry daifuku, on the other hand, had soft and good mochi. I chose the type with a pierced strawberry, so the strawberry wasn't fermented. It was simply delicious. The concept of the products is good, but like the other Amu store, it feels like a waste.

On the first floor of Amu Plaza, there is a Japanese confectionery store. There is usually a long line, but today there were few customers so I stopped by. This was my third time visiting. The store seemed even bigger this time. The Terinne yokan in the glass case looked cute, but it was sold out. I bought some dango and dorayaki this time. The dorayaki had a very fluffy texture and was delicious. The dango had a nice chewiness, and while tasty, I don't think it's worth waiting in line for.

A famous confectionery shop in Kokura with a take-out store. The sweets as souvenirs were delicious, but they also serve warabi tapioca drinks and freshly boiled keburi dango. The freshly boiled dango is really hot and chewy. It's topped with plenty of kinako and tastes delicious. There is also a cafe in the city, so I definitely want to visit.

I got takeout warabi mochi and dorayaki. The warabi mochi had a lot of kinako powder on it. The dorayaki had unique flavors like coffee, which caught my interest and turned out to be delicious. There are no stores in Hakata or Tenjin, so if you're in Kokura, be sure to check it out!

I was curious after seeing the cafe in our town being featured on TV multiple times, so I decided to visit the branch at Kokura Station. The showcase displayed a variety of colorful fresh sweets like rice cakes and ohagi, while the store had traditional Japanese sweets like manju and karinto, as well as trendy drinks with warabi mochi. I tried the karinto (190 yen) in the kinpira gobou flavor. It had a slight spicy kick but also a sweetness from the karinto, along with the flavor of gobou when you bite into it. The crispy texture was also great. I also tried the Hokkaido sweet bun (sweet potato, 130 yen) which also comes in cheese and pistachio flavors. It's a baked bun made with sweet potato paste from Kagoshima mixed into milk bean paste. It's not too sweet and has a moist and smooth texture. I later read that it's recommended to eat it chilled. I'm also interested in trying the warabi mochi drink.

I found a shop with a long line while walking at Kokura Station, and it was selling sweet potato chips. As a big fan of sweet potatoes, I didn't hesitate to line up. The shop mainly sells traditional Japanese sweets like karinto, dorayaki, and mochi. They also offer drinks like tea and tapioca. I ordered the "Oyakumi Set" for 1100 yen, which included karinto, dorayaki, and other snacks. The regular dorayaki with red bean and butter was delicious. They accept electronic payments.

Asano, a traditional Japanese confectionery store located on the first floor of Amu Plaza Kokura in Kitakyushu City, Kokurakita Ward. Its main store is in Kokuraminami Ward, Kitakyushu City. The store offers a variety of Japanese sweets such as ohagi, skewered dumplings, warabi mochi, dorayaki, salted bean daifuku, kibi dango, and karintou. One popular drink menu item is the warabi drink. The store also offers lattes, smoothies, and sodas. This review focuses on the karintou, with 15 different flavors including black sugar, sesame, yuzu, tomato basil, Ariake seaweed, kinpira burdock, mentaiko, and wasabi. The reviewer purchased the mentaiko flavor, which was described as initially sweet followed by a spicy kick. It was an interesting twist on traditional karintou. The reviewer plans to try other flavors in the future. The karintou is made with flour from Fukuoka Prefecture. Thank you for the meal.

When it comes to "Kikutaro," it is a popular Japanese sweets shop in Kokura Minami-ku. I went there once but left without buying anything because of the long line (I ended up buying something from the neighboring "Favori Prue"). The shop on the 1st floor of Amu in Kokura Station is always crowded, and I usually avoid lining up for anything other than ramen. However, this time there were surprisingly no other customers, so I decided to drop by. I was indecisive about what to buy, but I found a Japanese sweet called "Kitakyu" with pistachio flavor, which I love. I'm a big fan of pistachio-flavored sweets, like pistachio gelato. The filling inside was exactly what I expected - pistachio cream with a hint of acidity in some parts. I wondered if it was raspberry, and when I checked the ingredients, it turned out that it was indeed included (I prefer to look at the ingredients after tasting the food, but I still want to know the ingredients before finishing it). The contrast between the smooth sweetness and the sharp acidity was exquisite. The shop's design and the packaging of the sweets were stylish, and this exceptional treat quickly dispelled my initial question of "why do people line up so much."

After shopping, I felt like having something sweet, so I lined up at a store with high expectations. I bought some for souvenirs and for home. Honestly, it wasn't as delicious as I had hoped for to wait in line. It was just average. The staff were efficient and provided polite service, making the shopping experience pleasant.

Before getting on the Shinkansen, I wanted to have some coffee and found this shop with a long line. They serve coffee with a piece of warabi mochi inside, but I decided to keep it simple and ordered a latte. The bitterness of the coffee goes well with something sweet. I also tried their an butter, which was one of the best I've ever had. The saltiness of the butter really stood out.

Pound matcha for 250 yen and kibidango (4 sticks) for 259 yen. I only knew about kibidango from the Momotaro song, so this was my first time trying it. I'm not sure what the authentic version tastes like, but there was a lot of kinako powder on it. I warmed it up in the microwave and it was delicious. But I don't want to fight demons just because I got this. The pound matcha was average. The pheasant is out of the game.

I purchased these karinto snacks during my trip to Kokura in early April. There were so many different types to choose from, including original karinto, tomato basil karinto, seaweed salt plum karinto, and mentaiko (spicy cod roe) karinto. I bought 2-3 pieces of each kind as souvenirs. I remember they were around 160 yen each. The packaging was stylish and perfect for gifts or treats!

I had been curious about it, but I didn't have a chance to go to Kokura, so I stopped by here on my way back from Kokura for some errands. I tried the Hojicha Milk Warabi for 550 yen. There was quite a line, but since I don't go to Kokura often, I decided to wait. I might like it more than tapioca.

I was looking for a souvenir at Kokura Station. While wandering around the first floor of Amu, I was recommended by a friend to buy some dango here. From left to right in the photo, there are dango with sweet bean paste, matcha, mugwort, roasted green tea, mitarashi, and isobe flavors. There were also dango with red bean paste and sweet potato. Each stick costs around 100 to 150 yen. I forgot the exact breakdown, but I bought 6 sticks for 940 yen. The ohagi also had a cute design with a flower-shaped bean paste on top! I only tried the roasted green tea flavor myself. The roasted green tea bean paste and the crispy part of the dango were deliciously fragrant. Besides fresh sweets, there were also many long-lasting sweets available, so be sure to check it out when you're in need of a souvenir.

I was quite late to the trend, but I finally tried the warabi mochi drink for the first time! To be honest, I wasn't expecting much at first... I thought it was just a passing fad, so I hesitated to try it for a while. But I finally took the plunge this time and ordered the "Hojicha Milk Warabi" for 600 yen! First, I couldn't suck up the warabi mochi... haha. The hojicha milk was not too sweet, with a light and gentle flavor. But the taste and aroma of hojicha were solid. The warabi mochi had a good flavor, with just the right amount of sweetness and a chewy texture that was delicious! In the end, I might even like it more than tapioca drinks... I thought as I enjoyed it until the last drop. These kinds of drinks can make you feel full, so it's hard to know when to drink them... haha. I'll definitely visit again if I have the chance! Thank you for the meal (^-^)♪

I visited the shop for the second time (visited in September). It is located under JR Kokura Station and is crowded with young people. They offer drinks like "warabi mochi" instead of tapioca. This time, I tried the "azuki smoothie" (600 yen). It has a strong milk flavor. I also purchased two types of chocolates. Hojicha chocolate for 1,188 yen (including tax), which needs to be kept frozen, was incredibly delicious. Matcha chocolate for 1,188 yen (including tax) was also delicious and I would definitely buy it again.

I was wandering around trying to get out of the north side of Kokura Station when I saw a beautiful shop window where they were grilling dumplings. It made me want to eat some, so I bought skewered dumplings with miso glaze (110 yen excluding tax) and skewered dumplings with red bean paste filling (139 yen excluding tax). I took about 15 minutes to finally eat them, and they had cooled down, which was a shame. However, they were still delicious and chewy.