Hakata Senpachi

Twenty-plus years of charcoal yakitori and izakaya noise in a side street by the RAI, priced like Fukuoka rather than Amsterdam.

Every Japanese expat in Amsterdam already knows this room behind the RAI, which is why a Tuesday here sounds like a Fukuoka izakaya on Friday night. Hakata Senpachi has spent more than twenty years grilling yakitori over charcoal in the middle of the restaurant, and the smoke is the interior design. You order in waves: chicken thigh with spring onion, pork belly lacquered with sweet miso, tsukune with proper snap, chicken hearts for the committed. Most skewers hover around four euros, so the bill stays civil even when the table loses count, which it will. The sashimi is cut with more care than plenty of sushi-first places manage, and the tonkotsu ramen is a legitimate finisher. Volkskrant and Parool have both paid their respects over the years, but the real endorsement is the clientele, who could eat anywhere in the city and keep choosing the loud little room with the hibachi.

Book the counter seats near the hibachi and order like an izakaya: a first volley of skewers, then decide the rest as they land. Last order is 21:30, so start on time. Unagi and buta miso sell out first.

Photo: Hakata Senpachi