Situated at a convenient location, a two-minute walk from Nakasu-Kawabata Subway Station, two stations away from JR Hakata Station, the gateway to Kyushu, Nakasu Matsu is perched on the second floor of a building in the Nakasu District, a smart and approachable neighborhood sandwiched by the Naka and Hakata Rivers.
Opening in July 2022, Nakasu Matsu is run by a pair of childhood friends raised in Fukuoka and trained at renowned restaurants in Japan. Owner-Sommelier Shinichiro Matsunaga used to work at a two-star French restaurant, Reminiscence, in Nagoya for seven years, while Chef Takumi Aoki apprenticed at a two-star Japanese restaurant, Honkogetsu, in Osaka for 11 years after graduating from culinary college. The duo who went to the same elementary and junior high schools in Fukuoka opened Nakasu Matsu together in July 2022, when Matsunaga decided to launch his own restaurant and asked Aoki to join him as a chef.
Chef Aoki brings the skills he honed at Honkogetsu to Nakasu Matsu, where he offers Japanese dishes featuring local ingredients from Kyushu. For example, he gets in wild marine eel and pike conger from Nagahama Fish Market, a major fish and shellfish market in Fukuoka with the largest seafood trading volume in Japan for four years in a row, and goes to a market in Itoshima every morning to purchase vegetables. He also uses local water and rice, such as Hinohikari from Kumamoto. These ingredients are transformed into an eight- to nine-course authentic Japanese dinner, starting with appetizers and ending with matcha green tea prepared by Chef Aoki, who has knowledge of the Japanese tea ceremony.
The wine list curated by Owner-Sommelier Matsunaga is unusually extensive for a Japanese restaurant, with almost 1,300 labels, mainly from Champagne and Bourgogne but also from all corners of the world as well as some Japanese wines that have received increasingly high recognition in recent years. There is no pairing menu so that guests can select whatever they want. In addition to the wines, the restaurant offers some sake locally brewed in Kyushu.
In the dining room with a chic and modern Japanese design, there is a straight counter where diners can enjoy watching dishes being prepared right in front of them. The tableware, such as Karatsu ceramics and Lobmeyr wine glasses, are carefully selected to provide guests with the highest quality experience possible. The menu offers multi-course meals in earlier hours and à la carte options accompanied by a glass of Japanese sake in later hours.
Enjoy a relaxing time with your friends at Nakasu Matsu, which offers dishes featuring seasonal ingredients from Fukuoka along with a variety of wines.
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* The availability of this webpage does not guarantee that the restaurant presented provides services in English, unless otherwise stated. Please be aware that English services may also depend on staff availability at the restaurant.
Access
A 2-minutes walk from Nakasu-Kawabata Station
