Tetsunabe Gyoza – Crispy Gyoza Served On A Hot Iron Skillet In Fukuoka!

Must know Info:

Tetsunabe Gyoza – 博多祇園鉄なべ *Cash Only*

2-20 Gionmachi, Hakata Ward, Fukuoka, 812-0038, Japan

8 minute walk from Hakata Station

Hours (as of 2026/02): Monday-Saturday 5-10:30pm

Order system: Menu

Tetsunabe Gyoza is as the name suggests quite famous for their famous local Fukuoka favourite gyoza, and actually, they were the first shop who created them too.

What differs them from more traditional gyoza that are cooked over a stove top, these are cooked in a big iron plate, which in Japanese is “testsunabe”, as the name suggests.

Regardless of the size of gyoza you buy, they will bring this hot iron skillet to your table and you eat it from there.

One other thing that is unique about them is also the fact that they are all tiny bite sized pieces.

I am unsure of the reasoning for why they are as small as they are, but I have a feeling it might be because they are able to ram more into the skillet this way.

Regardless, they are super tasty, and because they are constantly cooking on the hot skillet, even after it is brought to your table, they get super crispy.

The filling for them seemed to be the same as your normal, traditional gyoza with pork and a few vegetables, but the actual gyoza paper itself was the star of the show. You could tell it was hand made, and was on a different level when compared to other run-of-the-mill ones you would buy elsewhere.

Besides this, I also ordered the potato salad and it was very good too. Potato salad is a must when you are drinking in Japan, as most places can never really get it wrong because it is so simple.

The restaurant itself was I would say an Izakaya, except the menu was limited and everyone was ordering the gyoza.

It seemed that the shop had some sort of connection to the Japanese theater called “kabuki” because there were pictures hung up all over the shop, as well as other celebrities and such.

I would have taken a picture, but next to all the signage was a bunch of warning signs that you are not allowed to take pictures inside of it, so I refrained. But trust me when I say that it was COVERED in photos.

The customers seemed like there were a lot of locals, as well as some other people who had travelled to Fukuoka and knew of this place.

The inside of the shop had both tables and bar seating, and it was pretty big, but I still remember coming on a Saturday night at around 6 and waiting for maybe 30-45 minutes.

If you want to get a casual drink in a cool shop, then Tetsunabe Gyoza is the perfect place I feel, especially since you can also knock off trying one of Fukuoka’s specialty dishes!