Negibouzu - Kumamoto

Amazing local food! Must try the Atsu Alter-Dofu, Karashi renkon, and hitomoji guruguru. Also the Mentai tenpura was good and many Basashi options. Get a place at the bar or a standing table there early, it will be busy quickly. The Bowl system for payment was interesting, just leave some money in the bowl and they will change every time they bring an order for you.

Great food and beer/sake. The roasted tofu is a winner, the lotus root with mustard was freshly cooked and delicious. It has a strange red bowl payment system. Put your money in the bowl immediately and calculate how to bring out any dish. Just leave the money in the bowl for your next round of food and drinks!

The cook is extremely helpful. Although we cannot speak Japanese, he still tries his best to communicate with us and even gets the meaning of the image we draw for our commands. He also makes an excellent selection of dishes for us. The food is delicious and the price is very reasonable. The highlights are the deep fried lotus root (or how the cook tells us) and the fried tofu. The deep-fried lotus root is coated with crispy and delicious turmeric battery. The fried tofu is juicy inside and crispy outside. Both are excellent snacks to go with beer. More important is the cozy atmosphere of this izakaya and the possibility to mix local people with zero distance. We recommend this place very much.

Awesome place. Friendly environment. Reasonable prices. Menu is all on the wall, no English menu. But staff were friendly and gave out great recommendations. Payment system is different than most, something you should definitely experience. You pay for whatever you order in a red bowl, you can leave your change in there and the staff will take it from your next order (or you add more if it isn’t enough . Standing section and counter as well. Seemed to be a seating area in he back but no one was there when we went (everyone was in the main area so I don’t know if it was available or not. Nice vibes. Their fried tofu was quite nice, and their curry udon yakisoba was a nice treat as well. apparently they have an izakaya next door that’s basically the same thing, run by the same people, but this store was a bit cheaper (don’t know why . Nice place for a second place (2次会 .

Fun place. Decent foof. Not great food but the atmosphere was friendly and inviting. And best of all, light on the wallet. I'd go back if I lived here. Wouldn't return if I jist had a few nights.