Rihga Royal Hotel has several high-priced restaurants.
There are many restaurants to suit all budgets in the Uomachi area near Kokura station, and at the top of the Isetan and Izutsuya department stores. Also try the sixth floor of Amu Plaza building above Kokura station.
There is a McDonalds and a Lotteria Burger near Kokura station for the starving and desperate.
In the sixth floor of Amu Plaza building, there is a kaiten revolving sushi restaurant. The chefs will make sushi to request and oblige requests for substitutions or no wasabi. They also make some grilled/seared fish sushi -- delicious! They have a few vegetarian options like kappamaki and you can also get fresh fruit and fried chicken and other non-sushi dishes. Service can really vary from time to time though -- sometimes the waitresses are more helpful and sometimes they ignore you.
For cheaper stuff or deli take-out, you can find lots of good things to eat in the basements of Isetan and Izutsuya.
Towards the back of Kokura Station, across from the Shinkansen gate, there is a shopping area called Himawari Street. Downstairs in this area you will find another cluster of places to eat, including a sports yakitori bar, oden, okonomiyaki, yakisoba, Ringer Hut for fast food, and a 50's-60's retro-styled area of tonkotsu ramen places.
Popular foods in Kitakyushu include karashi mentaiko è¾åæ太å, spicy pickled cod roe, tonkotsu ramen the stinkier the better, apparently, and yaki-udon just like yakisoba but using udon noodles. Chanpon, yakiniku, and Korean food such as bibimba also seem to be enjoying strong popularity.
red bean jam
Kokura is, quite literally, synonymous with a type of finely filtered red bean jam known as ogura-an å°å餡 with an alternative reading of kokura-an, which makes its way into all sorts of Japanese pastries and desserts. But in fact ogura-an is from Ogurayama, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, and ogura-an pan red bean jam in bread rolls was first made in Tokyo.