HOUTO LABO KAWAGUCHIKO — Restaurant in Fujikawaguchiko

The two main issues I had here: I ordered the 海鮮ほうとう, a glass of oolong tea and a bowl of rice for around 2.2k yen. But when I checked the order history a few minutes later, for whatever reason it shows a bunch of things I didn't order which made the total 7k yen. Gladly one of the staff was quick to get confirmation from the kitchen that only the 3 things that I ordered was in. I don't know what happened but this restaurant needs to get its ordering system checked. The 海鮮ほうとう costed me 1.8k yen, which I think is too expensive for what I got served. Maybe I was stupid for expecting too much from the menu photo, but there was barely any meat on the crab, and instead of the 赤魚 (some sort of red snapper) what I got was a mysterious white fish that didn't taste very good. The rest are a bunch of mushrooms, a shrimp and 2 scallops as shown in the menu photo. The texture of the noodle was weird, like it wasn't cooked thoroughly.

The only saving grace of the dish was the broth. It's perfect with the rice. I loved it. The staffs were also pretty friendly.

All that said, the next time I come to lake kawaguchi again, I'll give this place...

We had lunch here in February 2025, during spring when the weather called for a warm, hearty meal. We woke up early and traveled all the way from Asakusa to arrive as early as possible in Kawaguchi. With no breakfast, we needed this fuel.

We ordered Sukiyaki Hoto, Seafood Hoto, Chicken Karaage, and Hotochi with Cheese.

Sukiyaki Hoto was the star dish! It featured three thick slices of beef accompanied by generous portions of vegetables in a delicious sukiyaki sauce. It’s best cooked medium-rare and enjoyed with a dipping of beaten raw egg.

Seafood Hoto boasted the freshest seafood ingredients, and the soup was comforting as well. We were fortunate to have a friend who expertly extracted all the crab meat and cleaned the shrimp for us.

Both Hoto dishes came with thick, chewy udon noodles that tasted handmade and were incredibly filling and delicious!

The snacks were okay but could be skipped if the party is small; we ended up leaving one piece of chicken and hotochi.

Also, I’m not sure if we were just thirsty, but their service water was exceptionally refreshing.

We paid 7,679 JPY for everything for...

This place is a GEM, the food was so flavorful, and the service was incredible. The noodles are homemade, and they might have been the best noodles I’ve ever had. Tip: pay about ¥200 extra for the large noodles, it is so worth it. So delicious. I ordered the vegetable hoto, the soup was perfect for a cold day. It had the most perfect blend of veggies and even included pumpkin! I love when traditional restaurants like this have vegetarian options. We felt bad because we came only an hour before close, and stayed until then, and they didn’t rush us at all. Then, we were unable to hail a taxi so we asked if they could call one for us. They happily did, but there were no drivers at the time, so one of the staff offered to drive us straight to our hotel. It was so kind I almost cried. I tried to pay them for the ride, but they wouldn’t take it. THIS was real service. I recommend this restaurant 100%, I’ll definitely be back next time I visit...