Karuta — Restaurant in Hakone

Absolute gem in the busy town of Hakone! Prices are unbeatable, and the skewers and hotpot were delicious! The staff told us there may be a little bit of a wait as there is only one cook, and had to tend to customers that came in order, which was fine. While my friend's and I waited, we got ourselves a drink and was served a small bowl of edamame. Our food arrived around 15 minutes after ordering. The skewers were made to order with the option of salt or soy sauce as seasoning! The staff could understand some English and also had an English translation of their menu for those who could not speak or read Japanese. Highly recommend getting their yakitori set, specifically their fatty pork (tontoro) and the chicken meat ball!!! Soooo delicious! I also got the small hotpot with a miso base where the vegetables were very sweet, hearty...

This place is awesome. It's a couple that runs the shop as the cook and hostess, and not a huge place, so get there right around opening time if you want to be seated immediately. Maybe 3 small tables and some bar seating.

The food was soooo good, delicious yakitori, amazing miso paste appetizer and the chanko hotpot with kimchi flavour was absolutely the best. Such a sweet atmosphere as well, feels like a small family-run business that makes great food with great hospitality.

Only thing I think could be improved is ventilation: anything you bring into the restaurant will smell like smoke or meat, so just plan ahead for that like you would any other...

This is a family run business, literally they live upstairs. It's just two individuals running the place so don't expect the food to be made available immediately. Thst being said, service was impeccable. Can't fault the japanese on that one. If you are turned away due to an over capacity (based on the fact thst 2 people run a humble restsurant), just tell them that you are happy to wait it out. We stayed till 2230hrs and weren't kicked out early as suggested by other reviewers.

Garlic friend rice had a bit much butter. Tell then to turn it down. The yakitori sticks were great. Pork cutlet was juicy inside and crispy outside. It takes about 30-40...