Honto

Enjoy Japanese eats from the Same Same team in The Valley.
Sarah Ward
April 01, 2023

Overview

Pork katsu sandwiches, salmon tartare tacos, raw slices of kingfish paired with yuzu ponzu, and smoked eggplant chilli ramen with burnt nori — they're just some of the dishes on the menu at Fortitude Valley's Japanese restaurant Hôntô.

While Brisbane boasts plenty of Japanese eateries, this addition to Alden Street adds its own twist to the country's culinary staples, as the above highlights demonstrate. Fancy white fish ceviche with yuzu and rice crackers, wagyu tartare, a karaage chicken burger or tamari-glazed beef brisket? They're all part of the lineup.

Hôntô comes from a team known for trying something different, with the venue a sister site to Same Same, Bianca and Agnes. Basically, where Same Same gives classic Thai cuisine a twist, Hôntô does the same with an exclusively Japanese focus — and with a range of rare Japanese whiskeys and sake to wash it all down with.

Indeed, in addition to the main dining room and raw dining bar, the restaurant features its own bar, ÔÔ. Like the rest of the place — which is accessed through a black door next to the loading dock for Matt Blatt Furniture — it's dark and moody, though it has quite the boozy range.

As well as the types of tipples you'd expect to find in a particularly well-stocked Tokyo izakaya, there are more than 100 wines, plus cocktails, other spirits, liqueurs and craft beers.

And, food-wise, if you're keen to settle in for the long haul in Hôntô's backstreet surroundings, you can also opt the banquet: a ten-dish feast for $84 per person. Banquet dining is also a requirement for groups of seven people or more.

honto japanese restaurant brisbane fortitude valley

Images: Natalie Hoo and Sam Thies.

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Appears in:
The Best Restaurants in Brisbane

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