HOUTO LABO

Great houto and sukiyaki dinner. Was a fantastic meal with lots of flavour and generous food portions.. Friendly staff and menus in English as well. Highly recommended for a meal in the area

Visited March 2020

Love this place so much!! The sukiyaki houtou is the best dish I ever tried, they made it by ownself. The ambiance is very warmth with japanese style and have tatami & baby chair also. The ice cream also delicious, must try!!

Visited January 2020

Two friends and I did the cooking class in November 2019, it was excellent! I enjoyed the atmosphere and the seafood houto noodle pot was delicious. Our chef instructor, Maho, was nice, informative, and spoke very good English! Must do for this area, since it is a unique noodle dish for this region.

Visited November 2019

This is by far one of my most favorite experiences in Japan yet. My friends and I made houto noodles and learned the history of them while also cooking them with some delicious crab, scallops and miso broth. Our professor Maho was extremely sweet and patiently answered all our questions about dashi,... the noodle making process and more. I think the meal tasted better because we had seen the process of it being made. I highly recommend doing the cooking class (which can be booked through Ventra). I highly recommend this cooking class for any travelers seeking an authentic hands-on experience.

Visited November 2019

Just when we thought that things cannot get any better. We had already had the rare opportunity to view Mt Fuji in her full, "naked" splendour ( clear cloudless half hour at dawn this morning, after 2 days of almost zero visibility ). Then we decided to sign up for both the traditional hoto noodle ...cooking class as well as the tempura cooking class at Houto Labo. The 2 hour lesson became the new highlight of our visit to the Lake district. The facility is spotlessly clean, the host, Chef / Owner, Kato Shinichi, is warm, patient and professional. The lesson included making hoto noodles, unique to the region, from scratch with Kato demonstrating thoroughly the techniques for properly kneading the dough, cutting the dough into noodles, and making the broth to go with the noodles. We chose the traditional pumpkin broth ( seafood being he other option ), which was simple but satisfying. The same goes for preparing the tempura batter, getting the fryer oil to proper temperature, coating and frying the vegetables and prawns. All the ingredients provided was fresh and of high quality. The best part, at the end of the lesson, was sitting down for a meal to enjoy the finished product. On this day, we were fortunate enough that Kato and his lovely staff had some time between lessons to join us for the meal and to chat about life in general. We took advantage of their warm hospitality to while away an hour or so of the afternoon. At that moment, we were not just students, we were a part of their extended family. And if that didn't make us love them enough, Kato even drove us back to our hotel on the opposite side of the lake when our visit was over. Please, if you happen to be in the Lake Kawaguchiko area, sign up for a lesson. We are very glad we did because now, I feel totally confident about making my own noodles and tempura at home. Highly Recommend.

Visited September 2018