Was going around the Holland Village neighbourhood recently got to notice a little bit of a change within the Holla coffeeshop just right in front of One Holland Village that houses the likes of stalls such as that of Chops! Grill & Sides as well as Jia Li Seafood Soup. HONŌTO is the latest addition to the said coffeeshop, having taken over the former premises of the now-defunct Sweet Blast Dessert there that is situated in between Pepper Castle and 33 Zhi Char. HONŌTO claims itself as an establishment that serves up Japanese Street Food — the menu at HONŌTO is segmented into two categories which consists of Tasty Bites and Japanese Classics; the former being the section that features a range of boiled, pan-fried and deep-fried gyoza alongside other Japanese-style snacks like Yakitori and Chicken Karaage, while the latter features various noodle and rice dishes that fits better as main courses for individual diners.

We found ourselves going for the Jajamen during our visit to HONŌTO for a weekend dinner service — this would be an item listed in the Japanese Classics section of the menu. One thing worth noting is how HONŌTO does offer a Set Meal Upgrade for its Japanese Classics dishes where one would be able to go for an add-on of Gyoza / Yakitori / Chicken Karaage at an additional top-up of $5 above the base price of the Japanese Classics item opted. HONŌTO does not describe in its menu the elements of which it includes in their various dishes; with that being said, it can be observed from our order of the Jajamen that it does come with elements like Kimchi, sliced cucumbers and a braised meat sauce; it also does come with a Lava Egg, whilst the choice of noodles used here does seem to be that of Somen. It does seem that the Jajamen here does seem to be served closer towards that of the Korean-style Jjajangmyeon with an execution of the braised meat sauce being more like the mainland-Chinese variant. We did like how the use of Somen provides an easy bite and a clean note that allows the flavours of the savoury braised meat sauce to shine here; the Kimchi providing a tang and a soft crunch while the cucumber slices adds a refreshing note and also gives the dish another element of crunch. The Lava Egg does come with soft and springy egg whites and a chilled lava yolk that comes with a slight savouriness from being marinated in soy sauce.