Right at lunchtime, usually a crowded time slot, but it happened to be empty today so I stopped by. Just a nori-bento feels a bit lonely, so this time I chose the slightly extravagant Toku-Nori-Taruto Bento 🤭 It's very filling, coming with white fish tempura and tartar sauce, menchi-katsu (minced meat cutlet), and fried chicken. The fried fish and menchi-katsu are quite soft, giving the impression of being easy to eat along with rice. On the other hand, the fried chicken had a slightly firmer texture. I was also happy to find simmered kombu seaweed under the nori, so I could eat it all the way through without getting tired of it. The interior is bright and clean, and with solid parking spaces secured, I felt it's easy to use by car too. The charm is also being able to use it smoothly if your timing is good. Previously, nori-bento and toku-nori-taruto bento used to be pre-made and you could buy them instantly, but now they use a style where they cook after you order, so there's a slight wait time. I felt that getting it freshly made is a nice positive point. I also like gapao, so I thought it would be nice if it could always be chosen as a standard menu item. Also, if regional limited menus allowed you to enjoy local flavors changing monthly, it would expand the fun of choosing even more. Since I love fu champuru that I ate at Hotto Motto in Okinawa, I'd be happy if I could enjoy such region-specific menus as well. I think it's a convenient shop for meals on busy days and reliably easy to use.

+3

Since the Urado branch stopped offering delivery, I asked the Shishido branch, but even though it wasn't a busy time slot, it felt a bit more sloppy compared to the Urado branch. That being said, since it's my first time having a nori-bento, I can't give an accurate evaluation... but the simmered kombu seaweed under the nori wasn't spread all over, just patchy, which felt awkward when eating. Basically, I don't dislike Hotto Motto at all, and I used to buy food there frequently at night in the past. This time it's their classic nori-bento, but compared to Hokka Hokka Tei (Hasklei Co., Ltd.), which the management originally came from: 1️⃣ The nori isn't delicious (no perforation lines and lacks aroma). 2️⃣ The chikuwa is nicely large, but the white fish tempura isn't fluffy and completely lacks the aroma and umami of fish. 3️⃣ Regular Worcestershire sauce would be fine, but perhaps to give it individuality, they go out of their way to use a chunou Western-style flavor with no acidity, which doesn't fit the white fish tempura. And the big difference from Hokka Hokka Tei is that the rice is not delicious. While Hokka Hokka Tei has the aroma of rice you'd normally eat at home, even if you can't say it's delicious, it completely lacks rice aroma. In a sense, Hokka Hokka Tei could be said to have a more home-cooked taste. This can also be said about convenience store bento. Chain stores and franchises. Each has its pros and cons, and basically, dining establishments like chain stores offer a reassuring sense of stability, but sloppy or meticulous service depending on the store—or depending on the part-time staff during those hours—can be a fatal flaw for that store (this also applies to gyudon chains, etc.). This goes for all store clerks, including customer service. Each company's corporate efforts are what's wonderful about Japan. Making small improvements to up the quality, alongside putting effort into thorough staff training ‼️

+3

I've thought this for a while, but even when ordering with the shortest possible time on online orders, which is an hour later, if you go slightly early, they hand you a cold bento. Even if you order with a designated time and go slightly early, they still hand you cold bento. That being said, even if you go directly to the store to order, the waiting time is usually long. I used it often in the old days, but at some point, it degraded into a completely terrible store. This place isn't a hokaben (bento shop) anymore.

It's a grateful shop located in a convenient spot and they even do delivery. The staff are quick on their feet. Due to inflation, maybe the meat on the steak ju (steak rice box) being tough is the same nationwide.

This bento shop puts mobile order customers last. I arrived 10 minutes earlier than the scheduled time, and since a customer was ordering at the cash register, I sat in the front seat and waited. When the register cleared, I gave my order number, and the ordered product immediately came out from the kitchen. As I took out my wallet to pay, a customer who entered after me was prioritized. I yielded, thinking maybe that customer had ordered for an earlier time than me, but it turned out to be a customer who was just about to place an order. I was ticked off, so I interrogated them, and they said, "I misunderstood"... What? There were only 3 groups of customers including myself, and furthermore, a customer who came in later got prioritized? I don't get it. I will never use this place again.