My spouse and I
dined at Hojoko for dinner on a Sunday evening in late May 2017. We made a
reservation using the online Open Table system. (However, we encountered an
issue after we had checked in with the host and were enjoying drinks when we
received a “no show” email from Open Table, which the manager quickly corrected).
Hojoko is open daily for dinner, drinks, and late night snacks. The owners of Hojoko also operate O Ya
locations in Boston and New York City. (We dined at O Ya in NYC in January 2017;
see our review titled “O Ya – Oh Yeah!”.) You can park in the motel parking lot
for a fee.
Hojoko is located
on Boylston Street in the Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood. The restaurant opened in
fall 2015 in the trendy Verb Hotel. (The Howard Johnsons Motor Lodge chain
originally operated the hotel and restaurant; in fact, the restaurant’s cheeky
name incorporates “Hojo” from the old motel along with “ko”, which means
“child” in Japanese.). Hojoko occupies the street level restaurant space of the
two-story building. The building retains its former “motel” shape, with rooms
arranged over two floors of the rectangular space that surround an open
courtyard with a patio and in-ground swimming pool. Large windows from the
restaurant overlook the pool area, and doors/windows can be opened to join the
indoor and outdoor spaces in nice weather. The restaurant space is large and
offers many seating options. The front contains a separate glass-walled space
at the front that contains high-top communal tables suitable for large groups
and private parties. On the night that we visited, the drinks bar was
completely full. (We had heard great things about the drinks at Hojoko, but the
frozen pina colada that we ordered was disappointing, although the toasted
marshmallow garnish was a unique touch.) You can sit at regular-height tables
spaced nicely around the large main dining area, or you can sit at the sushi
bar/counter in order to watch the chefs work. (We purposely sat at the counter,
having enjoyed that viewpoint many times before at other restaurants, but at
Hojoko, the chefs seemed unhappy performing their duties and they did not
interact with us at all.) On the contrary, the servers and the manager were
friendly and helpful. Décor includes Japanese rock music memorabilia, Japanese movies
flickering across a screen, graffiti murals, and Japanese brick-a-brac (sumo
dolls, Hello Kitty, and Godzilla figurines), a tabletop (old-style) video game,
and retro hairdresser dryer chairs. Be sure to wander into the lobby area of
the hotel to see its vintage décor including the framed wall art, an old-style
juke box, and a record player with an extensive vinyl collection. The
basement-level restrooms are papered with Japanese decals and advertisements,
and the colorful gym lockers nearby (probably used by staff to store their
belongings while they work) add a novel visual element.
Hojoko serves
casual Japanese food in an informal izakaya (tavern) atmosphere. The extensive
delicious-sounding menu options made it difficult to choose. We shared three
small dishes to start: two half-orders of sushi rolls (three pieces of shitake
mushroom tempura with truffle salsa and truffle froth, and three pieces of
grilled shrimp with shiso salsa verde, avocado, and yuzu-pickled onions). We
also shared the intriguing okonomiyaki, a tasty yam pancake that incorporated
mushrooms and bacon in the “batter”, then topped with cabbage, sauce, and bonito
flakes. The bonito flakes were plentiful and fresh, vibrating in the wind to
make the dish seem almost alive! As our “entrees”, we ordered two bowls: ramen (with
koji dark meat chicken, 48-hour broth, soy egg, and bamboo shoots), and a rice
bowl (with wagyu hanger steak, daikon slaw). Although we loved the fantastic wagyu
steak cooked on the robata grill, we did not like the bitter/savory/umami tastes
of the other ingredients. We passed on desserts because they were just
miniature pre-packaged ice cream novelties.
We enjoyed our dinner at Hojoko because of its casual
atmosphere and interesting food.
