Otaru is a port city located in Hokkaido, Japan, about a 30-40 minute train ride from Sapporo, it’s a popular day trip from the biggest city in Hokkaido. Of course it has a number of outstanding restaurants to choose from. Depending on how long your stay is you may only get one or two meals here so it can certainly be a tough choice deciding on what to get!

I had seen a video on Naruto Honten and hadn’t had fried chicken up to this point on my trip so I definitely had a hankering for it. I decided to make this my meal in Otaru so I certainly had high expectations and even higher hopes (that I made the right decision lol).

The Experience

I walked over to the restaurant around noon, so peak lunch time. It’s about a 10 minute walk from the famous Otaru Canal. You know the place is popular and expecting crowds when there’s a ticket machine where you pull a number with a waiting room where you can sit until your turn is called. With it being lunch time it was fairly busy, not overly so though. It took about 15 minutes or so to get my number called.

There’s a lot of options to choose from on the menu. They have much more to offer than just the fried chicken they’re known for.

But I came here specifically for the fried chicken. That half-chicken combo meal was just calling my name and that’s what I went with along with a beer (1850 yen, $12.02 USD)

The Fried Chicken

The first thing you notice about the fried chicken is how crisp the skin is. Exceptionally crispy and seasoned well, it really is delicious. Digging into the meat, it’s tender and extremely juicy. With fried chicken you can sometimes run into places where the meat is a little dry, but it wasn’t the case here. The fried chicken was done perfectly and juicy throughout.

The seasoning is mild which I enjoyed. It’s not overly salty at all. For my taste preference it was perfect. The fried chicken isn’t very greasy either, another positive!

The combo meal also came with a bowl of rice, miso soup, tofu, and radish. Quite a filling meal for $12!

Is Naruto Honten worth visiting?

If you’re in the mood for fried chicken and have had your fill of sushi (which Otaru is also known for) then Naruto Honten is certainly worth the trip. It’s an iconic, well-known establishment in Otaru and the fried chicken is quite good! You get quite a bit of food for only $8.25 as well.