The restaurant hidden in a sketchy alley Brisbane is going crazy for

At the end of an alleyway, with the front door often obscured and nothing but a postcard-sized plaque to identify it, this Fortitude Valley favourite isn’t easy to find. But it’s definitely worth tracking down.

“I’M glad you told me where this place was or I would have thought you were sending me somewhere sketchy,” says my friend as we take our seats at Honto in Fortitude Valley.

That’s because this funky, eye-squintingly dark, Japanese-fusion restaurant is hidden at the end of a dingy alleyway behind the iconic Wickham Hotel, its front door occasionally obscured by a dumpster, with nothing but a post card-sized plaque on the front wall bearing its name.

And it’s packed.

The dessert that sets this Chinese restaurant apart

How Howard Smith Wharves’ newest restaurant shapes up

Almost every night of the week you will have to wait for a table (the restaurant only accepts bookings for groups of less than eight between 5.30pm and 6.30pm), with its questionable location undoubtedly part of its appeal.

Honto restaurant in Fortitude Valley. Picture: Jeff Camden

Also contributing to the allure of Honto — a sister venue to the Valley’s hugely popular Longtime — is that it’s just plain good fun.

A toe-tapping soundtrack hums throughout the dimly lit, charcoal-hued space — a mix of Tetris-like configured tables and bar seating against a central raw station, where chefs prepare the likes of sashimi and wagyu tartare.

And the room buzzes with diners navigating the casual offering of snacks, small and big plates and tome-like drinks list stretching from biodynamic and organic wine to Japanese whiskies, sake and quirky Asian-inspired cocktails, with names referencing the film Kill Bill.

The restaurant’s answer to guacamole and corn chips — edamame and avocado dip with fried lotus chips is a crowd-pleasing starter, but it’s trumped by the soft and silky shiitake and vegetable dumplings ($11) that explode in your mouth with umami juices.

Avocado and edamame dip with lotus chips at Honto, Fortitude Valley.

The signature, however, is the Moreton Bay bug katsu sando ($12) — sweet pressed crustacean coated in breadcrumbs and fried until golden, squeezed between two slices of fluffy white bread with a thick slab of mayonnaise-lacquered salted cabbage slaw. It’s calorific indulgence and worth busting a pant button over.

As is the miso aburi tuna, which comes as three, bite-sized, citrusy, mayo-topped tacos in puffed rice shells.

Shiitake and vegetable dumplings at Honto, Fortitude Valley.

Smokier than a Greek cigar bar are the chicken skewers from the “A bit more” section of the menu which come with a soybean and cultured cream puree, burnt butter and black garlic. While the largest dish on the menu is the Asahi Black whole fish — this time New Zealand squire — which arrives pre-filleted, with each piece beer-battered and fried before being carefully arranged back inside the hollowed-out fish frame alongside a slate-hued black garlic-spiked aioli. With the fish expertly cooked and batter crisp, it’s a solid filler if the smaller plates don’t touch the sides.

Asahi Black-battered whole fish at Honto, Fortitude Valley.

The highest points for creativity though go to a dessert of sesame and dark chocolate mousse with a shiitake mushroom ice cream taking the dish well into savoury territory, only to be brought back with the snap of a vitreous caramely tuile.

Service varies from gracious and personable to rushed and a little curt, depending on the staff member, but always efficient.

Honto is the type of place you’ll want to come with friends and an appetite. Leave the car at home, get stuck into the drinks and a good night is almost ensured.

Honto

Address Alden St, Fortitude Valley

Phone [phone]

honto.com.au

Open Tues-Sat 5.30pm-late

VERDICT

Food 8.5

Service 7.5

Ambience 9

Value 8

OVERALL SCORE 8