Hakone no Mori Okada 箱根の森おかだ

2019/11/13

My second time visiting Hakone, a friend and I decided to stay at Hakone no Mori Okada due to their amazing onsen and relatively cheap costs.

We booked a 2 day trip from their website as part of our first girl's trip in Japan!

Location

Hakone no Mori Okada is a situated on top of a small hill at the back of Hotel Okada. I believe they are part of the same company but Hakone no Mori Okada is a cheaper option for those on a budget.

Like most hotels around the area, the ryokan is easily accessible by shuttle buses right outside the station. there are 3 bus routes, each trip only costs 100 yen, so it is a super affordable option for those who are visiting by public transit.

The only downside is all the shuttle are minibuses, it can be quite difficult to get on and may get crowded for those with large luggage bags. If you have a choice, make sure to pack light!

To Hakone no Mori Okada:

Take bus route A to Hotel Okada

The bus driver will ask for your destination when you get on the bus so he will only stop at the hotels mentioned by all the guests.

*Their website lists complete instructions for guests arriving from different locations: https://www.hakonenomori-okada.jp/en/e-traffic.html

Rooms

We decided to book a larger room for our stay, a Japanese styled 8 tatami mat room that can accommodate up to 4 people.

photo credits: Hakone no Mori Okada HP

This ryokan also had a room separate from the main building called Furusato that can accommodate up to 5 people in a mixed western & Japanese styled room. This room had a different atmosphere than the other rooms and even includes its own foot bath on the balcony. I was totally drawn to this room but it was simply too big for 2 people imo. :(

photo credits: Hakone no Mori Okada HP

The staff at the reception counter was friendly. He asked if I spoke Japanese which I responded "yes, a little" so he proceeded to explain all the information in Japanese... but super super slow. lol (probably because he was reading off the English side of the information sheet but translating it into Japanese? haha..

Nevertheless, he explained every detail we needed to know, which was really helpful.

We stayed in a room named Myoujin on the 4th floor, it felt special our room had a specific name rather than simply a number haha!

Their hot spring is also situated in a separate building called Yuu no Sato, easily accessible by a sky bridge on the third floor. There are also a variety of amenities in a that building for guests to relax and enjoy, but, we didn't have time to spend much time inside.

There are beautiful decorated spaces around the hallways and every corner...

now let's see our room!

First impression walking into our room was "wow, so spacious!" lol.

8 tatami mats for 2 people is no doubt more than enough space we would need.

This room has the standard table and a seating area by the window. What amazed me was a makeup area in the corner of the room, I wished we had this in every single room we ever stayed at!

love it ♥

Food

The plan we booked for includes two meals a day, breakfast and dinner.

Breakfast is a Japanese styled buffet and dinner is a kaiseki styled menu changing by the day. Both meals are held in the Yamabiko dining room on the basement floor.

A standard menu for dinner includes:

- miso soup (みそしる)

- sashimi (お造り)

- appetizer

- claypot dish (陶板焼き)

- boiled dish (煮物)

- grilled fish (焼き魚)

- Japanese pickles

- Japanese style soup

- tempura

- feature of the day (お薦め一品)

- steamed egg custard (茶碗蒸し)

- rice

- dessert & fruits

When we made the booking, we came to a decision to upgrade our meal with the addition of a sashimi boat, because why not? It's not everyday we visit Hakone and stay at a ryokan, am I right?

As you can tell from the list above, that is A LOT of food already, but with the addition of a decent sized sashimi boat to our dinner (& for both days!) was definitely more than enough haha...

Day 1

Dinner

Since we arrived at the hotel soon before dinner time, we weren't super hungry.

Though our appetite was immediately lifted just by looking at our meal.

The seating in the dining hall is relatively spacious, two of us shared a table that could fit four people, which was amazing. I love the sight of having the whole table filled with delicious dishes!

The sashimi for tonight is two slices each of tuna, amberjack, and squid (鮪/カンパチ/甲烏賊).

Appetizer

Smoked Ham, Miso Butter Grilled Clams, Grilled Saba

The smoked ham was done perfectly, tender but chewy. The clams were amazing, I wished we got more! lol.

Boiled Dish

Agedashi Tofu, Sweet Potato, Edamame

At first glance I though this was fried fish, but it was actually my favourite agedashi tofu! I loved the addition of the tofu grains on the side giving the dish extra texture.

Grilled Fish and Pickled Vegetables

Tempura

Shrimp Tempura, Zucchini Tempura, Yam Tempura

Clay Pot Dish

箱根山麓ブタ　野菜各種　Hakone Sanroku Pork, Vegetables

Sashimi Boat

舟盛り　Scallops, Squid, Tuna, Shrimp

I don't usually eat a ton of sashimi, after our trip in Hakone, I think I've hit my quota for the month lol!

What amazed me here was the scallops, most sushi joints in Western countries would serve chopped scallop nigiris or whole scallop nigiris. Probably due to the lack of freshness, I never enjoyed the mushy, soggy texture and avoided ordering it most of the time.

Their scallops were perfectly fresh, so the texture is extremely chewy when you bite into it. With a few drops of lemon juice, I could not stop myself from eating it all in one sitting!

Another to note, were the shrimp. Large, fresh, juicy prawns had me wishing for more, just thinking about it now is making my mouth water 👌

Dessert

Seemed like I forgot to take a photo of our dessert for the night, cheescake and a small reb bean mochi, made a great ending to our meal ♥

Breakfast

Breakfast is served buffet styled, with a selection of eggs, fish, salad, soup, and rice.

I'm usually more of a Western styled breakfast kind of girl, but, it is great to have a chance to try something different for a change.

My picks: daikon, black bean, tamago, sausage, salad, mac & cheese salad, natto, and an onsen tamago.

The last time I stayed at a Japanese ryokan was when I first visited Hakone in middle school. Natto was one of those foods that I've always wanted to try but never found the courage or time to. Most natto are packaged in bulk, I didn't want to buy a 6 pack before I find out if it is something I like or not.

When I saw natto on the buffet counter, I knew it was time lol. As a first timer, it was best I try natto with a combination of other foods. I mixed it with an onsen egg, some vegetables, and some soy sauce.

My verdict, natto is definitely an acquired taste. I don't think I would be able to consume natto solely on its own, but with the right amount, combined with the right food, I think it is not so bad? Apart from the sticky, slimy texture, it kind of tastes like blue cheese.

Day 2

Dinner

To change it up on our second meal here at Hakone no Mori Okada, the chefs prepared a seared claypot dish for us instead of the hot pot soup on our first night.

ohoho look at all this food!!

Carpaccio

These were AMAZING. It is definitely rare to find carpaccio of this size, although you can still categorize it as sashimi, the taste is totally different.

I liked the Japanese salad dressing it is served with. Very refreshing start to our dinner!

Sashimi

Tuna, Salmon, Shrimp

Yes! shrimp again lol ♪

Appetizer

Kamabako, pickled dish,

Don't remember what the small fried food was but I do remember it was delicious LOL

Boiled Dish

Edamame, Fish Balls, Fish Cake

Claypot Dish

箱根山麓ブタ　野菜各種　Seared Hakone Sanroku Pork, Salmon, Squid, Vegetables

The staff at the hotel was kind and explained they cooked the claypot dish differently for our second meal. It was nice to try the same ingredients but cooked in a different way. I think I prefer the hot pot because a nice hot soup on a cold day is always the best :)

Dessert

Strawberry Mousse Short Cake, Orange

Breakfast

For breakfast, it was the same selections as our first day. There were a few things I didn't get to try so now is my chance!

I got a bowl of ochazuke for breakfast today. Nothing than a nice warm bowl of soup to warm up the stomach in the morning.

Overall, breakfast was standard, it was not a wide number of selection but still enough to fill you up. Dinner was great, as always, Japanese ryokan food will never disappoint!

To be honest, I always procrastinate writing my blogs that I don't quite remember every detail of the meal, haha, I tried my best!

Hot Springs

One of the reasons I decided to stay at Hakone no Mori Okada was because of their onsen. The pictures looked so so nice, we just had to check it out!

There are a number of hot spring facilities on site, they call it the Yuu no Sato (or in English meaning the hot spring village).

photo credits: Hakone no Mori Oka da HP

Here is a sample illustration of all the facilities. The left, Kaze no Yuuya for men, and the right, Tsuki no Yuuya for women. Doesn't it look amazing already?!

Of course, pictures are not allowed once you enter the hot springs, so here are a pictures displayed on their website.

photo credits: Hakone no Mori Ok ada HP

photo credits: Hakone no Mori Okad a HP

photo credits: Hakone no Mori Okad a HP

Definitely an A++ from me!

For those who only want to visit the hot spring as a day trip, that is ok too!

There is a separate site with the details, but only in Japanese.

Verdict

For larger parties and families, I would recommend staying in the 8 tatami room on the 4th floor, or, try out the off-site building Furusato for a private indoor foot bath!

If you have never stayed in a Japanese styled room, definitely do give it a try, it may change your thinking of a normal hotel stay. The futon will probably be the comfiest thing to sleep in, coming close to your own bed at home!

For food, stay with the original plan, as it is a quite a large serving. But, if you want to glam it up, for sure try the sashimi boat plan or better yet, the wagyu plan.

Hot springs, need I say more? Go browse all the pictures and imagine yourself relaxing in a hot steamy onsen after a long day of exploring Hakone!