PT Eka Bogainti,

doing business as A trade name, trading name, or business name, is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is a "fictitious" business name. Registering the fictitious name w ...

HokBen (formerly known as Hoka Hoka Bento), is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

fast food Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. It is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheated or precooked ingredien ...

chain of restaurants headquartered in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

, Indonesia. The chain of restaurants today span across

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...

and

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

. The name ''Hoka Hoka Bento'' is derived from Japanese which means "steaming

bento A is the Japanese cuisine, Japanese iteration of a single-portion take-out or home-packed meal, often for lunch. Outside Japan, it is common in other East and Southeast Asian culinary styles, especially within Chinese cuisine, Chinese, Korean c ...

" (Japanese meal in a package).

History

Established on 18 April 1985 in Kebon Kacang,

, under PT. Eka Bogainti by Hendra Arifin, HokBen became the largest Japanese fast food chain in Indonesia. Although they serve Japanese fast food, the ownership, management and cooks are entirely Indonesian. There is no Japanese involvement in the business. In April 2008, the firm had 98 outlets. As of April 2010, there were around 120 outlets, with expansion planned to other Indonesian cities in

Central Java Central Java ( id, Jawa Tengah) is a province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogyakarta in t ...

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta (; jv, ꦔꦪꦺꦴꦒꦾꦏꦂꦠ ; pey, Jogjakarta) is the capital city of Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by a monarchy, ...

and Bali. Today, HokBen has 141 restaurant chains in

and

Products

HokBen serves various Japanese fast food. However, unlike the common ordering and serving method in most fast food restaurants, HokBen's serving arrangement is set similar to a high school

cafeteria A cafeteria, sometimes called a canteen outside the U.S., is a type of food service location in which there is little or no waiting staff table service, whether a restaurant or within an institution such as a large office building or school ...

where customers move along the line with a tray to collect their dishes. Their menu comprises both set meals and

à la carte In restaurants, ''à la carte'' (; )) is the practice of ordering individual dishes from a menu in a restaurant, as opposed to ''table d'hôte'', where a set menu is offered. It is an early 19th century loan from French meaning "according t ...

dishes. Although they define themselves as a Japanese restaurant, most of the food served have been adapted to suit Indonesians' taste. Examples of the change include stronger flavor compared to authentic Japanese food as well as the addition of

sambal Sambal is an Indonesian chilli sauce or paste, typically made from a mixture of a variety of chilli peppers with secondary ingredients, such as shrimp paste, garlic, ginger, shallot, scallion, palm sugar, and lime juice. ''Sambal'' is an Indo ...

to cater to Indonesians' preference for spicy food. Hoka Hoka Bento Bento Special 4

HokBen offers a kids' meal package called "Kidzu Bento" which includes toys. They are also able to accommodate for children's birthday parties in their restaurants. The logo and toys offered are based on Hoka Hoka Bento characters.

Mascot

The mascots of HokBen are a pair of adolescent characters named Taro (boy) and Hanako (girl). Both characters appear in the restaurant's logo. It is also used in Japan by New Life Hot Food's.

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

Official site
Japanese restaurants Fast-food chains of Indonesia Fast-food franchises Restaurants established in 1985 Indonesian companies established in 1985 Indonesian brands 1985 establishments in Indonesia