Rico Cowbell

Rating: OK
Meal:  Lunch for 2
Price:  2850 yen
Payment: Credit cards accepted (but didn't work for some reason)
Dishes:  Kaki fry, beef stew
English Menu: No
Smoking: No

My wife and I went for a walk on Saturday, heading towards Kinugasa, a little town and trainstop on the JR line.  We used to occasionally end up in Kinugasa back when we lived in Kurihama and had need to drive through it now and then.  Now that we live in Yokosuka I honestly can't recall the last time I went there.  They have a pleasant covered shop area with quite a few restaurants (and no less than 5 Chinese spots!).  None of them looked terribly interesting however.

Dashi broth soup

However, there was one place that looked a bit different.  Rico Cowbell is hamburg/curry restaurant that has a distinct vibe.  There is a lot of Swiss/German brickabrack decoration.  The dishes consist of variations on brown sauces.  I was looking for something that was primarily meat and it seemed likely I would find it here.

Scallops with a vinagrette sauce

My wife loves her a kaki fry (deep fried oysters) so she opted for that.  I went for the beef stew, which came with an odd looking appetizer that turned out to be raw scallops with a vinagrette sauce.  It was quite tasty.  The beef stew was pretty good at first, but the pieces of meat appeared to have been overcooked and were quite dry and chewy once you started eating.

Kaki fry

Overall, an enjoyably different spot, but just ok on the food.

Beef stew

Cafeteria Spice Jaya

Rating: Very good
Meal: Lunch for 2
Price:  2160 yen
Payment: Cash only
Dishes: Chicken pho, two curry meal set
English Menu: Yes (digital vending machine)
Smoking: No

After church on Sunday my wife and I walked around the area a bit looking for a bite to eat.  We came across Cafeteria Spice Jaya and were intrigued by the thai green curry and chicken pho on the menu.  The ordering system is a digital vending machine, with the option to switch languages to English, so that was nice and easy.

Green and japanese curries

We got a chicken pho, and a mixed curry set with both green and Japanese chicken curries.  We also added a little empanada like thing that turned out to be stuffed with something like keema.  It was delicious.  The place has serve yourself water, coffee, tea and soup, which was nice.

Chicken pho

The chicken pho was a disappointment, being pretty bland and not very pho like.  The curries however were both very good, with a good bit of spice in there too.  I would definitely not mind coming back and getting a full portion of either.

The place had a nice small shop vibe and we enjoyed eating our meals to Japanese interpretations of Disney classics being sung in the background (there may have been some singing along...).

Benkei Curry

Rating: OK
Meal: Dinner
Price: 600 yen
Payment: Cash only
Dishes: Beef curry
English Menu: Yes
Smoking: No

Wall menu

So I've begun taking the train short hops from downtown Yokosuka to nearby stops to start reviewing farther afield for my weekly (usually Wednesday night) review nights.  I'll be focusing on the Kenritsudaigaku station for the near future.  There are a handful of places worth checking out near the station.  I met a friend who lives nearby and we walked a quick circuit to pick an initial place to try out.  We ended up settling on Benkei Curry, a brightly lit yellow sign proclaiming Japanese Kare available on a cold night.

English menu

We went in and it is counter seating only, a pretty small place.  There were English menu options available along with the usual wall mounted Japanese.  It's a simple menu, and we went with the Beef Curry for a mere 600 yen.  It consists of rice with beef curry on top.  There are some curry pickles (a staple) and the chef offered us some extra spice if we wanted to put it on top.

Beef curry on rice

It was warm and filling, perfect on a cold night.  Not fancy, not even the best curry I've had, but the uniqueness of the place, the price and environment raises it up from a Not Bad to an Ok.  The chef is a really nice guy and speaks a little English too.

Hareruya

Rating: OK
Meal: Dinner
Price: 1000 yen
Payment: Cash only
Dishes: Curry tsukemen
English Menu: No
Smoking: No

Who doesn't love a good pun?  Hareruya (i.e. Hallelujah) is a little restaurant specializing in curry dishes.  The name uses the verb "hareru" which means "to clear up" (as in, the weather) and "ya" which means store or shop.  Cute!  And the place itself is too.  I believe this is the same spot that housed the lunch only 106 Cafe that I reviewed a while back.  Not sure if this is just the evening restaurant or if 106 Cafe is now defunct, but regardless I had not yet reviewed it in this incarnation, so I decided to try it out last night.

Interestingly, it is a vending machine place, kind of like a ramen shop.  But there is only one really ramen like item on the menu, the curry tsukemen, which is what I ended up ordering, along with a deep fried chicken drumstick.  I was asked if I wanted cold or hot noodles I believe, and I said whichever was fine with me.  I believe I got cold.  The dish of noodles is topped with some pork and cabbage, and the curry sauce is in a small bowl to the side for dipping the noodles into.  It was pretty, good, just ok really.  I'm not a huge Japanese curry fan these days, so there's that.  They did have some tasty toppings, including garlic olive oil, pickled garlic and the usual curry pickles.  The chicken was interesting...very much coated in something...maybe rice crispies?  Not sure...kind of cereal like.  Tasted ok too.

Overall, a nice little spot, but for me the food was just ok.

Camp Express

Rating: Very good
Meal: Dinner
Price:  1290 yen
Payment: Credit cards accepted
Dishes: Thai seafood curry with a chicken wing
English Menu: No
Smoking: No

This is a cute little place in the underground labyrinth of restaurants near Yokohama station.  It has a camping theme, and they serve mostly curry dishes in cast iron pans.  I wasn't expecting much, but it was much tastier than I thought it would be! 

Hamaguridou

Rating: Excellent
Meal:  Lunch for 4
Price:  4250 yen
Payment:  Credit cards accepted (pretty sure...we didn't pay though)
Dishes: Deer curry, Oyster stew
English Menu: Yes

Smoking: No

We visited some friends in Ishinomaki over the weekend and for our last meal there they took us to a really special restaurant called Hamaguridou.  It's located to the east of Ishinomaki proper in the middle of a forested area that is heavily populated by deer.  As such, their signature dish, deer curry, makes perfect sense.

View of the foundations remaining from the tsunami

The setting is amazing, with a view out of the long, funnel shaped inlet that makes it clear why the 2011 tsunami was so devastating here.  You can see the razed foundations of the houses at sea level still.  The older house that is the restaurant is elevated and was spared, but still...it was chilling looking out from the balcony and imagining the onrush of that wall of water.

Oyster stew

The house itself is very cool, an older style Japanese house that is impeccably decorated and yet also homey feeling.  While we were there there were 2 families with kids running around and playing with toys and such that were available for that sort of thing.  Our seating wasn't the best for us gaijin, on tatami around a small table, but we made do.  They only have one "normal" table and chairs, or there is some counter seating with a lovely view of the inlet.  Smoking can be done outside on the porch.

Deer curry

The menu is pretty simple, and the main dish is of course the deer curry.  But they had a special Oyster stew that my wife couldn't resist.  The rest of us had the curry.  It was very good, the best Japanese style curry I've had so far in Japan.  It did not have the typical flour-thickened texture to it, but was a little soupier.  The flavors were off the charts and the meat extremely tender.  Along with the main dish were some roasted vegetables and a really good side salad.  My wife's dish came with a choice of rice, focaccia or seaweed bread.  She opted for the seaweed bread of course and it was excellent.

Overall an amazing place and highly recommended if you are ever up in that area.

Cafeteria

Rating: Not great
Meal: Lunch
Price: 1200 yen
Payment: Cash only
Dishes: Yokosuka Navy Curry
English Menu: Yes
Smoking: No

***  6/14/2020 ***

This place didn't make it through the remodel of the mall and is closed now.

****************

This little upstairs "cafeteria" that is run by the same staff as the sweets shop below (which is quite nice BTW), is a bit of an afterthought.  I never got around to reviewing it during the initial push because it didn't open til 12pm and I go to lunch at 11am.   But I noticed the other day it had started opening at 11:30am, so I decided to give it a try.  I got there a bit early, so I bought a delicious cream filled chocolate eclair from the shop below to spend the time.

Meh...

They do have a small English menu, but their options for actual food are quite sparse, being either Navy Curry or pizza.  Given the prices on the pizzas I think we're talking tiny little things.  So the Navy Curry at 1200 yen was it.

They brought a small glass of milk and a bit of potato salad, and then the curry itself, devoid of vegetables, trace amounts of meat, and a dark, blandish sauce.  The best part was the dried onions on top.  Pretty much a dud of a meal (and tiny portions) for a rather expensive 1200 yen.  I can't really recommend the place, though the view of the ships is nice.

Bengal

Rating: Nasty

Meal:  Lunch
Price:  850 yen
Payment:  Cash only
Dishes: Dry curry with cheese
English Menu:Yes

Smoking: No (I don't believe so)

First of all, do not make the mistake of thinking this is an actual Indian restaurant.  It is most definitely not.  It is a "japanese" curry restaurant and that will go far towards mitigating your inevitable disappointment.  Unfortunately, it is possibly the worst "japanese curry" restaurant I have ever eaten at.  Having eaten there in the past, I was dreading the inevitable review I would have to do as I work my way through (virtually) every restaurant in Yokosuka.  Today was that day.

Turns out things haven't changed much.  I thought I'd try something I usually like:  dry curry.  This is usually just a less saucy curry made with ground meat.  It's close to keema (though still Japanified).  I saw an option to add cheese and since I knew what I was in for I thought that couldn't hurt.

My tiny dish of rice and dry curry arrived, with processed cheese cubes on top.  You can see them put the meals together at the bar (all seating is bar seating) and it's very reminiscent of the fast food approach.  The curry was very sweet, with raisins in I believe, and a couple of slices of canned pineapple to boot.  Gross.

Well, good thing I never have to go back now.

Yokosuka Navy Curry

Rating: OK
Meal:  Lunch for 3
Price: Probably around 4000 yen
Payment: Credit cards accepted
Dishes:3 different curry sets
English Menu: No
Smoking:No

Another tourist trap restaurant, Yokosuka Navy Curry capitalizes on the curry craze.  It's on the second floor of a gift shop near Chuo station, and next door to a CoCo's curry, which I think I like better.

They do have some interesting curry sets, so we decided to give it a try.  It was several days back and I didn't get the post up fast enough, so my memory is too fuzzy to offer much commentary.

Each set came with the items above

Fish and chips (not great) with brown curry (pretty good)

Black curry with rice

Black curry with fried chicken (karaage) and rice

Wood Island Curry

Rating: Very good
Meal:  Lunch
Price: 1280 yen
Payment: Cash only
Dishes:Dry Keema Curry
English Menu: No (maybe, they didn't offer one and I didn't ask)
Smoking: No

Wood Island Curry is a fixture in Yokosuka, and quite a tourist attraction in its own right.  It's located directly out of Womble Gate on the right, and you'll frequently see tourists lining up before it opens around 11:30am, especially on weekends.

Dry Keema with special curry spoon

I love the Dry Keema curry here, so that's what I ordered.  It's still Japanese curry flavor, but there is little sauce, just minced meat.  They also add almonds and crunchy peas to the mix (a nod to real keema curry's big peas).  Oh, and there's a sausage in there somewhere.  I quite like it.  I also like their pickle garnish as it seems more natural than the artificially colored ones you frequently see.  It's a bit spendy for the amount and the lack of additional teishoku amenities, but it is an unusual dish.  If you get the Navy Curry meal, you will also get a salad and glass of milk...which is a nice touch.

It's not a Coco's curry, with 10 levels of heat.  It's a mom and pop shop with 3 or 4 menu items and the tiniest kitchen you've ever seen.  There aren't a lot of seats, so get there early if you don't want to wait.  Also while the Mom of the "mom and pop" is a very nice lady, the Pop is a bit Soup Nazi (if you know what I mean).  He's not mean, just a bit stern, so don't try ordering anything fancy.  He's got what he's got, and that's it.

Another thing about this place is it has quite a bit of character.  They seem to always be riding whatever the latest anime tie-in with Yokosuka.  Right now there is a special "red curry" that is tied in with the Arpeggio of Blue Steel anime in theaters at the moment.   They also have a special curry spoon.  I kid you not, this is a spoon designed to make the tortuous process of feeding oneself with a spoon as easy as possible.  There's a little crook in the spoon itself to seeming bring the spoon more in angle with the mouth so you don't have to turn your hands as much.  You can even buy them to take home if you like...

I heartily recommend trying this place out for some truly local Yokosuka curry and character.