Radianza

Rating: Very good
Meal: Lunch
Price: 2300 yen (just my meal, my friend's was 1500 yen)
Payment: Cash only
Dishes: Lunch course with uni spaghetti
English Menu: No
Smoking: No

Lunch special menu

Radianza is a small Italian restaurant located near Shioiri Station in Yokosuka.  It's walking distance from work, so a friend and I tried to eat there last week.  The sign says open for lunch at 12 noon, but the chef said he wasn't open today as he had just returned from the market.  We asked about when we could have lunch and he said next week Tuesday if we reserved.  So...don't expect to necessarily find this place open at noon as advertised.  Due to the small number of seats, I would recommend reservations (046-876-7828) for dinner (and to verify it's open).

Appetizers

For lunch, there is a set lunch course for 1500 yen with 2 entree options and a 3rd uni spaghetti entree option for an extra 800 yen.  The menu is entirely in hand-written chalk Japanese, so it's not easy to understand unless you are fluent.  The chef speaks very little English as well, so it's a bit of a challenge.  My friend and I didn't have too much trouble though.  I ordered the uni and he had the beef ragout.

Bread

First was a plate with lots of little items on it:  a bit of cabbage, pickled onions, a carrot, some fried fish, grape leaves, a slice of salami, potato and cauliflower salad.  Every bit of it was very tasty, with rich, bright flavors.  Then some bread, which I passed on as I figured I'd be getting a carb overload with the noodles.  Sure enough, my uni arrived on a bed of very thick, very al dente spaghetti noodles.  Other than uni and olive oil, there was a wedge of lemon.  The uni was nice and fresh, but the noodles were a bit too al dente for my taste.  Also I'm supposed to be cooking noodles past al dente these days for my stomach's sake, but I'm sure he will cook the noodles to your preference if you tell him.  My friend's beef ragout came next with a delicious smelling beef sauce drizzled over cannelloni noodles, also al dente.  My friend said his dish was also very delicious.

Uni spaghetti

We finished with a choice of coffee or espresso.  I had the espresso, which was made with Italian Kimbo coffee using his own espresso machine.  It was the perfect end to a long leisurely meal.   Which is something to keep in mind, this place is not fast food.  We started eating our main dishes about 40 minutes after arriving, so not an every day lunch spot.  And we were the only people there.

Beef ragout

Overall this place is quite the little gem, probably the best Italian I've had in Yokosuka.  Definitely rates a high Very Good and may even go into Excellent territory.  I'll return with my wife some time to eat dinner and update if needed.

Espresso

Marco

Rating: OK
Meal: Lunch
Price: 1000 yen
Payment: Cash only
Dishes:  Carbonara lunch set
English Menu: No
Smoking: No

In an effort to salvage what remained of a lunch gone bad as I continue reviewing spots near Kenritsudaigaku station, I found Marco, an italian restaurant, relatively close by.  The lunch special is quite decent, with several choices for the main course, a nice pre-meal set of 3 tasty items, a salad, dessert and a hot or cold drink for 1000 yen.

I chose the carbonara pasta set, which was decent enough, though unremarkable.  The 3 little bites were nice looking, but lacking in great flavor.  Overall I wasn't super impressed, but it was good enough.  Probably wouldn't come back on purpose though.

Esse Due

Rating: Not great
Meal: Lunch for3
Price: 6285 yen
Payment: Credit cards accepted
Dishes: Two pizzas, tomato mozzarella basil, sliced meat platter
English Menu: Yes
Smoking: No

I've actually eaten at this place before, prior to starting to do these reviews.  As the options for something new at Haneda are getting fewer, and my son was with us, we decided to go back here for his last meal in Japan prior to flying back to boarding school.

I wasn't very impressed...everything was very expensive, and not particularly delicious. 

Sette

Rating: OK
Meal: Dinner
Price: 3050 yen
Payment: Cash only
Dishes: Tripe in tomato sauce, prosciutto pizza bianca, gin and tonic
English Menu: Yes
Smoking:No

Sette is a small pizzeria not far from Chuo station.  I've been by many, many times, but it's never been open.  Apparently they only open for dinner at 5pm and aren't open for lunch.

I was only going to have some water but was told a drink is required, thus the gin and tonic.

I was pretty disappointed in the food...nothing had much in the way of flavor.  Quite the meh experience.  Given the price, I'm giving them a low Ok.

Pizzeria Bar Napoli

Rating: Very good
Meal:  Lunch for 2
Price:  2100 yen
Payment: Credit cards accepted
Dishes: Pizza and pasta with 2 soup/salad sets
English Menu: Probably (the one we saw had no English)
Smoking: Allowed on the porch

Finally something new opened in the old Bravo Yokosuka spot:  a pizzeria!  The downstairs is almost entirely kitchen with bar seating for about 4, while upstairs they have seating both in and outside (for the smokers).  I assume when the weather is nicer they will also seat people on the available pavement.  It is entirely staffed by Japanese, and they seem to know what they are about.

I tried ordering pizza for take away twice before, but they were too busy.  So today for lunch I met my wife there and we gave the lunch menu a try.  It is very nicely priced, with many pizzas available for just 500 yen.  The pasta dishes are a bit more, but there are 4 options available.  There are 3 levels of sets available from just a drink up to drink, soup, salad and dessert.  We opted for drink, soup and salad.

The pizza was pretty good for the price (and we added the cherry tomatoes), though I did ask for some salt to help the crust.  You'd be hard pressed to get a pizza, salad and a drink for about 800 yen anywhere in town.  The pasta was thicker than spaghetti and had that "fresh" pasta feel, not overdone.  It was pretty decent.  We both ordered coffees that turned out very nice, and the salad was a step above the usual shredded cabbage fare.  The soup was delicious cream corn and perfect for a cold day.

Overall we were very pleased and looking forward to return for dinner to try the rather extensive full menu.  Nice to have a new place to eat so close by!

Miami Garden

Rating: OK
Meal: Dinner
Price: 1130 yen
Payment: Credit cards accepted
Dishes: Camembert and bacon cream sauce spaghetti
English Menu: Yes
Smoking:Yes

I was in Yokohama last night to meet a friend and afterwards needed to grab some dinner, so I basically picked the first thing I saw, which was Miami Garden.  It has the typical chain Japanese Italian feel to it, but with a little more variety on the menu.

I went for a cream base Camembert and bacon spaghetti dish, with a large portion of pasta (I was hungry).  It was decent enough, not amazing.  The noodles were nicely al dente.

The restaurant itself is very smoky, even though they asked if I wanted smoking or non-smoking, it didn't really seem to make a difference.  Overall I'd give the food an Ok, but the smoke decreases chances I'll ever return.

Red Sauce

Rating: Not great
Meal: Dinner
Price: 2.2 BHD
Payment: Credit cards accepted
Dishes:  Chicken and spinach alfredo, a friend got a pepperoni pizza
English Menu: Yes
Smoking: No

Red Sauce is one of the many restaurants along American Alley/Shebab Avenue in Bahrain.  I figured it wouldn't be very good, but it exceeded my expectations in a negative direction.  The dish I got was plenty of food, but the noodles were not al dente, the sauce extremely bland, the chicken processed junk poured from a bag (and chewy), and the spinach was nearly absent.  I added some spicy flakes to try to add some flavor but it was to no avail.  Not a great spot, I don't intend to return personally.

Chicken spinach alfredo

Pepperoni pizza

Pronto

Rating: Not great
Meal: Lunch
Price: 1120 yen
Payment:  Cash only
Dishes: Shrimp and avocado pesto linguine
English Menu: Yes
Smoking:Yes (section leaks)

Pronto is a "cafe and bar" located under Yokosuka Chuo station.  It's a chain you'll see lots of places in Japan.  I had never eaten there, and their posters always look so appetizing, I figured I should try it out.

Of course, it's a cafe and bar, which means smoking.  They do have different sections, but the smoke leaks.  It wasn't too bad though, I've been in worse.  They have the kind of generic italian dishes you see in most cafes, and I got the shrimp and avocado pasta meal.  I didn't realize it would be as expensive as it was actually, I was expecting something in the 800 yen range.  It came with a negligible salad and terrible cup of coffee.

The dish itself was unremarkable...the avocado didn't seem fresh and the shrimp was a bit chewy.  The noodles were firm though and the pesto sauce was adequate.  Over all, not a place I'd go out of my way to eat at in the future.

Cantina

Rating: OK
Meal:  Lunch
Price: 1380 yen
Payment: Credit cards accepted
Dishes: Chicken and cabbage pizza
English Menu: Yes
Smoking: No

Zushi is a seaside town, kind of a yuppie attraction for Tokyoites who want to have a day at the beach.  It's got a kind of laid back vibe and there are all sorts of interesting spots to eat there.  I don't get there too often, but the other day I was going to meet a friend for some beers in the afternoon, so I figured I should get over a bit early and get a few reviews out of the deal as well.

Small salad

Cantina is an Italian Seafood restaurant right on the beach.  It's a little fancy, but as usual, lunch time is the time to try such places as they almost always have affordable lunch specials.  I went for the chicken and cabbage with mayo pizza.  Honestly, all of those things sounded good to me at the time, but when it arrived the whole thing together didn't really work.  The cabbage in particular had a strange flavor to me and I wouldn't have been surprised if they used some celery or celery salt as well.  There wasn't much to the taste and I had to ask for salt and hot oil to get it down.

Chicken and cabbage pizza

Overall I wasn't too impressed, so it gets an Ok.

Espresso