Shoya

Rating: Not great
Meal: Dinner for 2
Price: 3334 yen
Payment: Credit cards accepted
Dishes: Fried rice, oden, yakitori, deep fried tuna, sake, coke
English Menu:Yes
Smoking: Yes (there is a smoking section but not very effective)

For some reason I've been taking my son out on Thursday nights to Izakayas lately.  Mainly because we usually get there early enough that there aren't many people (and therefore smokers) yet, and because they usually have fried rice.  Also I'm running out of new restaurants to review, so I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel.  The last couple of places have been surprisingly decent, but Shoya, a well known chain whose blue sign is recognizable in virtually every town, has broken the trend.

Deep fried tuna

I will say that the service was good, though the food's arrival was a bit slow.  Could have something to do with it being Golden Week too...  And even though the smoke leaked a little from the sections where it is allowed, it wasn't as bad as it might have been.  Apparently it was late enough for some serious drinking parties to have gotten started, as my adventurous trip to the bathroom revealed.  I recommended Rowan wait until we get home to use it for himself.

Shibuya style oden

The biggest disappointment was the quality of the food.  The oden was...unpleasant, the deep fried tuna dry, the chicken skin yakitori was cold.  So yeah...definitely unimpressive.

Fried rice

Yakitori

Room temp sake in a little pot

Yokosuka Tanmen Dobuita Street

Rating: Very good
Meal: Lunch
Price:  900 yen
Payment: Cash only
Dishes:Yokosuka Tanmen
English Menu:No
Smoking:Yes

Update 6/24/2016 - I was walking down the alley the other day and noticed that it appears this restaurant is now closed, which is sad because I liked it and never got to bring anyone else.  Oh well...that's two restaurants in this spot that have opened and closed in the past year.

*****

Yokosuka Tanmen Dobuita Street (I double checked on the name) recently opened in place of the short-lived India Village restaurant, and it is definitely an improvement.  Apparently, Tanmen is a type of Ramen...though not one I had heard of before.  This little restaurant has a very simple menu...there is one kind of tanmen available and gyoza.  You can get a side of rice too if you want.  Or beer, oolong tea chuhi or just oolong tea.

Local Yokosuka vegetables

I ordered the one option and was given a little bowl of "yokosuka vegetables."  The leafy thing was very curious...I had never seen it before.  It was a little bit...softly crunchy?  I'm not sure how to describe it.  All tasty though.

The tanmen itself was a pretty big bowl, covered with a mound of vegetables.  In my limited perusal of the Japanese signs in the restaurant, it appears that they take great pride in the excellence of their ingredients, perhaps trying to local source all the vegetables.  The rice is a special strain that comes from a particular location too.

How was it?  Pretty good I'd say...I do like me some vegetables.  The closest style to it I've had before would be champon (Ringerhut does champon...it's a Nagasaki style), but the broth is a bit thinner.  Also, it wasn't very salty as ramen usually is, so I added some condiments.  There were some bits of pork in there too, but thin pieces and not fatty.  I think my wife would really like it, and I enjoyed it as a much lighter bowl of ramen.  I was able to drink it to the dregs without feeling like I had a bowling ball in my stomach and was going to die of salt poisoning!

So yeah, I'm looking forward to bringing my wife back here and maybe some friends from base.

Anone

Rating: Very good
Meal: Dinner for 2
Price:  3020 yen
Payment: Cash only
Dishes: Goya champuru, fried rice, tofuyou otoshi, coke, awamori
English Menu:Yes
Smoking:Yes

***Update 7/10/2018***
I popped back in to this place last night as I'd heard their selection of awamori was larger than I originally realized.  Had a couple of drinks and some sashimi.  It was quite delicious.  Also, they had an English menu, so figured I should update the review to reflect that fact.
***

My son and I went back to the building from last week, this time going upstairs instead of down, to try the izakaya there.  Turns out this place specializes in Okinawan cuisine, which is great, because I love that stuff!

Otoshi of the day - dashi broth with daikon and tuna

There was no fried rice on the (Japanese) menu, but I asked if they could make some and they did.  I went for the goya champuru (asked for a small bowl of rice) and couldn't help myself from ordering some tofuyou (delicious fermented tofu...like cream cheese).  A coke for my son and awamori for me.

Goya champuru

The decorations are really neat, the place feels like an old-school comfy spot that I wouldn't mind returning to some time.  There are tatami mats with backed seats (no hole for your feet) and bar seating.  The music was excellent (jazz and soul).

Tofuyou

A nice surprise, and I'm looking forward to bringing my wife back here some time.  Helps that it's 1 minute from our apartment.

Chahan

Isomaru

Rating: OK
Meal: Lunch
Price: 830 yen
Payment: Credit cards accepted
Dishes:Avocado and tuna rice bowl
English Menu:Yes
Smoking:Yes

A fairly recently opened izakaya, Isomaru is most likely part of a big corporate chain.  It runs on pretty slick wheels and has a bright, cheery, seafood oriented feel.  There's a big basin full of living oysters and things as you enter the place.  Luckily, the lunch crowd didn't seem to be wanting to smoke, but there were ash trays everywhere.   The waitress promptly gave me an English full menu and lunch menu, which was mostly full of sea food themed dishes.

Avocado and Tuna Rice Bowl

I opted for the avocado and tuna rice bowl.  This arrived with little fanfare (no teishoku accompaniments sadly) and was decent enough.  I paid with a credit card (nice) and headed next door to Burger King to buy the first sandwich from them I've had in many years.  It was unimpressive...but on sale  Isomaru left little of an impression on me...I doubt I'll be back very often.

Banzai Sakaba

Rating: OK
Meal:  Dinner for 2
Price: 3440 yen
Payment: Cash only
Dishes: 2 min-oden bowls (otoshi), fried rice, avocado tempura, roasted chicken thigh, coke, awamori
English Menu:Yes
Smoking:Yes

It was raining last night when I finally made it home.  My son and I usually go out on Thursday nights for a meal and this time we didn't feel like going far, so we went almost directly next door and tried out an izakaya.  It was early enough (5pm) that I felt we had a chance of avoiding any smokers, and we were mostly right in that assumption.

Oden otoshi

The Banzai izakaya local chain in Yokosuka features several different izakayas that are all pretty quality spots as far as izakayas go.  Personally, I'm not as fond of izakayas as the food tends to be expensive and meager, as it is mostly intended as accompaniment to drinks.  They also have "otoshi" which are mandatory snacks they charge you for if you sit down.  It's kind of like a cover charge, but you get something in return, which is nicer I guess...if you frequent places that do cover charges, which I don't.  I was pleasantly surprised by the evening's otoshi selection, little mini oden bowls.  I love oden (only one in my family who does), so I was happy to eat my son's portion as well.  He immediately spotted the fried rice option on the English menu and ordered that.  I decided on avocado tempura (because...yum) and settled on the roasted chicken thigh.   I should also mention that I have been to this particular izakaya before, prior to writing reviews.  I ate my first (and last) horse sashimi here in fact.  Raw horse meat is not my cup of tea, turns out.

Avocado Tempura

There was only one guy running the show and at first we were the only customers, but others started trickling in and the service got slower as could be expected.  We did order drinks as I often have a feeling of guilt when I eat at an izakaya and don't partake of anything to drink...coke for my son and awamori on the rocks for me.  It's funny how they have no issues with kids coming to izakayas...despite the drinking and smoking.  Guess the rules are different here.

Roasted chicken thigh

The fried rice was too heavy and oily for my liking, but my son liked it.  The oden was simple but tasty, and the avocado tempura was quite good, light on the batter and heavy on the avocado.  My roasted chicken thigh was the least interesting, being fairly unflavored, but it went down fine.  Overall, it's not a bad spot, but a little less comfortable for my taste than the nearby "Ume no Yu".  There's also another izakaya directly above this one, so I might as well come back and try that one some day.

Sharky's

Rating: Very good
Meal: Dinner
Price:  $24.50
Payment: Dollars only, credit cards accepted
Dishes: Curly fries, mushroom garlic flatbread pizza, boneless chicken wings
English Menu: Yes
Smoking: No

Sharky's is a bar on base located right next to Main Gate that recently had a complete remodel.  They used to be a mediocre burger joint that served some mediocre microbrew (locally brewed though, that's pretty awesome!).  Now they are much classier, serving a chicken wings and flatbread pizza, along with several good micro-brews from the US as well as a much revamped and varied lineup of locally brewed options.

Canned mushrooms!!!  Why!!!!?

My wife and had previously tried the beer but were not in a position to try the food until yesterday afternoon.  They don't open until 4pm, which is a pity because I would like to be able to have lunch there occasionally.

1 pound of curly fries... $3...mmmmboy!

We were eating an early dinner before going to roller derby practice and I wanted to try a spread of different items.  We went with the curly fries (very tasty), mushroom and garlic flatbread pizza (the bread itself was quite good, the toppings not so much...mushrooms from a can), and boneless chicken wings (the biggest disappointment...processed chicken nastiness...very unpleasant reactions the rest of the evening...should have tried the bone-in variety).  I am quite looking forward to returning and trying different toppings on the pizza and proper bone-in chicken wings, along with beer of course.

Unpleasant

Sherpa

Rating: Very good
Meal: Lunch
Price: 1050 yen
Payment: Cash only (for now)
Dishes: Sherpa special curry
English Menu: Yes
Smoking:Yes

****
Update 1/28/2017

Wow, things change quick around here.  Sherpa has been replaced by KC's Craft Beer Dining!  It's also an Indian restaurant (Nepalese still) but under different ownership.  Check out the new review.

****

Sherpa is the latest "Indian" restaurant to pop-up in Yokosuka.  It's a bit different in that it appears to be going more for the Nepalese vibe, and it also has some Thai curry dishes on its menu.  It's also deliberately going for a "bar" feel, so smoking is allowed and you have to descend into subterranean room to find the place.

Needless to say, my expectations were rather low, so I was pleasantly surprised at the variety on the menu.  They have some very attractive lunch prices, but I figured I should let them shine, so I ordered the Sherpa special set (the only thing that comes with a drink and salad, drinks are usually 90 yen extra).  It was a curry soup dish that the waiter was pleased to tell me was "the real nepal taste."  I ordered at about 4 spice level (on a scale of 1 to 5) and enjoyed the warmth that ensued.  It was chock full of veggies and a chicken leg.  I heard the cook going nuts in the back while cooking it, so it seems everything is done up fresh.

I am looking forward to returning and trying some of the cheaper lunch options!

****

Last night my son and I went back to Sherpa and I am pleased to report that both the butter chicken curry with rice he ordered and the Himalayan fried rice I ordered worth both quite good.  The butter chicken curry was pretty plain, but not uninteresting, and I quite enjoyed the very flavorful fried rice.  I also had a chat chana (garbanzo bean salad) and was very pleased with the texture of the beans and the flavors.  So far everything I've had here is quite good!