Tsuki Cafe

Rating: Very good
Meal: Lunch for 2
Price:  2400 yen
Payment: Cash only
Dishes: Roasted pork with salad, smoked salmon with salad
English Menu: No
Smoking: Yes

Tsuki Cafe has probably the best coffee in Yokosuka.  It's a small antique shop that is also a cafe.  It's very, very...hmmm...I don't know how to describe it exactly.  The small restaurant area is dominated by lots of older wooden furniture.  It's not super comfy really.  Everything is very old looking.  My wife said the place straddles the line between "cool old stuff" and "falling apart."  I agree...but it's been here a long time and the couple who run it seem pretty unique around here.

The reason there are no pictures aside from the outside sign is that it is their policy to not allow photographs inside.  I found this out some years ago when I first tried to review it and was rebuked and kicked out of the place.  I haven't been back since.  But today I wanted to review it and went there with my wife.  This time we were clearly told (in Japanese) that no pictures are permitted...and we heard the same spiel to everyone who came in.  So I guess they are being more up front about it now.

The menu is written on a chalkboard in some pretty terrible Japanese handwriting...mine might possibly be better.  So figuring out what to order is a bit of a challenge.  They have 1200 yen set meals during lunch time that go up to 1500 yen after 2:30ish pm.  They come with a roll and a coffee.  I went for the roast pork item and my wife went for the smoked salmon.

The rolls are home made and really delicious.  Both dishes came with a combination of salad and roasted vegetables, all of which were very tasty.  My wife liked the smoked salmon and I thought I won with the thick slabs of roasted pork that were nice and fatty.

Then the coffee arrived...and it is really quite something else.  If we were rating this place on coffee alone it would get an Excellent.  But while the food was definitely very good caliber, it's not quite enough to get over the Excellent hump.