Hanamaru

Rating: Not great
Meal: Dinner
Price: 1200 yen
Payment: Cash only
Dishes: Oden, some tempura pieces, udon with an egg
English Menu: Not really (not necessary)
Smoking: No

Hanamura is a cheap, fastfood-like chain that is quite common.  Recently a branch opened up in Yokosuka, replacing a shabu-shabu restaurant (Onyasi).  I decided to give it a quick review yesterday.

Quite a bit of food for 1200 yen

This type of oden restaurant usually also has tempura.  There was a special going on with oden available as well.  I went kind of nuts and got way too much food, but that's the way things go.  First you follow the arrow and grab your tray.  If you want oden, you get oden.  If you want tempura, you take as many as you wish.  Then you come to the udon section, where you can easily point to the picture of which one you wish, and choose your size.  They make it there and put it on your plate.  There are a few optional things to add on top, and then you pay for everything you've picked.

The oden wasn't great, but I did like the sticks with "meat" (probably intestines).  The tempura was really gross...kind of cold from sitting out and very greasy.  I couldn't eat more than a couple of bites.  Lastly, the udon dish I got was quite yummy, with seasoned meat and soft-boiled egg with the yolk still runny.  Once all mixed together it was creamy and quite nice.

Despite one decent dish, the overall impression of the place is unpleasant, and I would probably avoid going here unless I was showing someone else or couldn't afford anything else.  Even then I'd probably pick Sukiya over it.