Yokosuka Sarumen

Rating: OK
Meal: Lunch
Price: 1030 yen
Payment: Cash only
Dishes:  Sarumen, miso karaage
English Menu: No
Smoking: No

A friend mentioned to me the other day that a new restaurant had opened up and we should check it out.  This new restaurant is called Yokosuka Sarumen, which translates to Yokosuka Monkey Noodles.  It's not exactly ramen, but close enough that's what I'm going to classify it as.  Their claim to fame is that the noodles are made using wakame (seaweed) that is harvested off of Sarushima (Monkey Island), a small island quite close to Yokosuka.  You can take a ferry out to visit it and spend the day on the beach or exploring the island and its WWII battlements.

Sarumen

Their location is possibly either excellent or terrible, depending on how things go.  They are sandwiched between one of the best little tendon (tempura don) restaurants in town, and a pretty decent hakata style tonkotsu ramen joint.  There is often a line outside the tendon restaurant, so I could see people getting tired of waiting and just opting to eat at Sarumen.  However, once people have eaten there, they may find it hard to return knowing the other options that are available right there.  In any case, I wish them the best of luck with their endeavors.

Karaage

I had a regular bowl of their signature sarumen, though you can go up in size.  I also had  a side of miso karaage (fried chicken).  The noodles themselves were rather bland and uninteresting, though not offensive.  The karaage was quite tasty, and lacked that heavy powdered ginger/garlic taste that the typical konbini offerings do.  My friend opted for the single ticket teishoku including noodles, karaage, and rice, and he was quite disappointed that the soup was as small as it was, while there was so much karaage.  Unbalanced, he said.

Overall I'd give them an Ok,