Kuribou

Rating: OK
Meal: Lunch for 2
Price: 1450 yen
Payment: Cash only
Dishes:  Okonomiyaki and horumon yasai yakiudon
English Menu: No
Smoking: No

When we first arrived in Japan, we lived in Kurihama for 2 years.  This was about 30 minutes further south from Yokosuka, and eventually we decided we'd rather live in Yokosuka proper and save the commute time.  I didn't begin this blog until after we moved to Yokosuka, so all those restaurants I had eaten at prior haven't been on this blog.  Yesterday, my wife and I were in Kurihama at a hardware store looking for some items, and after we were done we walked over to a nearby Okonomiyaki restaurant called Kuribou that was new since we had been in town last.

Okonomiyaki

What makes Kuribou a bit unique is that it serves Hiroshima style okonomiyaki.  The Osaka style is more popular in the Tokyo area, but we tried Hiroshima style when we were there and actually kind of like it better.  Personally, I'm not a big okonomiyaki fan, mainly because I find the ingredients unappetizing and the sauce repugnant.  But occasionally I've had okonomiyaki I liked.  But my wife loves it, so we go now and then.

Yakiudon

Kuribou is a very small restaurant, with a single large teppan and lots of seats around it.  The owner is an older guy, clearly doing something he likes.  The heat inside was pretty intense, due to the hot teppan, and we were both glad to escape at the end.  My wife ordered a typical Hiroshima style okonomiyaki, while I opted for stir fried vegetables, internal organs and udon noodles.  There were no low carb options obviously.  He made my wife's okonomiyaki first, and then my dish, so it's very much a one at a time deal.  If there are lots of people, I assume it could take some time.  But I think the idea is to drink while you wait, so no big deal if you have the time.  Luckily it was just the two of us there.

My wife enjoyed her dish well enough, but afterwards she said it wasn't particularly great.  My dish was just meh as well.  I did notice the guy seemed to use a lot of off the shelf ingredients.  I guess if you are really hankering for Hiroshima style okonomiyaki, that would be a reason to go visit, but otherwise I probably wouldn't head back.

Yoshida

Rating: Very good
Meal:  Dinner
Price:  1800 yen
Payment:  Credit cards accepted
Dishes:  Stamina okonomiyaki, mushrooms fried in butter
English Menu: Yes
Smoking: Yes

Yoshida is near Shiori Station, which is across the 16 from Daie mall.  It's a small spot, but clean and welcoming to foreigners.  They specialize in anything cooked on a teppan (the flat cooking surface made famous in the US by Benihana type restaruants).  They don't do the crazy theatrics, but they do cook your food in front of you on the griddle, and I appreciate that they don't make me do it myself.  I ate here once a long time ago for lunch and keep meaning to bring my wife back as their okonomiyaki is quite good.

Buttered mushrooms

They have an excellent English menu and choices range from the usual okonomiyaki, to yakisoba and other such things that are typical for this type of place.  I noticed a "butter fried mushrooms" dish and decided that needed to be on my list.  It was very good, nice and buttery with salt and pepper.  Simple, but perfect.  I ordered the "Stamina 1" okonomiyaki (there is also a "Stamina II") with kimchi.  Since I was alone I sat at the bar, but there was a big teppan there and it was cooked in front of me.  He actually left it to cook a lot longer than I usually do, which resulted in a nicely crispy exterior, while the inside was well cooked.  I was able to forestall the application of the nasty sweet sauce that I hate, and only mayonnaise was added as a topping.  I found it quite delicious.

Stamina Okonomiyaki

They also have lots of shochu and sake available, if your interested in trying several.  Since they had everything so conveniently labelled in English, I was able to try out several shochus that were wheat, black sugar and rice based.  Usually shochu is made from potatoes and I have not really enjoyed it much.  But the rice based one was quite good so I think I'll ask for rice based shochu in the future.




There aren't too many okonomiyaki spots in Yokosuka, and while this one was still Osaka style (I prefer Hiroshima style), it was one of the better ones I've had so far.

Pasutakan

***Update 3/29/2019***
Daie/Aeon mall is now closed!!
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Rating: OK
Meal:  Lunch
Price:  830 yen
Payment:  Credit cards accepted
Dishes: Gyu Kalbi don
English Menu: Yes

Smoking: Smoking section available

The teppan...was not used for lunch today.

Pasutakan is possibly a combination of a couple of restaurant chains, but the clearest name I could find was Pasutakan.  It specializes in okonomiyaki (Osaka style) and other teppanyaki things (i.e. stuff you cook on a hot griddle).  It's in Daie but I don't often go there, mainly because I'm not overly fond of okonomiyaki (especially Osaka style) and it turns out that cooking your own food and eating it, while fun now and then, tends to make for a long lunch.

English Menu

I had, however, noticed that there were some gyudon (beef bowl) type dishes on a lunch special menu out front lately, and I wondered if I had to cook the food myself or if it would be done for me (what a novel idea!).  Since I needed to review the place anyway for this blog I figured I'd give it a try.  I'm glad I did!  The beef kalbi don was quite good, and I didn't have to cook it!  Oddly, the rice bowl dishes aren't on the menu itself, so I just walked the server outside and pointed.  Sometimes the old ways are best.

Lunch Specials!  Outside only...

I've eaten there a couple of times before, dutifully ordering the okonomiyaki and cooking it.  They will ask if you know what you are doing, and presumably you can request them to cook it at your table for you.  But not only is this awkward, it denies you the pleasure of making many stupid mistakes over and over again, as you eventually learn the fine art of mixing your batter in a bowl, putting your meat down first, pouring the batter over the meat and flattening it out, waiting a time that should be specified by the little egg timers they have at the table, flipping the pancake, finishing the cooking, then topping with your favorites of sweet sauce (yuck), dashi, (yum), seaweed, (yum), and whatever else suits your fancy.  Personally, I'll be ordering the beef bowls from now on.  And they are cheap!

Beef bowl...a cut above.

 My beef bowl was a step above the super cheap Yoshinoya and Sukiya.  The pieces were thick and juicy, and there was an onsentamago (ultra soft boiled egg) on top.  A little bit of kimchi gave it some flavor, and of course all the condiments are there to add more, though there was nothing spicy available.  The salad was quite good, composed of shredded daikon with a sesame cream dressing on some firm lettuce and a sprinkling of onion crunchies on top.  The little bowl of soup was a dashi broth that you could really taste the sea in.  I was asked what size of rice I wanted, so if you want more be sure to ask for the large size.

What the food is supposed to look like.

There is better okonomiyaki in Yokosuka, but it's a bit farther afield.  Unfortunately, I don't think you can get Hiroshima style anywhere here...so that will have to wait for another time.