Rio Grande Grill

Rating: Very good
Meal: Lunch for 2
Price: 7776 yen
Payment: Credit cards accepted
English Menu: Yes
Smoking: No

My wife and I were in Yokohama last Saturday looking for lunch.  We wandered around an area we hadn't seen before, a kind of open air mall called Bay Quarter next to the Sogo department store, east of Yokohama station.  We spied a Brazilian BBQ restaurant and hesitated a moment before going in.  Brazilian BBQ is always expensive, but we figured lunch had to be cheaper than dinner (it is), so we might as well give it a shot.

Salad bar

I stuck to the meat, while my wife also had some soup and salad.  Once the servers started swinging by the meat began to pile up.  They had a lot of good stuff, and both of us commented that the flavors were good and the meat nicely salted (which was good as there was no salt on the table).  The salad bar was a bit disappointing however, and the soups were quite flavorless.

Chicken and sausage

I didn't bother getting photos of all the meat, just a couple, along with my wife's salad.  Buffets are hard for pictures.  Overall I enjoyed it, much more than the other one I ate at in Roppongi a while back (Barbacoa).  That being said, the expense means we are not likely to eat here often.  I hear there is another Brazilian BBQ that is a bit less chain-like in another are in Yokohama that I'm looking forward to trying out.

Some kind of beef or lamb

Sakanaya Doujou

Rating: OK
Meal:  Dinner
Price: 3487 yen
Payment: Credit cards accepted
Dishes:  Grilled chicken, sashimi, avocado and salmon carpaccio, sake
English Menu: No
Smoking: Yes

Went looking in Yokosuka again for a spot I hadn't eaten at before and am reduced to izakayas for the  most part.  This one is in an area full of 'em and I just haven't had the desire to try them in the past.  I guess I can get through them for the sake of completeness.

Grilled chicken

This spot is pretty much your typical izakaya, specializing in seafood.  It claims to use local Miura Peninsula ingredients.  Who knows?

They advertised Dassai sake, one I quite like, so I tried a couple glasses (they were small) of the 50 and 39 varieties.

For food I just ordered a grilled chicken, some sashimi and an avocado and salmon carpaccio.  It was all good, but just ok.  I forgot to take pictures of everything...guess I'm out of practice.

Halal Sakura

Rating: Very good
Meal: Lunch
Price: ? yen
Payment: Credit cards accepted
English Menu: Yes
Smoking: No

Halal Sakura is not far from where we meet for church, and I'd been wanting to try it for some time.  We finally got the opportunity last week, along with several other church members.

Halal Sakura is interesting in that they bill themselves as entirely halal, but they food they server consists of a mixture of typical Japanese dishes (ramen, teishokus), hotpot and yakiniku, and lastly (the part I'm most interested in) Uyghur cuisine.  Meanwhile, our waiter was from Uzbekistan, so...interesting.

I tried some lamb sticks and a beef tongue salad, my wife had some chicken sticks and a cucumber salad, while my son had polo, a kind of lamb rice pilaf.  Others ordered similar dishes, and overall it was pretty good, though I am looking forward to returning and trying more items.

Salma Tikka and Biryani

Rating: Very good
Meal: Dinner
Price: ? yen
Payment: Credit cards accepted
English Menu:Yes
Smoking: No

I met some friends at this Indian restaurant near Shinagawa station the other week.  It's related somehow to the other Indian restaurant in Ueno that my wife and I tried a bit back and enjoyed.  The menu format looks identical as well.  The flavors here are definitely stronger than you usually get at a Nepalese run place.

Hot masala chai

It was a while back, so my memory is a bit fuzzy.  I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves. 

Tandoori chicken

Lamb rogan josh

Hase ya

Rating: OK
Meal:  Dinner
Price: 2300 yen
Payment: Cash only
Dishes:  Gyusuji daikon, grilled fish
English Menu: No
Smoking: Yes (I think...not too sure now, but izakayas usually permit smoking)

Last night I braved the rainy weather and finally went in search of a new place to try.  I took the train down to the Keikyu Ohtsu station and wandered around.  I didn't find much.  Actually the only place I found was Hase ya, a small izakaya.  I was the only person there and there was only one person behind the counter.

Hot sake with mandatory appetizer (tofu and fishballz)

I deciphered the items on the wall available and ordered a gyusuji dish with daikon and some grilled fish.  I figured that even though everything would be slightly sweet (sugar is the devil), at least I would be getting some meat.  I also ordered some hot sake, as I was chilled to the bone.

Gyusuji with daikon

The food was tasty, as expected, actually better than expected given the remoteness and smallness of the place.  But pretty much your typical izakaya fare, nothing spectacular.

Grilled fish

Since this is the only place I could find near the station I'll be moving on to Maborikaigan station next.  Hopefully the weather will be nicer.

Shuri

This photo of Nangoku Shokudo Shuri Yokohama is courtesy of TripAdvisor

because I forgot to take one

Rating: Very good
Meal: Lunch for 2
Price: 2900 yen
Payment: Goya champuru and gyusugi teishoku, rafute
English Menu: No
Smoking: No

My wife and I went to Yokohama on Saturday to look at some mattresses and while there decided to grab lunch.  We ended up at the More's City building where there are several restaurants on the top two floors.  We were going to eat at the Hungry Tiger but the line was insane, so we opted for the Okinawan Shuri.

Goya Champuru

The lunch menu was filled with the usual favorites and my wife wanted some goya champuru, while I liked the look of the gyusugi.  I also wanted to be sure I got my fill of fatty pork, so I ordered some rafute as well.  There was also an extensive list of awamori, complete with furigana for the names (making it much easier to tell what you are ordering) and age information.  I'd like to come back some time and try a few of their older vintages.

Gyusugi

The food was decent and tasty, and quite cheap (lunch prices).  I'd definitely stop back in here if I had a hankering for some heavy Okinawan food, which happens quite often I'd say.

Rafute

Crystal Jade Kitchen

Rating: Very good
Meal: Dinner
Price: 520,000 VND
Payment: Pork belly, char siu, duck
English Menu: Yes
Smoking: No

Last restaurant in Vietnam as I was headed back in the airport.  There was a Chinese restaurant that had some nice meat options on the menu.  It was served up quick and was quite tasty.