Yokosuka for a Day

Over the past few weeks, Tuesday has become my “Yokosuka” day because I am the substitute for an English class. Today, I decided to make a whole day of Yokosuka. I started with lunch at a new Sushi – go – Round restaurant near the Yokosukachuo train station. The Sushi was delicious! Tuna, tofu, and more tuna! I’ll definitely revisit!

The delivery method of the Sushi was adorable. The small plates of Sushi were delivered via a Shinkansen train! Kawaii!

After lunch, I walked over to the main base for a manicure and pedicure at the salon. You don’t need to see a picture of my gnarly running feet, trust me. They look a lot better and so do my nails!

After my nail experience, I walked back to the Yokosukachuo Station for my English class. The good news there, only one more remaining! I feel like summer break is close by! Ha.

The highlight of the entire day was having dinner with Dave. We enjoyed dinner with several people from his command at Doma Doma, our favorite Izakaya restaurant in Yokosuka. Unfortunately, the menu selection wasn’t my favorite. I didn’t go away hungry… but, I wasn’t impressed. It was as if they tried to make it “American” or something. It started out well, edamame, daikon salad, cabbage salad, and sashimi.

Then the courses were bizarre. Starting with bland fried shrimp crackers and fried chicken (mostly skin).

Then chicken legs strangely resembling a duck and roast beef slices. Nah. I stopped after the bland shrimp chips.

Like I said, my favorite part of the day was dinner with Dave, despite the menu. Followed by a ¥756 ($7.50) sashimi lunch. Obviously, pre manicure.

Only one more Tuesday in Yokosuka until my substituting commitment is over. I feel I need to make a go of it. Bring on summer vacation! And wine.

Friday night, Dave’s work held a “Department Head” outing at an Izakaya restaurant in Yokosuka. Izakaya is a Japanese style restaurant that offers an all you can eat and drink set menu for a set period of time. The Izakaya restaurant we went to was called わん or One. The cost was 4,200 yen (~$42.00) per person. For that price, we enjoyed 10 courses of tapas and drinks for 3 hours. This wasn’t our first experience with Izakaya, just the first time I knew what to expect and was prepared to snap pictures!

At わん, we dined at low tables with benches. There was space for our legs to go under the table so we didn’t have to sit cross-legged for three hours. We were given an oshibori (wet towel) to clean our hands prior to eating. Wet towels are served at most restaurants in Japan. Along with heated toilet seats in the winter, wet towels are a favorite “Japan thing” of mine! The table top gas grill will be used to cook the crocodile pot – course 9. Each setting had two bowls, a plate, a dipping plate, chopsticks, and a glass for your cold beer!

Izakaya is different than other Japanese styles of eating because the food is shared, similar to Spanish tapas. The portions in each of my pictures (except the sashimi and ice cream) was shared by 4 people.
Our 10-course menu included:
1) Edamame

2) Bang-Bang Chicken Salad

3) Sashimi Set (Tuna, Fatty Tuna, Octopus, Salmon) This was my favorite course, of course!

4) Deep-fried Sea Eel

5) Chicken Ball Grilled Avocado Cheese – I didn’t get a picture of the tray before the Chicken balls were served. This is my plate of meat and the chicken ball is on top. Food started arriving quickly and I had to load my plate because I couldn’t keep up!

6) Fatty Tuna Flavor Rice Sushi – This was my second favorite.

7) Karaage Chicken

8) Beef Steak

9) Crocodile Pot – The crocodile pot was cooked on the table top gas grill featured in the first picture. Seriously, the crocodile tasted just like chicken.