A Taste of Local Fare

We had another "rest day" in Japan after two busy days sightseeing in Yokohama.  Nick has planned our trip well, so far.  We just hung around his town of Yokosuka today and took the train in for lunch at one of his favorite places near the base called Katsu-Hiro Tonkatsu, a very un-assuming place.

There are only a few menu items plus a "Special of the Day" that are handwritten by the owner and hanging on the wall.

This is a one-man establishment.  The owner is also the chef who prepares each meal as it is ordered with the speciality being Tonkatsu, a Japanese breaded pork dish and very good. (McDonald's even has a special running this month in Japan called the Tonkatsu Burger.)

The place is small and the owner only takes a few people at a time.  There was a party of four when we arrived but he said it was O.K for us to come in and he could serve us.

As with many places, we left our shoes at the door.

We had to wait until he prepared the party of four's meal first before we got served but he was fascinating to watch as he meticulously put together his tonkatsu masterpiece.

Meanwhile, we listened to the Hawaiian music he had playing in the background and we looked at the Hawaiian photos and posters decorating the walls of the small restaurant.

Nick and Sachiyo don't know his connection with Hawaii but he must like it a lot. 

In fact, nobody really knows that much about him.  Nick says there is a rumor that he use to be a 5 star chef at an upscale restaurant in Tokyo and he left to start his own place with less stress where he could work on his own terms.

We do know that he is very particular about his food.  He wanted to make sure that we "foreigners" knew how to eat it correctly and watched to make sure we dipped our Konkatsu into the dipping sauce

but first we had to ground up our sesame seeds to add to the sauce.

He gestured at us to assure we did things correctly, as Sachiyo translated for us what he was instructing us to do.

Nick says he also has a nickname as the Tonkatsu Nazi, after the Seinfeld episode about the Soup Nazi, since he is so particular about his Tonkatsu.

But he has reason to be particular because it is outstanding!  Even the little sides he adds to it are just so tasty such as the batter-coated and fried vegetables and apple.  It was like applesauce with pork. We also got a large prawn with the Tonkatsu and salad with the most delicious dressing.  He also served us rice, some pickled vegetables, miso soup and cooked carrot and radish.

The price was so cheap, too, which was $12.00 American money.  Amazing!  This has been one of the best eating experiences so far!

We weren't really very hungry for dinner after our Tonkatsu lunch experience but Nick wanted to take us to their local beach hangout for dinner that is near his house within walking distance called Kaneyo.

In the summer, you can sit outside at your table in the sand and Nick says it's a local Japanese "hippie" spot.  Bruce and I like the "hippie" feel.

The atmosphere was very laid back and relaxing.  We liked it very much plus their food was excellent, too.  We had some drinks and salad

and Nick ordered a tuna, avocado and rice bowl.

We all had little tastes of everything since we had already had a large meal at lunch and then we ordered dessert to top it off, cheesecake and chocolate cake with a cup of hot Chai Tea.

We love experiencing the local establishments and getting a real feel for Japanese life and food. It's really not that different from our country.  Even Japan has hippies.