My Kind of Town, Hayama Is

It was a dark and rainy night. The fickle wind deposited the Ancient Mariner's jaunty cap on a thorny hedge and bent the ribs of my favorite umbrella. We were soaked by the time we reached the shelter of the Mercure Hotel where the Otsukas were waiting to whisk us, Big Bird, and her husband, let's call him Mr. Chipper, to the Otsukas' favorite Chinese restaurant in Hayama, a small seaside town on the other side of the Miura Peninsula. The five minutes I had devoted to styling my hair would have been better spent reading or knitting.

The Imperial Family maintains a villa in Hayama, something you already know if you are a fan of Sujata Massey's Rei Shimura mysteries.  The Chinese restaurant, owned by the family of Admiral Otsuka's longtime best friend, used to have a private room where the Emperor and his family dined when they were in town but these days the restaurant delivers to the villa.  Big Bird and I think the Oakleaf Club lunch bunch ought to experience the excellent cuisine and scenic views the restaurant offers.

Jellyfish was one of the appetizers.  I ate it.

Chinese Sake

We watched a waiter ladle a drink the color of whisky from a vat on a rolling cart into a small glass pitcher which he placed on our table with a bowl of ice. The Ancient Mariner and I shared a glass. Goodnight, Peevish!

I Could Get Used to Eating Like This

Le Normandie is a traditional French restaurant on the fifth floor of the new section of the Hotel New Grand. We bowed regally to the waiters as the maitre d' ushered us across the room to a window table offering an awesome panoramic view of Yokohama's harbor.

Matsuzaki-san encouraged us to try the Japanese curry.  While we waited for our food, she shared photographs taken when she lunched in the same restaurant in the early 1950s.

Matsuzaki and her great-grandfather

I envy her possession of this photograph. Why don't I have one of me with my great-grandfather?

With her mother on a terrace that no longer exists.

Japanese curry is served with an assortment of condiments: pickled cucumbers and radishes, chutney, fried onions, coconut, pearl onions, etc. I placed little spoonfuls along the side of my plate but Fearless heaped her relishes on top of her curry. Fearless is not an ironic nickname.

All six options on the dessert cart looked scrumptious. Matsuzaki-san suggested we each order a different dessert to share with each other. We made Fearless choose the three desserts. This sort of decision is sheer agony for Matsuzaki and me.

When the waiter heard of our plan, he offered to divide the desserts for us. That turned out to be a great idea since the size of the portions he placed in front of us were larger than we expected.

The raspberry and cream sauce was an unanticipated bonus.

The week after next, Matsuzaki-san, Fearless, and I are going to Kanazawa for two nights to see the famous landscape garden, Ninja temple, and old samurai quarter. Something tells me we'll be eating well on that trip!

The Skinny on Those Hand-Cut "Crack Noodles"

Weather and Fearless at Kyokarou Honkan

My friends and neighbors have been raving about a restaurant in Yokohama's Chinatown that serves fresh hand-cut noodles in a spicy Szechuan broth. A legion of addicted fans have dubbed them "crack noodles." Weather Explorer is one of those fans and today she shepherded Fearless and me to Kyokarou Honkan where we treated our tastebuds to what might very well be the Eighth Wonder of the World.

My discerning mouth decided the broth is even more remarkable than the noodles.  It's deliciously spicy with a bit of an afterkick solid enough to purge your sinus cavities.  There weren't many napkins left in the table dispenser after Fearless and I finished blowing our noses, suggesting this is a place to take your friends rather than entertain your boss.


We had the two-pepper dish (upper right corner, above) for 700 yen. It looks like you'll have to pay 200 yen more for the dinner version.

Clicking on this post's title will take you to the restaurant's webpage. It's mostly in Japanese but you'll find an address and telephone number in English in the bottom right corner if you scroll down. Hours are 11:30 am to 9:30 pm.

We took the Minatomirai Line from Yokohama station to Motomachi-Chukagai, the last station, but the restaurant is just as easily accessible from Ishikawacho station on the JR Keihin-Tohoku or JR Negishi line out of Yokohama station. While you're in Yokohama station, be sure to pick up one of the latest English maps of the city at the information shop on the main concourse.

I hope you have an opportunity to experience "crack noodles" the next time you are in the vicinity of Yokohama's Chinatown. It's my distinct pleasure, not to mention civic duty, to share Weather Explorer's restaurant tip with you.

Not Your Typical Japanese-Size Lunch

There's a shop a couple of blocks from Yokosuka-chua station that sells local products, including about two dozen different varieties of Japanese Navy curry. The stairs on the left lead to a second-floor cafe that offers curries and, my personal favorite, the Admiral Jamie Kelly Cheesecake.

Ishii-san and I sampled the Meiji-era curry when we visited the cafe the week before last. She chose chicken and I had beef. The curry was served with milk and Ishii-san asked the waitress to warm her milk. I thought that was interesting. I like my milk cold. Very, very cold.

A trio of young Japanese workers took a window table near us. They were all wearing identical pale blue jumpsuits which is how I knew they were workers. The tall skinny one ordered an enormous plate of curry with fried chicken cutlets.  I counted three chicken breasts on that plate. 

He ate the whole thing.  And he probably had cheesecake for dessert.  I didn't have dessert because Ishii-san thought that would be too much.  Sheesh.

Sitting in a Sake Shop with the Boys

The Ancient Mariner, Jim, Mike, and our waitress

Jim and Mike were in town for the Fleet Surgeon's Conference this week. They came all the way from Okinawa and Dallas so the Ancient Mariner thought we should take them out to dinner.

The resident restaurant expert suggested the charming place just a few blocks from the Navy base where Etsuko took the Seventh Fleet ladies for a hearty lunch last fall. Etsuko had mentioned that her friends' restaurant became an izakaya at night but that didn't ring any bells at the time.

Now that we have sobered up,we are happy to report that the name izakaya is a compound word consisting of "i" (to sit) and "sakaya" (sake shop) and originated with sake shops that allowed customers to sit at the premises to drink.  The drink - beer in our case - was of the "all you can imbibe" variety and the food, although secondary to the drink, was absolutely sublime.  It was much like a tapas restaurant, with small portions of food served at regular intervals and shared by everyone at the table.  The garlic french fries made an interesting counterpoint to the tuna and avocado morsels, spring rolls, and salad.

The atmosphere was delightful.  We sat on cushions at a low table after stowing our shoes in the cubby at the entrance, a sliding door halfway down a dark alley.  Slippers are provided in the restroom which is papered floor to ceiling with Atom Boy comic strips.

Thanks at least in part to the uncharacteristic copious amounts of beer consumed, the conversation is remembered as highly intelligent and unusually enlightening.  I'll take you the next time you visit and we'll see if we can achieve a similar effect.  

Ancient Mariner's Port Visit

Mike will only be home for a week so we are focusing on quality time. My definition of quality time is "Mike fills the gas tank" and "Mike and Matt mow the lawn." Mike is so desperate to avoid these chores he's re-invented himself as a Party Animal. Who says a leopard can't change his spots?

Last night we had dinner with Yumiko and Jackie who will soon be moving to Spain for their next big Navy adventure. They took us to a wonderful Japanese restaurant in Kanondai near Yokohama, the sort of place I especially enjoy visiting with a Japanese native like Yumiko. We pigged out on tempura, sushi, and lemon pudding before I started launching into my usual sushi plate lecture - "Mike, you need to stack those plates in color order to make it easier for the waiter to total our bill!" - which Jackie politely interrupted with a reminder that we are in Japan where the waiters gracefully wave clever electronic gadgets along the side of the stack of plates and some mysterious computer eye differentiates between the various colors and prices. Jackie, by the way, is a native Oklahoman and has no idea why his Taiwanese parents chose to settle there. He and Yumiko met when he visited Japan as a student.

After we put Matt on the team bus for Misawa this afternoon, there's a 7th Fleet hail & farewell party on our agenda. Matt and his teammates will spend 12 hours on the road, sleep until noon, play Friday night football, and get back to Yokosuka early Saturday afternoon. Mike and one of his co-workers will catch a bullet train to Misawa right after their Friday morning briefing and should arrive in Misawa just in time for the opening kick-off. This will be their only opportunity to see their boys play all season so I hope it's a good game - or at least one with lots and lots of kick-offs.

I'm skipping the Misawa game. I need a little alone time to come up with a new wifely lecture now that the sushi plate stacking one is outdated.