* Banzai Honten 萬菜本店横須賀

Banzai Honten　萬菜本店 is just one in a group of excellent Yokosuka restaurants that belong to the larger ”Banzai Produce.”

Banzai Honten is a cool place that easily escapes the restaurant radar screen. If you're willing to venture down a small alley,  Banzai is sure to please. It's not a bar, and it's quite mellow, so certain "sailors" may not find it appealing. They also just may not find it period since it's at least a few hundred yards from their normal territory.  To be fair to sailors (and myself), certain sailors and their families may find Banzai appealing.

If I don't post the location, then of course it will be much harder to find. But I will say that the Bonzai entrance can be seen from the Blue Street sidewalk. Since time can fly in Yokosuka, I don't want you to miss this place. But let's just keep its existence and location a secret between you and I. I'll put a place-mark on the map that is *close* to the restaurant's location. The rest is up to you and the fun of exploring. 　The location link is at the very bottom of the post.

I wanted to call it a "back-alley gem," but that gives you BAG - and doesn't sound too good. So what about "back alley aficionado destination" or BAAD? That's not too bad because BAAD usually means good, or cool in English slang. If you happen to be translating this page into Japanese I'm sorry for what may be showing up in the translation. Good is bad, bad is good? huh?

The setting for Banzai is an old warehouse. The restaurant layout is one of the most interesting in Yokosuka, with multiple levels, sections, and private rooms, and has a somewhat historic feel as the building has certainly been around a while.  The structure on the outside looks very plain, especially in the daytime. But at night you can catch the warm glow of the inside and some nice lighting by the entrance.

Inside, you'll find it very warm and inviting, with wood and brick dominating, in a very rustic appearance. On the walls upstairs are pictures of jazz legends and downstairs lots of sake, shochu, and beer bottles.

Right by the entrance is the bar and cashier as well as two no-smoking tables. Enter into the next room and you'll see the kitchen and the main seating area in the restaurant. There is a small counter for five, and maybe seven or so tables. If you'd like to get a no smoking table, especially on a weekend, then I recommend you visit there earlier in the week and make reservations. The reservation "job aid" on the Key Food Kanji Page should help you make a reservation.

Nice Entrance

The word Banzai conjures up many thoughts and images. Some may recall hearing it when doing toasts at a big event or even just at a night out between friends. Others may relate it to a WWII battle cry.  Banzai can mean 10,000 years and in the Meiji period would be shouted toward the emperor's carriage. Its use during toasts has similar meaning - "Long life!" or as a celebratory cheer or hurray.

It's exact use here is beyond my ability but we can certainly guess. The Kanji they use 萬菜 is different from the Kanｊi used for 10,000 years 万歳. The straight translation of the restaurant's Kanji name is "10,000 vegetables."

Ban 萬 and ban 万 here are equivalent with this ban 萬 simply being an older or outdated Kanji for this ban 万. Both mean 10,000.

My guess is that the restaurant is just using a clever twist on the traditional cheer for long life. Long live Banzai because this is a great place.

The rest of the name - Honten or 本店 means "main store" or "flagship store." As I mentioned, Banzai is just one of several Banzai associated restaurants in this area.

There is an even more exclusive Banzai (yet right under our noses really), a bit more upscale, with better food and presentation. Knowledge of it will make you (or makes you - if you are already in the know) a true Yokosuka food aficionado.  Revealing it will come in due time as more research is required. Not gonna give it up that easily.  

Bonzai serves up your typical Izakaya fare with plenty of dishes to explore.  The chicken karaage is ok, but I like the shrimp with mayo plate a lot better. Focus on the bottom left - that's the black bean and mochi ice cream dessert which is highly recommended. By that time you're probably stuffed so it's a good plate to share.

There is an English menu that the restaurant provides but it's incomplete (shown below). Some of the dishes have been left out for some reason. But since you've paid for exclusive Yokosuka Food Corner content, you have access to the full Japanese menu with English translations all shown below.

Which picture does not belong?

From the course menu

I forgot what was in all these dishes, but if you order a course menu, you'll be able to get things that are not offered on the regular menu.  They were just as good or better than some of the normal menu offerings so go for it. Reservations may be required for the course menu.

The top left one is pork with wasabi. Pretty good. Top right is shirasu pizza. It came loaded with shirasu and nori and complemented with cheese. It had a perfectly crispy crust.  I know this type of pizza does not appeal to many, but there was a time that I did not particularly like nori and shirasu were just odd. The nori in this case was the dried and salted kind which makes it quite good. Same type that you find in furikake.

Great staff!

Here you see some of the staff which were really nice. As with just about all service in Japan, it is fast, efficient, and friendly.

Taco tako salad

I posted the Taco Tako salad by itself because it's quite unusual and clever of course. I searched online to see if this is a common menu item at other restaurants and couldn't find anyone that served it, although there was a restaurant called Tako Taco in Kamuelo Hawaii.  A search in Japanese found a few more restaurants with the name in Japan. But I couldn't find any results (at least for the few minutes I spent looking) for a Tako Taco salad たこタコ　サラダ. Wow, this is really a unique creation. 

Tako is Japanese for Octopus. There was plenty of it in the salad and the contrast with the crunch of the tacos and the salsa made for a really great dish. The tako taco salad was on the course menu and is not available on the regular menu.

Some more of the menu offerings

 An Izakaya is a place to go enjoy many different dishes and unlike the U.S. most of the dishes are meant to be shared. So don't expect to order one thing and have it placed in front of you to eat. Nothing stopping you from doing that either, but the beauty of the Izakaya is trying out different dishes.

Second floor

 If you have a party, Bonzai has several party rooms available. The one shown above happens to be the second floor above the main restaurant.  Different from the other nomihoudai places is that Banzai uses a self service bar. A refrigerator of beer was provided, and a table with shochu, soda, and other mixers was available as well.

One of the drink bars - self help

Never seen this before but it makes great sense and prevents the staff from continually running back and forth.

We were served plenty of food for the course menu and all were completely full by the end of the night.

Second floor - some Jazz greats on the wall

Tofu -  but better

The tofu above was "Edamame Tofu" - Edamame of course being those salted steamed beans that you can snack on at many Izakayas.

The Banzai family of restaurants can be found here online.

English Menu

 Full Japanese menu with English translations:

 It took me a long time to figure out what the usage of "DX" meant in Japanese. But I found that it simply means "Deluxe"

Course Menu