Za Watami

Za Watami is a popular Izakaya chain in Japan. Their Yokosuka restaurant is located on the 4th and 5th floors above TGI Fridays. 

Za 座　means seat or gathering
Wa 和　means Japanese style, harmony, or Japan
Tami 民　means people, nation

Put it all together and we get gathering place for Japanese people. But rest assured everyone is welcome.  Actually, the English translation they use is just "Japanese Dining." You can find them on the blog map or by clicking the location link below.  There's an elevator in front of the TGI Friday's entrance that will take you up to the restaurant.

Counter seating

The Za Watami chain has great designers creating cool interiors. The Tokyo shops are better as far as design goes, but the Yokosuka location is pretty nice too.

There are about 3 - 4 tables in the non-smoking section which are the tables on the street side of the restaurant (along the windows). 

 You can see their very nice online menu here so I won't post any photos of it. There is a good mix of salads, fried foods, seafood, and sashimi if you like. I remember an English menu but don't think you'll need it since the menus have pictures for everything. This is a very easy place to go into and order without knowledge of Japanese.

Fried Spagetti

 The fried spaghetti was pretty good. It only come in salt flavor. But I've been to their cousin restaurant, Watamin-chi (4 floors below it), and there they had a curry flavor and a few others. I've tried recreating this at home if you'd like to see how it's done. Pretty simple.

Chicken Karaage - Karaage means deep fried

Minced Meat Cutlet with cheese

Non-smoking area

Caesar salad

Shishamo

Shishamo is just smelt and in this case grilled. If you go to their sister restaurant in the basement of the same building you'll get to cook them yourselves on a charcoal grill at your table.

Chicken Steak with Garlic Curry Sauce

The chicken here is flattened much like Taiwan's famous night market chicken, but without the breading.

Tori-Negi Yakitori - Chicken and leeks

Japanese Omelet

Salmon Onigiri

Overall, pretty pleased with Za Watami. Most items are in the 3-5 dollar range making it quite affordable to try many dishes. This is what eating at an Izakaya is all about -  Slowly ordering different dishes throughout the evening over a drink or two...and forgetting the worries of the day.  No hurry to leave, and your server is only a button call away.

Interior leading to some private booths

Za Watami