Wood Island Curry

Wood Island Curry - a landmark since 1980, and the closest restaurant to the base without actually being on the base.

Wood Island Curry

My visit to Wood Island was a lot of fun. The "Mom & Pop" that run the place are really nice, and the Pop is a real character with a lot of energy. After all these years they have great enthusiasm.  The Pop's name is Shimamori-san and the Mom is Sawako-san. Their restaurant is located just outside Womble gate and is on the map link below.

Shimamori-san and his wife Sawako-san

This is it, the kitchen

Wood Island is in a long and narrow building. No more than about 8-10 feet wide. The small kitchen is near the entrance where you'll find a small stove that prepares the curry.

Wood Island serves up what is called Yokosuka Navy Curry. It's based on a recipe from the Brits in the early 1900s. Shimamori-san got the recipe from a teacher at Boei University (considered the West Point of Japan) many years ago.

Yokosuka Navy Curry

You'll see many Japanese tourists come to eat at Wood Island Curry. It's quite a famous place and lines outside are not uncommon.  On the day I had lunch, there was a group of high school students from Odawara eating lunch while on a school field trip. They are shown in the photo below.

What about the name - Wood Island? Well it's simple -  the owners name is Shimamori or 島森 - Shima 島 is island and Mori 森 is wood or forest. Reverse that and you get Mori - Shima or Wood Island.  Maybe you know Mori tower in Roppongi. Same kind of Mori.

There is another famous name that was derived this way. It's Bridgestone - the tire company. Bridgestone was founded in 1931 by Shojiro Ishibashi. Ishi 石 is stone and bashi　橋 is bridge. Switch them around and you have Bridgestone. 

Students from Odawara Asahigaoka High School

These students were really nice. After asked if it was alright to take their photo, the guys all stood up and tucked in their shirts which had been hanging out a bit! They demonstrated great respect and manners.  Odawara Asahigaoka High School is located very close to Odawara Train Station. Perhaps you've stopped there if you've traveled to Hakone. They also took notes about the owner's story and history of the restaurant.

The owner-chef of Wood Island is quite creative with his menus and he changes it around quite often.  For instance, one time he liked a famous Japanese singer and actress from the 1970s. Her name was Yamaguchi Momoe. So he developed a plate called the "Momoe plate." It had a chicken thigh (momo), peaches (momo), and pink (momo) colored dressing on the salad. 

In another example, a few years ago a Japanese movie came out called Oppai Volleyball.  Despite its sophomoric title, it was a fairly well reviewed movie.  You can do your own research on it. But our chef took his traditional curry plate and decorated it with two mushrooms at first, later two tomatoes, and lastly two sunny side up eggs in honor of the movie.  Shimamori-san's wife is understanding.  They get along great and run the restaurant by themselves. 

The (right handed) curry spoon

Sawako-san

Shimamori-san uses about 15 different spices in his curry and changes the balance based on the temperature and humidity outside. He uses high quality vegetables from local farms. As was traditional back in the day, curry is served with milk. At Wood Island you'll get a little carton of school milk with a straw. The same that the elementary school kids get.

His curry uses large chunks of very tender, high quality meat. He says he uses large vegetables (potatoes and carrots) compared to other curry places, potatoes and carrots, and they appear in equal quantities in the bowl so as not to "fight each other." He does have a secret ingredient that he did in fact share with me, but I will not divulge it. Perhaps you too can ask when you visit.  The curries were excellent.

A special spoon is used for eating curry at Wood Island. But it's only for righties. If you're lefty you can ask for a regular spoon, but there are no lefty spoons.   This is a spoon designed after a lifetime of thought by Shimamori-san. It's specially made to be able to easily scoop up the curry and is a Wood Island original. You can buy a souvenir at the restaurant. You can find out more about Wood Island and their spoon at the Yokosuka Ichiban site.

Did you know that Friday's are curry day in Yokosuka? It's true and it's official. The tradition started many years ago from the British Royal Navy passing it onto the Japanese Imperial Navy.  Back in the day, sailors would loose track of the day, and curry would tell them it's Friday. The tradition continues today with the JMSDF Navy serving curry rice on Fridays.

Keema Curry

 Authentic plates from England.

They take US Dollars too.

Menus have enough English for you to understand.

For over 30 years Wood Island has been part of this town. Don't leave without experiencing Wood Island Curry.