Garlic House ガーリックハウス 横須賀

So where in Yokosuka can you listen to songs like That's the Way I Like It, Born to Be Wild, Crazy Train, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, and many other greats from the 50s through the 80s, all while eating great food? Well Garlic House of course.

Update: He has moved to Yokohama near Landmark tower - http://garlic-house.yokohama/aboutus/

Garlic House is for real and is not going anywhere. They just got a new sign to prove it too. April 1 2015 update: I spoke too soon, and this is no Aprils fools joke. They did go somewhere, and he took the sign too. They should be opening up in May at their new location in Yokohama. So everywhere you see "Yokosuka" in this post now replace it with Yokohama. The blog map has been updated.

The old sign we would pass by many times. Beckoning us. Like the movie European Vacation - "...look kids! Big Ben!" again and again. Look Christina, Garlic House! but she would have nothing to do with it - "No I don't like garlic!"

Well the kiddo had a party to go to and we had the night to ourselves to try whatever restaurant we wanted. Finally we were off to Garlic House. I already knew what to expect, having run in there for a paper menu many months ago when eating at our second home at nearby Tori Gin. Everything on the menu has some garlic in it. The amount of garlic is designated by little garlic "volume symbols" on the menu. Guacamole - one garlic, garlic toast - three garlic.

Caesar Salad

When you hang your hat on one focus ingredient for a restaurant, you take a chance and hope the customer base is there. But I think Garlic House is here to stay judging by the popularity of the place.

The great music certainly contributes to the energy here but the real draw is the food. The English menu makes it easy to try out all the great dishes served up.

Garlic toast

Garlic House is located maybe 3 blocks from Yokosuka-Chuo station and is listed on the blog map. It is certainly walkable from CFAY. If you drive you'll have to pay at a nearby lot.

The only thing that would make Garlic House better is if they were open for lunch. But maybe there is a good reason for them not being open for lunch. They are closed on Sundays and occasionally on random days of they year when the owner feels like it! He is the owner so he gets to set the hours!

Garlic Steak

Garlic Chowder

The garlic chowder above was outstanding! Heaty chunks of potato, celery, carrots, and lots of garlic of course.

Big fans of Garlic House - they insisted on saluting me...

The young ladies above (in uniform) were from the National Defense Academy - which by the way is located in Yokosuka over by Uraga. They admitted their first female student in 1992.

Ueda-san 上田

This is Ueda-san's restaurant. Some nights he is by himself and some nights he has an assistant. Either way he is bouncing around the kitchen like the Road Runner. But one thing about him is that he always has a smile. You are sure to get friendly and efficient service. If they're really busy though, you'll end up waiting since he is a one man show in the kitchen. He's also the man behind the well chosen music.

Garlic in Japanese is ninniku or にんにく. It does have a kanji 大蒜　or just 蒜 but its use is much less frequent. In Heisig's Remembering the Kanji, it is made up of the elements of "flower/plant" and two "alters" from which you could easily make up a story to remember this Kanji. Thank you God for giving us such an incredible flavoring. Of course you could make a story with warding off vampires as well. On Japanese menus though, you'll just about always encounter garlic in the Hiragana form and not its Kanji form.

Beef and tomato stew - served with toasted French bread

Fried Garlic

In the "just in case you can't get enough" category you can get fried garlic. The fried garlic came still simmering in a bowl of oil, possibly some butter too, with thyme. After cooking, its taste is quite mild. Then it's dipped in either the red spice (shichimi I suspect), the salt, or simply eaten by itself.