Tavola Calda Grado

Grado is an easy place to miss just like so many other little restaurants around town. If you walk out from Womble gate, it's on that street about 4 blocks down and on the left.

Yokosuka continues to amaze me with the quality of restaurants available. You just have to open that door, sit down and try out the food. Most of the time you'll be pleasantly surprised. Only one time have I ever went in and had to leave, and I've visited a lot of places. I didn't HAVE to leave but it was best that I leave. That's because it was a bar and I ordered a water. You get a funny reaction when you order water in a Japanese bar. Didn't matter that it was lunchtime, it was a bar (that did serve food too) and they expected you to order alcohol. They smiled, and gestured that there are food restaurants nearby :-) That's it, just once in over 3 years. Actually that bar was only about 50 feet from Grado and I have a photo of it in the Quick Notes - it's a place called Paradise.

But back to another paradise - Grado.

Grado from the sidewalk

Lunch Menu

You'll often see the sign at the bottom of the easel outside of restaurants to say that they are open. It's 営業中 or eigyouchuu in romaji. It means sales in progress.

As for the lunch menu on this day:
A set is a beef and tomato pasta.
B set is saffron rice and seafood doria
C set is juicy roast pork
All served with a salad and side dish
Except for the "meat" in A set and a note in the C set, no kanji of any importance was used in the menu. That's why if you learn katakana you can figure out a good part of these types of menus. For instance, in A set, tomato is made up of ト　マ　ト　or to ma to. And pasta is パ　ス　タ　pa su ta. The kanji, in C set if your interested, 国産means country product, meaning the pork is from Japan. You'll see this often on menus and at the supermarket. It's so prevalent that it made the Key Food Kanji.

They do speak a little bit of English and can help you understand each set meal. Most places are able to do this - A set is pasta, B set is fish, etc. so don't let an all Japanese menu sign deter you. I do want to point out that the dinner menu has English.

Grado of course is an Italian place. They have a counter for about six and one table downstairs. Maybe 5 or 6 tables upstairs. From the counter you can see the owner/chef working. It's upscale inside and out and kind of stands out from its surroundings, and would be a nice place to bring your date. Grado is run by a friendly husband and wife team who work hard and clearly take pride in their restaurant.

Open from 12:00 to 2:30 for lunch. And open at 6:00pm for dinner. Closed on Wednesdays. Grado is located just one street east from Blue Street. They are right along the large construction project going on. Find the exact location on the blog map.

Saffron rice and seafood Doria - A+

This dish was wonderful. I hope they keep serving it because I want to come back and try it again.

Close up so you can almost taste it

There is a God behind the ingredients, the spices, and of course the chef that created this dish.

Our Chef

Grado has been here for about 3 years. Based on the food I believe the owners are off to a great start. You should try them out. They have a good Japanese/English menu and the prices are reasonable.