Station Grill - ステーショングリル横須賀

Perhaps you've salivated for a great U.S. steak and wondered if you can get one out in town? You've guessed the answer already. There are a few places, but I won't mention their names here since this post is devoted to the Station Grill, where - yes - you can get Certified Angus Beef steaks. You can also get some great Aussie steaks as well.

The salad bar or サラダ　バー in the language of the land

If you just want an Angus beef burger, you can get those too. They have several lunch sets for under 1000Yen. 

 The Station Grill is located about five minutes out Womble Gate. It's just past Baan Chiangmai Thai restaurant, or just across the street from Popolo Mama. That is not helpful you say?? Well then check the blog map. All you have to do is walk straight out Womble gate until you find it.  The Google Street View looks like this. There are two elevators that can take you to the 4th floor where the restaurant is located.

It used to be located on the other side of Daiei Shopper's Plaza. But a kaiten sushi place took it over. I had never visited it at that location and thought that was the end of it. But one day their distinctive yellow sign popped up at their new location. Now I really have to tip my hat to Google and give them credit. The Station Grill only moved there in March and the street view is up to date, as it shows the Station Grill's sign, pretty impressive.

My first visit was admittedly a bit reluctant, but I was pleasantly surprised. There are so many good things about the Station Grill. They have an excellent lunch menu with plenty of items from which to choose. Most of the lunch options are only $9 or $10 and include the salad bar. As many times as you want to go back.

Now the salad bar is not *great* when I compare it to the great salad bars in the U.S. But for Japan and Yokosuka it is great! Probably the best in Yokosuka! And you can go back again and again. I said that already.  Some lunches do not include the salad bar though. In that case you'll pay a very reasonable $4.50 for access (680 Yen at dinner time).  It's reasonably well stocked and you can access both sides. This means you don't have to plant your chin on the glass to reach the items in the back.

A little side-bar on the salad bar...
One might wonder why the salad bar is not more popular in Japan. Well... the Ministry of Sports, Science, Wild Game, Culture, Pachinko, and Food once banned them and they have been ever so slow to come back. They are anti-service after all. There is no opportunity for a waiter/waitress to literally run back and forth, to get -  whatever, for you. And we can't have that.  People getting their own food? And who is senior, junior, the honorable one, who bows to who? Its creation isn't that new in the U.S. either, having emerged sometime in the 50's. Kind of similar to cheese in Japan. For the longest time (and perhaps even now) the Japanese preferred processed cheese. This stemmed from the widespread lack of refrigerators. In 1965 only 50% of households had them. So salads at home were not that common either. Now to the credit of Japan, I do believe they have some of the best salads on earth. Just go visit a depachika and you'll see what I mean. Now if they could only place a few chairs in those depachikas! But that's an entire post in itself - and another Ministry controls that.

Now, salad bar popularity, or lack thereof, is not limited to Japan. Other Asian countries have salad bar issues too. We hope we can avoid the fate of the salad bar at Pizza Hut in China - where the single trip has led to its unfortunate demise. The terms "salad bar stacking" and "salad bar tower" are in fact now censored on Google by the central government in China, in an attempt to contain this phenomenon.
End side bar.

My lunch-mates allowed me to take pictures of their lunches that you see below, and they all agreed the Station Grill is worth coming back to. I'd like to come back for dinner when I'm more inclined to eat more and have more time for, well, the salad bar. 

Marinated steak and tempura combo lunch

 The theme at the Station Grill, as you may have guessed, is a train station. Not a Japanese station, but an old style U.S. or Great Britain train station. The original restaurant was called Victoria Station (London) and had restaurants all over Japan. It closed in 1999, but the Station Grill then opened in 2000 to carry on the tradition.

Now if you do want to try some of the larger steaks, do be prepared to spend some money. Check the menu links and you'll see what I mean.They look pretty mouth watering.

Pork roast with gravy

The food here was very good. The salad bar was also good and fresh. The Station Grill got off to a slow start at its new location, but on a recent visit business had definitely picked up.

Beef stew with garlic rice

You can see the lunch menu here. 
 You'll then have several choices, and you can choose special lunch for instance and see that menu here. Just click through all the choices to see what's there.  All the menus, both online and at the restaurant are in English and Japanese, so I won't post photos of them here.

The Grand Menu is located here.

And their main website is here. 

Lunch 11:00-16:00〈LO 15:00〉
Dinner 17:00-23:00〈LO 22:00〉
Weekends 11:00-23:00〈LO 22:00〉

Roast beef sandwich

One visit to the salad bar

Veggie Side

Salad and Fruit Side

Booths on the right, tables on the left