Wagyu Beef Steak Omakase

  On Henza Island, where you can go by car on the bridge, a new restaurant opened in November 2018.  Using the knowledge on meats, butcher skills, network of Wagyu beef suppliers, a former butcher in Osaka moved here to open a Wagyu beef steak house.   Henza Nikuya, the butcher’s steak house. RESTAURANT INFO   They are so popular now in lunch time.  We came for dinner.  Nice space on the deck.   They renovated a house.  Clean and homy.   They have A5 and A4, top graded brand-name Wagyu beef, and the price is so descent.  And the variety of cuts of beef is something you don’t see […]

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Found the sushi chef we were looking for

Just across the street of Hyatt Regnecy Naha opened a new Edo-style sushi bar in May 2018. Sushi Yaginuma RESTAURANT INFO   The owner chef. We were actually looking for this young sushi chef.  He used to work for another sushi restaurant we often go to, and he told us he would leave and open his own place, but he didn’t tell us where (for the consideration for his master).  We missed his sushi and we looked for him.   In this cozy sushi bar with just 8 seats on the counter and 2 tables, he the young owner chef serves his authentic, yet creative, Omakase sushi courses that he goes great lengths to. […]

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A New Wave Okinawa Soba

A new Okinawa Soba opened early this year in Nago.  There are some parking spots in the back, but it’s really narrow neighborhood.  The street parking should be OK around here if it isn’t too much.   A very clean cut looking restaurant like a high-end Japanese Soba or Udon place.   The sign says, Okinawa Tofu and Soba, Shinuchi Tanaka Soba. This restaurant is produced by a Ramen master named Chihiro Miyazaki, who won a Michelin star.   Simple but clean setting.   There’s a ticket machine to check in first. They have 2 kinds of soups to choose from.  The red one is Moto-aji (the original flavor), which […]

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A Champion Burger?

  This is Bone’s in Uruma, near Ishikawa IC.  It’s nested in the beautiful sub-tropical forrest park.   Actually, I’ve been here before.  Despite how nicely this restaurant is decorated and set up, I found the food wasn’t as good as we expected.  It was the time they just opened, so I decided to let it cool off a bit and come back later. Then, this restaurant won a burger competition at Okinawa Burger Festival 2016.  I also heard that they joined the competition a year before and they got all fueled up with the fact that they didn’t get any prizes.  So 2016 was a dramatic comeback for them.   I […]

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Edo-Style Tempura Bar

  Tenka in Naha is a classic Edo-style (traditional Tokyo style) Tempura bar.   One-person operation by the chef over the counter.   We ordered JPY8000 course.   Appetizer.  Soft boiled egg with some seafood in nice dashi soup.  If you taste Dashi, you can tell a lot about the restaurant.  Very delicate and round rather than sharp.     Crunchy salad with nuts and sesami oil.   Here comes the tempura sauce set.  Put some grated Daikon radish and ginger in the soup.  Also the lemon and kombu salt will be good for some pieces.   These are very pointy chop sticks.   Here comes the first piece.  Chef fries tempura […]

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Our Steady Choice for Chinese Cuisine

  Sometimes we want to have some Asian food for a little celebration, and Getsuen Hanten is our steady choice.  Located in Plaza House Shopping Center in Okinawa-shi, near Rycom Shopping Center.   Also known as Charlie’s Restaurant, this chinese restaurant was founded in 1954 when the Plaza House Shopping Center was open.  63 years old.  The Cantonese cuisine with Okinawa ingredients has been so loved by local families over generations.   A classic interior of an upscale Chinese restaurant.   They are doing healthy menu based on TCM dietary therapy, incorporating some Okinawa herbs and vegetables with medicinal properties.   Tsing Tao Beer from China.   We were here to celebrate 5-day intensive […]

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Masterpiece Lamb Shoulder Chop

This is our birthday week.  I had mine last week.  YuYu will have hers next week. And we always fall back to our favorite restaurant, Kato Shokudou in Ginowan.  Especially we saw that they have the lamb shoulder chop roast in the weekly specials.   Cheers!   A small fixed appetizer. Don’t underestimate this little appetizer.  The cheese and jamon serano (today it was pork shoulder) are gorgeous.   Brocoli with anchovy olive oil.  Don’t forget to order this little perfection.   Our favorite 2 choices from the charcuteries. Pork pate is my favorite.  Perfect temp control for the rich pork flavor with a hint of livery flavor.  Little chunks of […]

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Firewood Grilled to Perfection

  It was my birthday dinner.  I took this opportunity to the new restaurant that has been shaking the island of Okinawa.  Restaurant Ardor.   I heard it’s a spanish-italian-french cuisine.  Popular local chefs and patissier has come together, under the promotion by the owner of the famous pizzeria Bacar in Naha, to open this restaurant a month ago.   Very artistic hallway led to the open kitchen. These counter seats have been recommended, but we couldn’t book them this day.   Right in the center is a bathtub, where foods are stored on ice.   You can talk to the staff and pick what you like to be cooked for you.  YuYu […]

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We missed this feta cheese!

We finally came back to Little Greek Kitchen, but this time in Yomitan.  She moved here from the island of Ikei late last year.  Now it’s standing on the high hill, overlooking the beautiful coast line of Yomitan.   I missed this signboard.   OK, here it is. We barely made it to the lunch time.  I called her in advance and booked our lunch.  I just asked for whatever she can offer.   The place is pretty small.  About 7 tables.  Pamela, the owner chef, runs the place by herself.  I think it’s a nice size for one person operation.   This is the menu.  Actually I didn’t realize it was […]

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Organic Fruits Bowls and Salads

This is Green Leaf.  A very famous organic shop and cafe in Okinawa. They have 2 locations. This one is Yomitan, and the other is in Chatan. I had a meeting to do with my associates and we wanted to check out the place too. (This was in March.  I’m pretty backed up on my blog.)   This is the shop entrance.   It’s a small shop, but they got a good variety.   Local fresh organic vegetables.  They must have worked hard to get this network of organic farmers.   They sell these by weights.  It’s pretty common in US, but not much in Japan yet.  I love the idea of […]

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Vegan Cafe for Gentle Curry

Niceness is a vegan cafe, sitting quietly alongside the river in Nago city.   We were greeted by a beautiful cat. She greets you when you come in, also she sees you off.   They used to run a restaurant in Naha, and they moved here about 2 years ago.  They came here because they wanted to be near where the vegetables are grown.  And they built this place by themselves.   Wow.  Handmade for sure.  But very carefully handmade and also handkept.  Everything is put in where it is supposed to be.   Very homy, cozy atmosphere.   Somehow this floor pattern is very memorable and it’s what I remember […]

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Yambaru Farmer’s Cafe

Cookhal is nested in Nago Agri Park right next to Neo Park Okinawa, behind Makeman Nago.  Nago Agri Park is the city project to support agricultural commercialization.  Cookhal is a cafe, run by a group of farmers in this area.   So this is a farmers’ cafe.  They grow their own vegetables.  Also spices, rice, and meat are locally grown.  All fresh and seasonal.  No preservatives and artificial flavors.   Pretty interior.   Outside (under roof) eating area.   They sell their vegetables.  Look at the beautiful vegetables.     They sell some uncommon crops too.   YuYu got some Jujube, or chinese dates, which are very rare to find fresh in […]

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