Restaurant Blog | Full of Okinawa

September 17, 2015November 21, 2015 by ToTos

Eat fresh, eat local.

At the end of dark road in the middle of sugar cane field of our Ginoza village is charcoal grill restaurant, Tenpusu. When we decided to move to Ginoza in 2009, we were excited and a little nervous at the same time, because Ginoza was such a rural village that we’ve never had experience in. But when we found this restaurant and the people here, they gave us reassuring that we’ll be OK here. They are such nice warm-hearted people and the food is great. He’s the owner chef, Kinjo-san. She loves this ice cold beer. What’s amazing is that the chefs are paying so much […]

September 14, 2015November 21, 2015 by ToTos

Precious Udon even when you are sick

We came out to central area to meet some people on business today. Yuyu is not feeling well. But we needed to eat something because she hardly ate today. Sun set in Kitanakagusuku. Where should we go? There isn’t many choices when you are sick. But there’s one near by. Home sweet home. Cafe Sans Souci. Open for dinner. Great. It’s not crowded today. This is one of the guest rooms with a space for kids. This room is always crowded so I have never had a chance to take a picture. Sans Souci is a diner’s cafe… You bet! That’s what we are here for. […]

September 9, 2015November 21, 2015 by ToTos

Sweets from Grandma

Miyabi Chaya is an old house cafe. Feels like grandma’s home. Ohagi is a sweet rice ball. Very traditional sweets for celebration and sacred events. It’s steamed glutinous rice, the kind of rice you make mochi with. And the rice is coated by sweet Azuki bean paste. Purple one is a plain Ohagi. Pale Ohagi is coated with dried soybean powder. Here’s Masami-san, the cafe owner. She opened this place to provide the kind of Ohagi that her grandma used to make and that she loved so much. When you bite, you can tell that someone really made it for you with love. Gentleness, humbleness, gratitude, and all the […]

in Miyabi Chaya / RESTAURANTS 0 comments

September 8, 2015November 21, 2015 by ToTos

Hanging out with our favorite food

It was our day off after 2 weeks of intensive work. Of course, we needed Kato Shokudo to finish the day with. There’s Tomomi-san at the door to greet us. She watches everything. She’s so aware and sweet. A small appetizer which is included in the table charge. Brocoli with garlic and anchovy. Housemade chicken liver mousse and pork pate. Our favorite charcuterie. Yuyu can keep licking to savour this mousse for hours. One of today’s specials. Tart of roasted onions. Oh my, my… The sweetness of onions just dominated my nostril. There’s Mr. and Mrs. Kato. Lovely people. Pizza Prochute. Of course, housemade. […]

in Kato Shokudo / RESTAURANTS 0 comments

September 7, 2015November 21, 2015 by ToTos

Our most favorite Ramen

Ramen Hachi Ren opened in 2008, just about the time we moved to Okinawa. And we fell in love with their Ramen. For the first 2 years we came almost every week. We’ve seen their history. It’s not an objective judgement, but it’s our pure love to say “They are the best Ramen on the island!!!” Now they became so popular. Most time and day, there’s a waiting line. You write down your name, buy tickets for your orders , and wait to be called. She ordered the signature Ramen. Tonkotsu base from local Okinawa pork with medium heavy noodle. Very rich, creamy and tasty. We just loved the balance of all the tastes […]

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September 7, 2015November 21, 2015 by ToTos

A Cup of Espresso

For the last 2 weeks, we were working intensively and we could not get out of Ginoza village. It was our day off after 2 weeks. Headed out to Central Okinawa. We had our favorite Ramen and now thirsty for a nice cup of coffee. Zhyvago was open. The cafe owner wanted me to try their Cappcino. Oh wow… Great rich aroma. No edgy aftertaste. Felt my shoulders dropped and my lungs released a long breath. He makes his beans at one of the top roasters in Okinawa, Pole Pole. He gets really excited when he talks about his coffee. She doesn’t care who has roasted it, […]

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August 23, 2015April 9, 2016 by ToTos

When you come to Okinawa, eat pork.

When you come to Okinawa, eat pork. Forget beef (unless you know that the restaurant has good beef.) Located in the city of Nago at the end of Okinawa highway is Manmi, the best place for Okinawa pork. Manmi is the pork specialist. The restaurant is like an old traditional house. Very homy atomosphere. Each table can have little charcoal grill on it with powerful ventilation duct. It’s Yaki-Niku, a Japanese grill-your-own-meat style of BBQ. Meat Assorts for 4 people. As far as I can remember, loin, rib, fillet, throat, heart, neck, and breast. Such varieties. So beautiful. My favorite is breast. It’s sitting in the front in the picture. As you […]

in Manmi / RESTAURANTS 0 comments

August 19, 2015November 21, 2015 by ToTos

Possibly the best espresso in Okinawa

This coffee was a wonderful surprise for me. I know a few coffee places in Okinawa I like. But basically I’ve given up to just bump into a good coffee in Okinawa. There is a guy in Onna village who I always buy my coffee beans from. He roasts with firewoods organic coffee beans. I think his coffee is the best I can get on the island so I always carry around my coffee, and I don’t expect much from outside coffee. So when I bumped into this place today, it was a big WOW! Located in one of the most popular shopping malls in Okinawa, American Village in Chatan. […]

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August 19, 2015November 21, 2015 by ToTos

Spicy Curry Udon

Sans Souci is definitely one of the most successful cafe in Okinawa. It’s 11:30 am, Wednesday. Already crowded and 5 parties were waiting when we got there. It’s a restaurant in an American style house. Hybrid food and sweets of Kyoto traditions and Okinawa goodies. Wanna have spicy rich Udon? Light traditional Udon? Wanna have some Donburi (rice bowl) too… Can’t decide. She decided to go light. Japanese traditional broth Udon with Kujo Negi (Kyoto green onions), plum, and local chicken. JPY850 Very refreshing. This is the way to taste the high quality Japanese broth here. I had spicy curry Udon with egg. JPY900 This is something […]

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August 16, 2015October 27, 2015 by ToTos

Napoli pizza meets Okinawa goodies

We had a new restaurant opened this spring in the beautiful Maeda cape. Pezzeria da Enzo is a fancy restaurant which serves Napoli pizza and other Italian cuisine. We happened to have some friends working there and it was great to visit for our first time. Very spacious and stylish room with full bar. A nice open deck area which looks out the beautiful Maeda Cape. It is a very popular diving spot for “Blue Cave”. A serious Italian pizza stove, an Italian chef, in somewhat Japanese attitude. A very nice guy. Not just pizza, they have some Italian dishes with local goodies too. They use Okinawa brand pork “Agu” with […]

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August 16, 2015November 21, 2015 by ToTos

Okinawan Fish ‘n’ Chips

Maru Tama opened in 2014 in the port area of Naha. It’s run by a lovely family. Very nice people. Okinawa has its own style of deep-fried finger food. It’s called Tenpura here, but Okinawa Tenpura is pretty different from Japanese traditional tenpura. It’s really like a fritter. And it has established its popularity for local people as afternoon snack. Now they are taking on the challenge to provide their fish ‘n’ chips that they learned in New Zealand. They report where every ingredients come from. They are some other fries too. Oysters, JPY300. Camembert, JPY900. Avocade, JPY300. Goya (Bitter gourd), JPY200. Okura, JPY200. Loofah and cheese, JPY250. Fish […]

in Maru Tama / RESTAURANTS 2 comments

August 16, 2015November 21, 2015 by ToTos

Shio ramen at Awase 3rd St. Ramen

Awase 3rd St. Ramen is a very simple, yet, very unique Ramen restaurant. Located in the coast line of Awase, Okinawa-shi. They are playing Jazz. Try shio (salt) Ramen here. JPY650. The clear soup is from pork bones, chicken bones, and vegetables. It’s light, but the body is solid and filled with flavors and umami. Very heart-warming sips. The noodle is light and curled, a good match with the soup. Chashu is lightly seasoned, but it’s very juicy and tasty. It’s topped with “A-sa”, okinawa local seaweed. It’s very unique to have this seaweed on Ramen. Some people like it and some don’t. We like the oceanic scent that it […]

in Awase 3 / RESTAURANTS 0 comments

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