11 Amazing Places to Eat in Okinawa
The islands of Okinawa are such an interesting place and have a totally different feel than the rest of Japan. Before becoming a part of Japan, Okinawa was part of the Ryukyu Kingdom until 1879, with its own culture, practices and language. Since WOII, there has been a US military base on Okinawa resulting in American influences throughout the island. Because of these influences, food in Okinawa is an interesting mix of traditional Ryukyu food, Japanese food and American food. During our time in Okinawa, we tried as many typically Okinawan foods as possible. In this blog post, we share our favorite places and favorite foods to eat in Okinawa. We hope this blog post will make it easier for you to determine where to have a refreshing drink, eat delicious typical Okinawan food or indulge in an ice cold dessert.
1. Blue Seal Ice Cream
Blue Seal is a typical Okinawan ice cream brand. The ice cream is based on American ice cream and was made for the American soldiers stationed in Okinawa to give them a familiar taste of home. Besides the regular ice cream flavors such as mint chocolate and various fruit flavors, they also have typical Okinawan flavors such as beni imo (Okinawan sweet potato). The ice cream is not only delicious, but the stores look very cool too with an American retro vibe. Of course, we couldn’t resist the souvenir section and brought a denim tote back home. There are multiple Blue Seal ice cream stores throughout the island, so you probably don’t have to look far for the nearest one.
Beni imo soft serve ice cream at Blue Seal
Blue Seal store
Blue Seal souvenir tote
2. Hug 3 Do
Hug 3 Do is a branch of Blue Seal, specialized in ice cream cookies. It’s basically Blue Seal ice cream perched between two delicious cookies with a topping of your choice, such as sprinkles. It was our first ice cream cookie ever, but it was so good. There is only one Hug 3 Do store on the island in American Village. If you only need one reason to visit American Village, Hug 3 Do should be it!
Delicious ice cream cookies at Hug 3 Do
The interior of Hug 3 Do is so cute
3. Uchina Café
Uchina Café is a traditional tea house in Naha. They serve a variety of teas and sweets, but we went for the two most traditional things on their menu: cold zenzai and buku buku tea.
Zenzai is a traditional Japanese hot dessert soup with azuki beans, mochi, or rice cakes. In Okinawa, they transformed this hot dessert soup to an iced version topped with shaved ice since Okinawa is hot year round. It’s such a nice dessert (or snack) on a hot day.
Buku buku tea is a traditional Ryukyu tea made from simmered brown rice and topped with white foam made from white rice, jasmine tea and water. Such an interesting combination, but very good.
Cold zenzai and buku buku tea at Uchina Café
The charming café
4. Soba Eibun
Soba is a typical Okinawan ramen-like dish. The noodles are not the same as the soba noodles in the rest of Japan, as the soba noodles in Okinawa are made from wheat flour instead of buckwheat. The Okinawan soba noodles are thick and the texture is somewhat similar to udon noodles. The soba noodles are served in a broth flavored with konbu (edible seaweed), katsuobushi flakes and pork. The broth is savory but light at the same time. You can opt for different kinds of toppings, such as pork rib, tofu, veggies and fishcakes.
We had our Soba noodles at Soba Eibun, a popular soba place in Naha. There usually is a bit of a queue, but it goes quite fast. We had to wait around 20 minutes until we got seated. Don’t forget to write your name down when waiting in line, so they can call your name when it’s your turn.
Noodle soup at Soba Eibun
Soba Eibun
5. Banta Café
Banta Café is a cliff side café overlooking Kanai Beach and the sea. It’s located on the grounds of the Hoshinoya resort, but it’s accessible for non-guests as well. The design of the outdoor café is interesting with lots of concrete. There are few seats in wooden huts as well when walking down to the beach. The sea views from the café are stunning and it’s just a nice place to hang around. Don’t forget to soak up the beauty of Kanai Beach since you’re there anyway. You could even go for a swim if you’d like.
Banta Cafe
Seating in the wooden huts at Kanai Beach
Banta Café has a small menu with interesting drinks and some snacks. We opted for refreshing drinks and an onigiri sandwich with Spam, the well-known American canned meat. Stuffing an onigiri with Spam is typical Okinawan and you’ll find these onigiris everywhere, even in the convenience stores throughout the island. The crispy seaweed, rice, egg and salty pork meat actually is a very good combination. It quickly became one of our favorite snacks on the island.
Spam onigiri and drinks at Banta Cafe
Spam onigiri from the convenience store
Usually parking at cafés and restaurants is free in Okinawa, but parking at Banta Café is 300 yen per hour. You get an hour of free parking if you get your ticket stamped at the counter of the café when ordering.
6. The Bros Sandwich Stand
If you’re looking for delicious sandwiches, The Bros should be added to your list. The sandwiches are huge but they are so good, with crispy bread and fresh ingredients. If you’d like to add an Okinawan vibe to your sandwich, make sure to choose the one with Spam. But you can’t go wrong with any of their other sandwiches either. It’s the perfect stop on your way to Cape Maeda and Zanee Beach, both beautiful places nearby.
Amazing sandwiches at The Bros Sandwich Stand
7. Maeda Breeze
Also near Zanee Beach and Cape Maeda, Maeda Breeze is a small café with a cozy vibe. After spending some time on Zanee Beach, we could use a cold drink and snack and ended up here. The owner is very lovely and the chicken sandwich was good. If you’re craving for something sweet, we think it’s best to go for one of the fresh baked sweets instead of a waffle as the waffle was just okay. Nevertheless, Maeda Breeze is a nice place to cool down from the tropical heat outside.
Waffle, sandwich and iced lattes at Maeda Breeze
The interior of Maeda Breeze
8. Taco Rice Cafe Kijimuna
Kijimuna is famous for its taco rice, or taikoraisu in Japanese. Taco rice basically is the same as tacos, but instead of putting the ingredients in taco shells, it’s served on top of a bed of rice. It’s an Okinawan twist to the Mexican food which is brought to the island by the Americans. It quickly became one of our favorite Okinawan foods and we had it multiple times during our stay in Okinawa.
Kijimuna offers a wide variety of taco rice with different kinds of toppings such as omelet and different kinds of seasoning. It’s a fast food style restaurant so it’s perfect for a quick lunch or dinner. There are multiple locations throughout the island.
Taco rice at Kijimuna
9. Café Fukurubi
Café Fukurubi is a place for lunch and dinner on Kouri Island, a small island connected by a bridge to the main island. They serve a variety of foods, such as pasta, pizza, salads and taco rice. We both had taco rice and enjoyed the beautiful views of the sea from the outdoor seating area. Overall we had a good experience there, but it was a bit disappointing that Mika ordered a spicy taco rice and after confirming twice that she really wanted it spicy, it came out not spicy at all. It’s located across the street from Heart Rock, so it’s perfect to combine both places.
Taco rice at Café Fukurubi
10. Agnes’ Portuguese Bake Shop
Agnes’ Portuguese Bake Shop is a small café located on Senaga Island near the airport. It’s the perfect place to get a refreshing drink and snack after flying into Okinawa. We had delicious açaí bowls with frozen fruits that were perfect to cool down a bit while we adjusted to the tropical temperatures. We also loved the design of their retro looking mugs, which you can use to grab water. The café offers beautiful views of the sea and it’s also a perfect spot for plane spotting.
Açai bowls at Agnes' Portuguese Bake Shop
Retro Hawaii mug
Senga Island is the perfect spot for plane watching
11. A&W
While there are multiple American fast food chains in Japan, the American fast food chain A&W is only operating in Okinawa. While A&W isn’t even near our favorite American fast food chain, we couldn’t resist visiting the A&W location in Makiminato as it looks so retro and old school. The huge neon sign on top of the restaurant is the perfect spot for a photo.
A&W in Makiminato is the perfect spot for a photo
The interior of A&W
Food at A&W
Instead of a regular drive through, there is a drive in which we had never seen before. It’s basically a parking spot with a machine next to it on which you can order. You order on the machine while being parked. Once your meal is ready, it will be brought to your car and you can enjoy the food in the car. We bet this kind of drive in is more common in the US, but we thought it was cool to see.
Drive in at A&W
We hope we made choosing a place to eat or drink in Okinawa a bit easier for you with this blog post. Have you been to Okinawa or is it still on your travel bucket list? Let us know in the comments below!
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