Yukisio Soft Ice Cream Shop (Okinawa, JAPAN) ★★★☆☆

Yukisio's sea salts from the blue sea of Miyako Island are pretty famous in Okinawa making them one of the most sought after choice as souvenirs for tourists. But apart from their sea salt (and brown sugar), Yukisio also has a small soft serve ice cream shop (雪塩ソフトクリーム) that is quite popular among the locals and tourists.



Their little ice-cream shop on Kokusaidori (国際通) is located right across the street from パーラー わくた where we had our bitter melon ice-cream a few nights ago.



And if you think their ice-cream lightly flavored with sea salt was too dull for you, feel free to sprinkle some more salts on top! They have 10 different flavors of salt for you to choose from, including purple sweet potato, green tea, cococut, yuzu etc.



This is really creamy. The sea salts were very good complements while not too overpowering.







Food Rating: 5/10

Price: ￥￥￥

Address: 3 Chome-1-1 Matsuo, Naha, Okinawa 900-0015, Japan
Closest Monorail Station: Kenchomae
Tel: +81 098-860-8585

Lobby Lounge@ANA Crowne Plaza Okinawa Harborview (Okinawa, JAPAN) ★★★★☆

On our second last day in Okinawa, we finally found the place where we thought had the best pastries on the island. The best part about it, well we didn't have to stray far from our hotel. 



If you're also looking all over Okinawa for some good quality pastries, this is the place to be - the lobby lounge at ANA Crowne Plaza Okinawa Harborview.




Before we start taming our sweet tooth, it was time for a small breakfast with sandwich and orange juice first.



Who doesn't love some sweetness in the morning!? This Jewelry melon pastry along with my earl grey tea not only provided me with some sweetness, it also helped to wake me up!



I thought slightly less impressive was the kumquat short cake (comparing to the Jewelry melon).




It was a very good breakfast with a combination of savory and sweet items.

I was particularly happy with their offerings at the cake counter. Apart from all the fruit based pastries, they also have a wide selection of Japanese influenced cakes (Azuki & Matcha, green tea tiramisu etc.).





Food Rating: 5.5/10

Price: ￥￥￥

Address: Lobby, ANA Crowne Plaza Okinawa Harborview, Okinawa, Japan
Closest Monorail Station: Tsubogawa
Tel: +81 098-853-2119
Website: www.anacpokinawa.com/restaurant/lobby/

Maison de Fujii (Okinawa, JAPAN) ★★★☆☆

As I have written in a previous post, we were pleasantly surprised to find two pretty decent French restaurants in Okinawa this time. That was two more than what we've expected! The second one of the two was a small French restaurant called Maison de Fujii, which I thought was the slightly better one (comparing to La Table de Paradis).

Tucked away in a quiet street near Ichigin Dori in Kumoji, Maison de Fujii (メゾン ド フジイ) is one of the best kept secret in the dining scene of Okinawa.

While the restaurant is decorated like a modern French cottage on the outside, the interior takes more of a contemporary approach.



Inside Maison de Fujii, each table is labeled by a major street from a Paris arrondissement.



There are 3 set menus served at dinner time, each with a slight difference in the number of courses (3-course at ¥4,000, 4-course at ¥5,800 and degustation menu at ¥7,000). The 4-course set was what we ended up picking.

For a small and unassuming French restaurant on the side streets in Naha, they sure know a thing or two about the art of plating. Their plating techniques were already at full display early with our amuse bouche - amberjack with seasonal vegetables, Japanese mandarin, mandarin sauce and pepper seed. Not bad at all (5/10).

There was nothing special about their bread but the special dipping sauce made with anchovy, black olives and capers was quite a treat.
 


Dinner officially kicked off with the house specialty - seafood and vegetable terrine with basil and tomato sauce. What a beautifully presented dish it was!

I really like all the different ingredients including fish, crab, shrimp, scallop, carrot, broccoli, corn, baby spinach, cucumber, seaweed and ladies' finger (okra) squeezed tightly together with a thin strap of cabbage. The basil and tomato sauce provided just enough acidity to maintain a nice balance with the flavors from the seafood and vegetables (6.5/10).
 

 
But my favorite dish of the evening turned out to be the next dish - a pan seared foie gras with a light and foamy potato cream and truffle sauce. I had to admit that the truffle sauce was a tad too dominant but putting the potato cream with the pan seared foie gras was a clever idea with those two working superbly together as a team. Well done (7/10).


 
Unfortunately, the momentum didn't carry over to our main course. Our slow cooked Okinawan pork with red wine and mustard was slightly disappointing, especially the texture (very chewy) (4.5/10). 
 

 
Dessert happened to be a simple coconut mousse with pistachio oil and expresso sauce. Tasted much better than it looked (5/10).
 


Instead of a traditional petite fours, the kitchen offered us a little chocolate truffle with Okinawan brown sugar.



Located right next door is Le Petit Fujii, the bistro version of Maison de Fujii. Looks like they are sharing the same open kitchen with the food being prepared by the very same team.







Food Rating: 5.5/10

Price: ￥￥￥

Address: 2 Chome-10-19 Kumoji, Naha, Okinawa 900-0015, Japan
沖縄県那覇市久茂地2丁目10-19 １階
Closest Monorail Station: Miebashi
Tel: +81 098-862-0312
Website: www.fujiikouhou.ti-da.net

Menya Nariyoshi 琉球島豚 麺屋 なりよし (Okinawa, JAPAN) ★★★☆☆

I have been patiently waiting to visit a ramen place on this trip but didn't really have a chance to do so until the very last day. There are so many highly acclaimed ramen shops in Okinawa but we ended up going off the chart with Menya Nariyoshi (琉球島豚 麺屋 なりよし) because it's just in the right place at the right time. 

Located just off Kokusaidori across the street from the Calibee Shop, Menya Nariyoshi is well known for its rich and savory broth and rumors had their owner-chef previously trained at one of the grand daddy's all ramen places in Tokyo called 銀座けいすけ.  



By looking at the sign with the BIG pig snout, we knew immediately that this was a pork centric place they've got here.



We went with the bar table to have a glimpse of what's happening inside the open kitchen.



Wow, that was some handsome looking young chef they've got here preparing kimchi fried rice behind the scene. Somebody passed me my camera!



In the end, we decided to give up our seats at the bar table for a regular table because you know what - they have some free power sockets here (Free charging) ! Oh yeah, my phone is real hungry.

I had their signature pork ramen and it was as good as advertised. Just wished the broth was a little less greasy so my dietitian won't be getting on my back.



We had just enough room for a second ramen and this was the "spicy version" of the previous one but instead of fatty pork belly, this came with char siu. Hm, pretty good but I like the "original" one better.



From the health standpoint, a meal at Menya Nariyoshi might not serve you well but it will definitely keep your stomach happy.





Food Rating: 5.3/10

Price: ￥￥￥

Address: 2 Chome-3-22 Makishi, Naha, Okinawa, Japan
Closest Monorail Station: Makishi
Tel: +81 098-988-8544
Website: www.grandcuisine.jp/nariyoshi/

Café des Tartes (Okinawa, JAPAN) ★★☆☆☆

After visiting Lobby Lounge@ANA Crowne Plaza Okinawa Harborview in the morning, we managed to snap up another dessert café en route to Kokusaidori (国際通) in the afternoon. Café des Tartes (カフェでタルト), a café / cake shop located on the ground level of the Cargo's Building near Makishi monorail station, was kind of an unexpected find when we were looking for a bathroom in the area!



Despite the fact that the name suggested it's pie specialty café, its "products" turned out to be favoring Japanese style pastries slightly more.



As I have already expressed in my previous posts, it's very difficult to find decent pastries around here in Okinawa. Take this "Mont Blanc" style strawberry cream cake (¥360) as an example, it probably won't make my hit-list if I was in a different city.



Mixed nut pie  (¥300) - I was expecting it to taste like a pecan pie but unfortunately disappointingly it was not the case.



Their creamy cheesecake  (¥370) was probably the only one close to getting a passing score.




We didn't have time to try their savory dishes so the assessment was strictly from their collection of cakes and pastries only.





Food Rating: 3/10

Price: ￥￥￥

Address: 2 Chome−1−1, Asato, Naha, Okinawa, 〒902-0067 , Japan
Closest Monorail Station: Makishi
Tel:+81 098-862-3060

Pâtisserie Bonne Chance! (Okinawa, JAPAN) ★★★☆☆

Since we are already in Nago (名護市), I thought we should at least visit one pâtisserie there just to show our passion for pastries. It was getting a little late after our visit to the Nago Pineapple Park so we were hoping to find one in the proximity and we were lucky that we did.

Located on the ground floor of a residential apartment, Pâtisserie Bonne Chance! (パティスリー ボンシャンス) (Literally meaning "good luck" in French) has been around since 2008 and has the look of a small neighborhood bakery.



But after I pushed open the swinging door, something terribly wrong happened. I found an absolutely empty fridge! Well it's not exactly empty but other than a tray of strawberry short cakes, there's nothing there at all!



While I tried to collect myself, I briefly checked out their other products including some freshly baked cookies.



From what I've learned from the female apprentice who also happened to be our server, the shop was busy preparing for an event and therefore there would be no cakes available other than one of their specialties - strawberry short cake.



Their strawberry short cake (¥350) was actually not bad at all. The cream was silky smooth and the sponge was so spongy as if it has just come out of the oven.



If you are looking for some high-end bakery in Nago, then you are probably in the wrong part of Japan! Nevertheless, Pâtisserie Bonne Chance! will give you a certain level of comfort.





Food Rating: 4.5/10

Price: ￥￥￥

Address: 1 Chome-17-2 Umusanomori, Nago, Okinawa 905-0006, Japan
Tel: +81 098-043-8998
Website: www.bonnechance-yanbaru.com

Japan, Nago, cafe, cake, dessert, patisserie, Japanese, pastry

Snow Lagoon Ice-Cream Parlor@Nago Pineapple Park (Okinawa, JAPAN) ★★☆☆☆

After visiting the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium, we made our second stop in Nago at one of the most popular tourist attractions in the area - Nago Pineapple Park.



Our tour started off with a ride under this automatic vehicle that took us through the pineapple fields. Then we were off to their shopping area for some pineapple wine tasting. Some pineapple cakes were also available for sampling. All these of course were part of the design to lure us into buying some as gifts.




For anyone who's tired of having Blue Seal ice-cream (they are everywhere!) in Okinawa, Snow Lagoon is another option although they don't have nearly as many flavors as Blue Seal. 

Snow Lagoon's three top sellers are salt pineapple, Beni-imo (purple sweet potato) and shiiquasa (a local citrus I was told) in that order. I had the salt pineapple which was actually a sorbet as well the Beni-imo. My recommendation is to go with the Beni-imo if you're into creamy ice-cream.




I found it a little annoying that they kept playing their theme song in this little theme park over and over again. Even after I left, it was still going in my head!

This place is just not for me. If your schedule happens to be packed, then don't waste your time here!





Food Rating: 3/10

Price: ￥￥￥

Address: 〒905-0005 為又１１９５, Nago, Okinawa, Japan
Tel: +81 098-053-3659
Website: www.nagopain.com

Ocean Café at Loisir Hotel Okinawa Churaumi (Okinawa, JAPAN) ★★☆☆☆

If you happen to be visiting the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium and wondering where to catch a quick lunch before the visit, we got the perfect lunch venue for you - Ocean Café at Loisir Hotel Okinawa Churaumi.



Ocean Café, didn't we just eat at a café with the same name not too long ago?



We didn't bother with the a la carte and went straight with their lunch buffet (¥1,620).



They have a station dedicated to Okinawan ingredients - onsen egg, purple sweet potato tempura etc.



On the other side of the dining hall, some western dishes like spaghetti, meat balls, French fries etc. (Don't expect too much coz this is more tailored for tourists looking for a quick bite.)



While food from the Okinawan station was nice, I still preferred the warm appetizers on the other end of the dining hall - the meat balls, deep fried crab cream etc.



Okinawa is famous for its delicious fruit so of course, some local pineapples, melon and citrus before we got ourselves ready for the aquarium.



The café didn't have much of a view, unlike some reports suggested.



Definitely not a fine dining restaurant but it's the perfect place for a quick bite before visiting the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium which is just 2-3 minute away.

Note: Free parking available at the front of the hotel.

Food Rating: 3.5/10

Price: ￥￥

Address:〒905-0206, 938, Ishikawa, Motobu-cho, Kunigami-gun, Okinawa, Japan
Tel: +81 098-048-3631
Website: Link


Japan, Nago, cafe, lunch buffet, acquarium