5 recommended Okinawan soba noodles in Naha, Okinawa. From classic to advanced
Okinawa soba" is popular as a standard gourmet dish in Okinawa. The famous "Soki-soba" is also a type of Okinawa soba, and is characterized by its topping of spare ribs (cartilage sauki) instead of tripe.
Why don't you try the best Okinawa soba in the Naha area, which is home to a variety of popular restaurants, from old-established restaurants of the royal road style to unique restaurants that have evolved in their own unique way? Here are five recommended Okinawan soba restaurants that you must try when you visit Naha.
1Kinchichi Soba Kokusai-dori Mutsumi Shokudo
With the motto of "local production for local consumption," the restaurant uses Okinawan wheat and ingredients from the prefecture to create a superb bowl of soba.
The Naha branch of "Kingetsu Soba" has its main branch in Yomitan Village. The restaurant is committed to local production for local consumption and offers Okinawa soba made with ingredients produced in the prefecture. The homemade fresh noodles have a chewy texture and are made with Okinawan wheat called "Shimamugi Kanasan. The Okinawa soba toppings are made with Okinawan pork and thick tofu, both of which are made from domestic soybeans purchased from a tofu maker in Okinawa.
The restaurant also offers a variety of dishes such as "Yanbaru Chicken Juicy," which can be enjoyed with soba noodles.
Set menus that inherit the taste of long-established cafeterias are also available.
The restaurant is conveniently located just off Kokusai-dori Avenue, which is crowded with tourists, and was opened in 2017 after renovating the long-established "Mutsumi Shokudo" which regrettably closed its doors. In addition to Okinawa soba, the restaurant still offers the same menu from the days of Mutsumi Shokudo, including the "Nakami Soup Set Meal" and the "Yushi Tofu Set Meal. The owner himself learned the taste of Mutsumi Shokudo while working there before it closed, and has passed it on to his customers, hoping that they will enjoy the same old taste. Why not try the set menus that have been loved by the locals as well as the Okinawa soba noodles?
- Kinchichi Soba Restaurant Mutsumi Shokudo Branch on Kokusai Street
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2-1-16 Makishi, Naha City, Okinawa MAP
7 min. walk from Yui Rail Makishi Sta.
11:00-16:00 *Close when sold out
Mon.
098-867-0862
None
2Takaramachiga
Additive-free Okinawa soba with a light soup that is gentle on the body
This restaurant specializes in Okinawa soba with no additives or chemical seasonings. The "Special Soba" is popular, in which you can choose three toppings of your choice and enjoy Okinawa soba with many ingredients.
The soup is characterized by its light and gentle flavor, which is made simply by adding salt to the bonito flakes-based soup stock. The noodles are thin, straight noodles made by Kamehama Noodle Mills using traditional methods, and the soki and sanpei meat, tenderized by slow-cooking for more than eight hours, are also excellent.
The juicy and inari sushi, each available in six different varieties, is also a popular menu item that keeps repeat customers coming back.
Relaxing time in a renovated old private house
The owner, a native of Naha City, renovated a 55-year-old private house to open the restaurant. Inside the restaurant, customers take off their shoes to enter. In addition to tatami room seating with a nostalgic Japanese atmosphere, there is also counter seating with a green color that blends in with the wood tone, reminiscent of a café.
Seat number plates placed at the tables are playfully labeled with "Gushiken-san," "Higa-san," and other "Uchinawan surnames" that are associated with Okinawa. By reading the QR code with your smartphone, you can read a little information about the surname and enjoy the time until your soba is served.
- Takaramachi-ga
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- 1-6-13 Takara, Naha City, Okinawa MAP
- 10 min. walk from Akamine Station on the Yui Rail
- 11:00 - 21:00 (L.O. 20:30)
Soup ends when sold out. Check the official SNS for details. - Closed irregularly *Confirmation required via official SNS
- 098-955-0240
- Free of charge
3Turtle Turtle Turtle Soba
Self-serve "Futchiba Soba" with mugwort toppings is very popular.
This long-established store is located in a quiet residential area in the Wakasa district of Naha City. It was opened as a directly managed store of Kamehama Noodle Factory, and the noodles of the same factory are used, which are moderately firm and smooth.
The restaurant's standard menu item is "huchi-ba-soba" made with huchi-ba (mugwort). The hooch bar toppings are self-serve, and after ordering from the ticket machine, you can add as many as you like to your colander basket.
We recommend tasting the refreshing bitterness of yomogi (mugwort) and changing the flavor with table-top condiments such as "kohlra goose," island peppers soaked in awamori (a type of Okinawa rice wine).
The rich broth that goes well with the royal noodles and cartilage soki are also a perfect match.
Cartilage Soba" is another popular dish. It is a hearty dish with plenty of tender cartilage soki that has been slow-cooked to a sweet and spicy finish. The soup, made mainly from pork and simmered with bonito and vegetables, is rich and has a powerful flavor. The thick broth goes well with the noodles and the cartilage soki.
The menu offers a choice of small and large sizes depending on the amount of noodles, with the large size costing less than 1,000 yen, making it a great choice for the budget-conscious. The restaurant boasts of its strong popularity among locals as a place where they can enjoy the best Okinawa soba at a reasonable price.
- Turtle Turtle Soba
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- 1-3-6 Wakasa, Naha City, Okinawa MAP
- 11 minutes drive from Yui Rail Miebashi Station
Approx. 15 min. by car from Naha Airport - 10:30-16:00 (close when sold out)
- Sunday
- 098-869-5253
- Free of charge
4Ukishima BASE
Enjoy the deep flavor of the pork bone-based soup and chewy fresh noodles!
The restaurant serves the most popular Okinawa soba noodles with fresh, firm noodles. There are three types of soba noodles: Sanpei Soba, Nankotsu Soba, and Vegetable Soba, and you can choose either regular or fresh noodles according to your preference. If you want to enjoy a smooth and firm texture, we recommend the fresh noodles. The regular noodles, especially popular among locals, are selected from Isa's medium-thick noodles, which are well mixed with the soup.
The broth used for the soup is carefully extracted over 6 hours. The soup is based on pork bones and blended with bonito and chicken to create a well-balanced, deep flavor.
A hideaway on fashionable Ukishima-dori
The store is located on Ukishima-dori, an area lined with second-hand clothing stores, apparel stores, and general merchandise stores. The owner was born and raised here, and she and her mother run the store together. The interior of the renovated old house was DIY-decorated by the owner herself, creating the atmosphere of an adult's hideout. It is also suitable for solo customers.
In addition to soba, the restaurant also serves home-style Okinawan dishes such as "Papaya Chanpuru" and "Ikasumi Yakisoba," attracting many visitors from tourists to locals.
- Ukishima BASE
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- 2-12-2 Matsuo, Naha City, Okinawa MAP
- Approx. 12 min. walk from Yui Rail Miebashi Sta.
- 9:45-19:00
- Thursdays
- 080-6496-1916
- None
5OKINAWA SOBA EIBUN
A popular restaurant where you must wait in line to taste innovative and creative Okinawa soba.
It is a restaurant specializing in evolved Okinawa soba with a long line of customers. The most popular dish is "BUNBUN Soba," a sumptuous dish of three slices of meat, hon-soke, and makanai meat. You can also enjoy other original dishes that you cannot find anywhere else, such as "Beef Bean Sprouts Soba" with beef marinated in garlic soy sauce to give it a punch, and "Kama-tama Bukkake Okinawa Maze-soba".
The soup is based on pork bones slowly simmered in pork broth, combined with bonito and kelp broth, and has a gentle flavor that makes you want to drink it all down to the last drop. It also goes well with the meat toppings.
Customize the noodles and toppings to your liking!
The noodles can be changed to fresh or squid-smeared noodles, and toppings such as seaweed arsers and pak choi can also be customized with a high degree of freedom. If you have trouble deciding which one to choose, please refer to the recommended customizations written on the blackboard in the restaurant.
The owner of the restaurant is a former French chef from Iwate Prefecture. He opened the restaurant in 2016 after training at a restaurant specializing in Okinawa soba in the prefecture and eating a variety of Okinawan soba. The restaurant's wood-toned interior has a café-like atmosphere, allowing customers to relax and enjoy their meal.
Local Guide who was in charge of this article
- Tomomi Tanaka Superwoman of Naha
