CONTRIBUTED BY CORINA CARNEY

Café Kurage l Okinawa Hai!

During our summer stay-cation up in Okuma, we managed to discover the most astonishing café we have ever visited in Okinawa. It combined an incredible view of the ocean …

Café Kurage l Okinawa Hai! 

… a unique design …

Café Kurage l Okinawa Hai!

… great service with colorful décor

Café Kurage l Okinawa Hai!

… and, last but not least, surprisingly excellent food and presentation.

Café Kurage l Okinawa Hai!

They have a menu in English, silverware and chopsticks.

We have been there twice. Their menu ranges from the typical Okinawan dishes to an interesting Italian-Japanese fusion dishes. We had the special of the day and were blown away; it was sautéed fish with pesto on top, brown rice, amazing clear mushroom soup and vegetables. The set also included a drink of our choice: juice, coffee or tea. We also ordered smoked pork sandwiches; they were  extremely tasty and healthy as well!

Café Kurage l Okinawa Hai!

We highly recommend their  soy lassi. It fit our mood as we were gazing out their antique-framed windows overlooking a scenic beach and Pacific waters. It was easily the most  picturesque  view we were able to find around Okuma, especially when combined with the breeze of the ocean.

Café Kurage l Okinawa Hai!

We are already making plans to return.

Hours: 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. (Closed on Tuesday and Wednesday)

Directions: This is in far northern Okinawa, near Cape Hedo. Driving north on 58, you would round the northern tip of the island at Cape Hedo and then continue south on highway 70 (58 becomes 70 on this side of the island). Driving south on 70 from Cape Hedo, the cafe is about 6.8 km south of the village of Oku.  It is a wooden building on the left side of the road (ocean side).

If you are coming from the south on the east side of the island, drive north on highway 70, about 1.5 km past the village of Sosu. Café Kurage will be on the right side of highway 70, just before a large bridge over a stream that drains into the ocean.  Look for two large beehive-shaped rocks off a rocky point in the ocean on the end of the beach.

GPS Coordinates: 26°48’21.56″N 128°19’0.80″E

Payment: Yen

Editor’s Note: Due to an issue with Google maps we have temporarily removed the map feature from this post. Please refer to the written directions and/or the GPS coordinates listed above. Thank you.

3 COMMENTS

  1. Kurage is one of our favorite restaurants on island. The staff is extremely friendly and welcoming. Their food is delicious. They serve the best taco rice on island. It is not the typical taco rice made with the packet of taco seasoning. They blend their own seasoning and have extremely fresh vegetable over brown rice. Their pork sandwich is very good as well. To top off having excellent food the view is absolutely beautiful.

  2. We stopped on the way back from Okuma & Cape Hedo last Sunday (23Mar14) around 1 o’clock, only to find it closed. I wasn’t able to determine if it was a seasonal closing, a change in hours, or a permanent closure. The cafe looked as if it were still operational, and we spent so much time in the parking lot enjoying the view that we drew enough attention to garner a peep through the window from someone inside….so just be prepared that, in true Okinawan style, operating hours may not be as firm as they appear.

  3. We ate here for lunch on a Saturday in November and the view is beautiful and the beverages were delicious although the food was average. We were given a limited menu with the option of a gourmet taco rice, gourmet veggie taco rice, or an open faced sandwich all offered for 800yen or 1100 yen to add a soup OR drink. The cafe itself seems new and very charming on the inside and the view is very pretty. There was a lot of anti-osprey pamphlets and posters within the cafe but they did not seem to have an issue with serving Americans.