CONTRIBUTED BY CASSANDRA ABEL

Dining Nans Front 1
Dining Nan’s Front 1

While attempting to find Liberal Sushi and driving around in circles for about 25 minutes and our stomachs rumbling, we decided to give up on Liberal and stop at the first (decent) place we could find. We stopped at Dining Nan’s – a quite unmistakable place only half a block off of 58.

I first ran in to see the menu and if my three year old would eat anything and if my husband who is on crutches would be able to even make it in. The staff who greeted me were extremely friendly but didn’t speak a word of English; thanks to my handy iPod translator app they were able to help me out.

They had three menus, one was all in Japanese but had pictures, one was in English with no pictures, as well as a full drink menu with everything from Sake to Long Islands. They also have a full bar that looked pretty neat.

Dining Nam Food
Dining Nan’s Food

We ordered a California roll for 850yen (kind of pricy), stir fried noodles I think with some sort of shrimp, my husband ordered something that tasted a lot like shrimp alfredo (it was delicious!) and I ordered something from the Japanese menu because it looked good — but it wasn’t my favorite because I think it was just too ‘fishy’. When we paid our bill it was 4200yen, again kind of pricy but really good food.

Dining Nan Food 2
Dining Nan’s Food 2

Overall we really liked the place, the service was really great and quick. I think the chef even brought a few dishes out himself and he was very sweet. They also had tables for large parties. I’m not sure of the hours but we went at about 6pm on a Monday night and they were open.

Phone:  870-2574

Directions:  From Foster commissary gate, go left onto 58.  When you get to the light by Okinawa Acting School (on your right) you will take your next right (you’ll pass an Esso gas station on the right) at the light.  It’s maybe the 2nd or 3rd building on the right hand side; if you get to an intersection you’ve gone too far.

Menus:  Click to enlarge

Dining Nan Menu 2
Dining Nan Menu
 

11 COMMENTS

  1. Im glad some of you appreciated my review for what it’s worth. I apologize for not being more informative and my writing isn’t by any means perfect I was kind of going for what they served, how much and if it was a good place I wasn’t paticularly aiming to be the next Hemingway 🙂

  2. Zee said the reviews were “getting less and less helpful”. How is giving other people information about a restaurant not helpful?

    Tito said he’s sick of “…uninformative reveiws”. Again, if someone gives days, hours, menu info, payment info, and directions, how is that uninformative?

    While they may not have violated the comment policy, that doesn’t mean that what they are saying makes complete sense. If quaility and style were paramount on this site, then Okinawa Hai wouldn’t allow regular people to write articles. The whole point is delivering information, not entertainment.

  3. The writers on here may not be professionals (never have been, to the best of my knowledge), but that does not mean the writing has never been inspired, nor that it shouldn’t be. I believe that Tito and Zee’s criticisms were warranted. They did not violate the comment policy in expressing themselves and I agree with their sentiments. They should not be criticised in their turn for speaking out. Quality does matter. Style does matter.

  4. The restaurant reviews here on Okinawa Hai are written by regular people, not professional journalists. I think most people use the reviews for the helpful information they provide- days/hours/prices/etc- not to enjoy a literary masterpiece. I can certainly appreciate visiting a new restaurant armed with a little bit of knowledge of what to expect during my visit. I also like that people go out on road trips and decide to stop by the little places on the beaten path and then do the rest of us a favor by taking pictures and writing up some information. This site is all about getting us out of our houses and experiencing new places here on Okinawa. As long as the information gets delivered, the delivery style matters not.

  5. Thanks for the constructive criticism, Zee & Tito. We will make every effort for future posts to include more of the kind of information you are hoping for in a restaurant review. And we’d love to receive reviews from either of you if you have favorite places not reviewed here already.

  6. I can’t agree more Zee! There needs to be more quality/creative control here to reduce minimalistic, uninspired, and uninformative “reviews”. I guess I am sick of the “we stopped in this cafe, had a curry lunch set, and everything was delicious and the people were so nice” style of reviews.

    And yes, let’s get beyond the pricey thing off-base, because AAFES/Services is not so peachy either…a fountain drink at the Kadena Officer Club’s grill costs $2.79!