CONTRIBUTED BY MANUEL CARNERO

I am from Peru and I have used Okinawa Hai to help me locate restaurants when I yearn for Peruvian food. Being in Okinawa for two years now, I have been able to eat at La Cabana, Titicaca, & Bomba Latina which do satisfy my hunger for Peruvian food. To my knowledge I thought that was all I was going to get until I stumbled upon this friendly restaurant, and to me it seems to be the best out of all I’ve tried.

I often go there to fill my stomach and quench my appetite. The staff is very friendly and it is a family business where the owners are a married couple. Their knowledge of cooking all kinds of Peruvian cuisine surprises me. Regardless whether it is pollo la brasa, papa a la huanaina, and of course, my favorite, lomo salt ado — they do a great job!

Also the owners are also thinking of adding new plates to their menus. Yet, they can also cook certain dishes upon request. They speak both Japanese & Spanish and made the menu into cards with pictures so you can see what you are ordering.

I always try something new and it is always delicious. They also sell American & Peruvian soda, and Peruvian beer and liquor but they are cautious and will not sell any to drivers.

Every time I come into this restaurant everyone is always smiling and makes me feel at home. I highly recommend this restaurant to everyone!

Machu Picchu ~ Los Esperamos (We Will Be Waiting)

Address: Okinawa Itoman city Kitanamihira 389-9 (Close to Nanzan Hospital)

GPS Coordinates: 26.1550000°, 127.6905556°

Directions:  From Route 58 Head South towards Naha.  Make a Left at the Cellular Stadium.  Go Straight for approzimately 20 minutes.  After you pass Tomigusuku Interchange, you will go through 4 traffic lights and then Machu Picchu will be on your right hand side.

Hours: 11:30 am – 11:00 pm Mon-Sun

Phone:  098-995-1324

Map:  Click twice for larger view

13 COMMENTS

  1. In between sightseeing at Peace Prayer Park and Japanese Naval Underground, we stopped here for lunch. The owner was extremely gracious, the food was wonderful, the atmosphere was great, and the prices were cheap. I definitely recommend it!

  2. My husband and I and a group of friends reciently tried out this restaurant and we had a very pleasant experience! We drove from Kinser and it took us about 45 minutes going from 58 to 7, which was the most direct route for us. We called trying to make reservations and found out that they only speek Japanese and Spanish! Luckily we had a Spanish speaker in our group, so a reservation was easily set up. Making reservations would be recommended since the restaurant is not very large.

    The food and service were great! We had empanadas which were amazing! The chicken was also very good, moist and flavorful. The tamale was another stand out item they served, and don’t forget to put some of the onion ‘salsa’ on top. They also served other beef, chicken and pork items, but beware, there is no English menu, we were going off of pictures and almost ordered some beef heart! The lady who runs the restaurant was very nice and accomidating. She talked with our translator and answered all our questions with a smile. We were also given samples of the blue corn juice and she brought us out some custard dessert. Upon finding out that some members of out group could not have the custard, she brought out a cookie type dessert! If that’s not great customer service…I don’t know what is!

    We sure ate our fill – between my husband and I we each had a meal, half a dozen empanadas (they are appetizer sized, but very good), a tamale, and two beers and it was about $40! Their portion sizes are quite substantial too. All in all is was as wonderful experience! We immediately made plans to go back and get beer and a huge plate of empanadas, yes they are that good! Highly recommended!!

  3. Okinawa Hai has provided us some great restaurants through the years, but this one is really a gem.
    From Naha, you are transported into a different world, only a twenty minute ride away, one where everything everything about the place shows meticulous care.

    No sooner are you seated than something is placed before you to eat – in this case a great, vegetable soup. Everything else is made to order, but as the food us prepared in a team-effort by the whole family, there is no waiting.

    Everything we ordered was under 1000 yen, and the portions are so large that we couldn’t finish it all. The tastes of this weekend still linger with me, and we’ll surely be back soon. Many Peruvian products to buy for home cooking, too; and unbelievably reasonably priced.

    Can’t say enough about the warmth of the place and our hosts. These are some very special people providing an extraordinary culinary experience.

  4. Wow!! Delisiouso….I just had lunch here. Nelly made the most oiiishhiii Cevice and Augadito for me special order….mazokuuuu desu!! I flew here this morning from Tokyo and drove straight to Machu Pichu.
    No regrets 😉 ….Thanks for posting this…Muchas gracias ! I’m spreading the word!! Shes’s great and this place feels just like Peru..I miss Peru !! I’ll be back!!!