CONTRIBUTED BY LISA THOMPSON

Awww, the empty nest… what’s a person to do with it?  Why, jump on the back of a royal blue Kawasaki Vulcan 900 (with pipes so loud they’ll rattle your teeth) and explore Okinawa of course.

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We miss our little bird, but rather than sit around lamenting our sad state of affairs and how quiet the house is without her little chirps… we get out of the nest and make noise, man… and eat… there seems to be a lot of eating.

Today was a beautiful sunshiny spring day in Okinawa.  The nice weather, mingled with the sounds of empty tummies, just begged for a bike ride in search of food.  So with the song “Born to be Wild” running through my head, I jumped on the back of that Kawasaki to “head out on the highway lookin’ for adventure.”

We live on the northern end of the island very near Camp Hansen so we thought we would venture a bit south and see what’s kickin’ in our neck of the woods (adventure is sometimes best close to home when you’re hungry).

Not too far from us, just past quaint little Onna Village we discovered a great new place to eat.  It’s a “Sandwich Hut” called “Manza Submarine Sand and Coconut Dining.”  Now I ask you, is that not a great name for a sandwich shop? Beats the heck out of Subway!

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The shop has only been opened a little over a month and is well worth stopping by to check it out.  Mr. Takashi Omido is the very amiable and welcoming owner/chef and he speaks some English.

The hut is exactly that… a grass thatched hut-looking building (hmmm, grass thatching for empty nesters looking for adventure, the irony is not lost on me I assure you).  It has a great island vibe with an artsy twist to it.  It’s clean and shiny and creatively decorated with assorted local art prints on the wall and little chachkeys that add to its visual appeal.

Now down to the nitty gritty… the grub.  In a word, “mmmm”.  In two words, “mmm, mmm”.

Upon entering the restaurant, we were greeted warmly by Mr. Omido.   You should note that the dining area is very small and will only seat 15 people.  As we were seated we were handed our menus (they are in English and Nihongo) and given our water glasses.  Right away I knew we were in for a treat as the glasses were hand blown beauties from the glass shop just up the street and the water was delicious and infused with (I think) mango juice.

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We ordered two appetizers, one drink and one and a half sandwiches.  The appetizers were… potatoes (French fries with a terrific tasting spice on them), and  something called Shrimp Ajillo which is shrimp and mushrooms served in a piping hot dish of garlic and oil that had a buttery taste of yummy proportions. The shrimp is served with toasted baguette slices.

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My husband, Mike, ordered the Manza Sub, which is a sausage sandwich with roasted red and yellow pimentos, onions, and crisp lettuce.  He was very pleased with the size of his sandwich and even more pleased with the taste.

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I ordered the half sandwich (I eat delicate little portions and it will do you no good to point out that I just ate a mountain of French fries and sucked all the melted butter out of the shrimp dish… I am ignoring that little tidbit of information).  Where was I?  Oh yes, my sandwich was the Smoked Salmon with Avocado sauce.  It was yummy.  Mr. Omido makes his own smoked salmon and it’s fresh tasting, plump and moist without being overly salted.  The avocado sauce is so good that I know I will have visions of it dancing in my head.

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Also on the menu are assorted juices and drinks.  I had a virgin Mojito, which is a drink of club soda, limes and fresh mint.  It was very “minty”, “limey”, “soda-y” and very good.

Mr. Omido is a very creative chef who uses fresh ingredients in every dish.  We know we will return.  Our whole dining experience cost us just around 3000 yen… great value too!

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Manza Sub Shop

Hours: 11:00am-8:00pm, seven days a week.

Phone: 098-966-1050

Address: Japan, 〒904-0404 Okinawa-ken, Kunigami-gun, Onna-son, Serakaki 国道58号線

Google Maps Coordinates: 26.5069072, 127.8617800

Directions:
-Head north on 58 (so that you’re going towards Onna village). Make sure you keep on 58, 58 will veer to the left a little bit and you’ll start heading away from Kadena, if you keep driving alongside Kadena on your right that means you’ve merged onto 74, and you don’t want that.
– Keep on 58 for a while and when you see the Renaissance Resort on your left, you know you are on the right track.
– Soon after the Renaissance resort the road will split off into several, just make sure you stay on 58.
– After that you will pass several other resorts and then…
– You will have to turn left at a large intersection (with 4-way stop lights) to stay onto 58.
– You will then drive through downtown Onna, you will also pass the ANA Intercontinental Manza Beach Resort on the left (you are getting very close once you pass this).
– You will lose sight of the ocean on the left at this point and the round grass hut will be on your right

Directions for Northern Camps people: Head south on the 58 just past Seragaki beach, and past the big red palace-looking place that makes purple yam cookies.  Once you pass the purple yam palace it will be about a mile up on the left.

51 COMMENTS

  1. We tried to find this place off of the map, GPS pin drop & directions. It led us to the wrong place.
    Rachel helped us a ton with her comment to put in ANA resort in GPS >> This is what we put in GPS :
    〒904-0404
    Okinawa‎ Onna
    Serakaki2147, Serakaki
    Japan

    I think it may have not worked that way so it probably would work just this way :
    〒904-0404
    Okinawa‎ Onna

    Pretty much we were coming from Kadena but still ended up with the hut being on our left (Not right) so if you are following the directions and cant find it I suggest just to continue going on 58 (the road it brings you to) and you may find it by chance 🙂

  2. It sounds like some people struggle to find this place which makes sense, but this food is too good to not try at least once. My husband and I went here just about every week for 3 years, I will attempt to give directions:

    From Kadena:
    -Head north on 58 (so that you’re going towards Onna village). Make sure you keep on 58, 58 will veer to the left a little bit and you’ll start heading away from Kadena, if you keep driving alongside Kadena on your right that means you’ve merged onto 74, and you don’t want that.
    – Keep on 58 for a while and when you see the Renaissance Resort on your left, you know you are on the right track.
    – Soon after the Renaissance resort the road will split off into several, just make sure you stay on 58.
    – After that you will pass several other resorts and then…
    – You will have to turn left at a large intersection (with 4-way stop lights) to stay onto 58.
    – You will then drive through downtown Onna, you will also pass the ANA Intercontinental Manza Beach Resort on the left (you are getting very close once you pass this).
    – You will lose sight of the ocean on the left at this point and the round grass hut will be on your right.

    I haven’t been to Okinawa in 2 years, this is all off of memory and double checking google satellite images, but I went there so much, I am pretty confident in these directions. Reading them this way may seem overwhelming, but it’s really not all that bad, anyone who’s lived in Oki knows that the more detail/land marks you point out the easier it is for people, so that’s what I tried to do. I hope this helps, Midow works so hard and is so talented with food, he deserves the business!

  3. I am SO glad this place is still in business, he opened a real small shop near the sunabe sea wall, but it closed about 6 months later. He has some of the best food i’ve ever had. My husband and I lived in oki from 09 to 2012 and we are moving back in January, Midow will be one of the first locals I will go visit. Also, this might be off the menu, but my husband and I helped him with his sunabe seawall menu before he opened it, and he used to serve a killer fish taco with mango salsa (it’s literally some of the best food i’ve ever had), i think you can still order this, off menu. If he can still make, TRY IT.

  4. 〒904-0404
    Okinawa‎ Onna
    Serakaki2147, Serakaki
    Japan

    Here is the pin to put in Maps if you have an iPhone. We drove for a long time and couldn’t find it but then we followed the pin directions to ANA resort and found it. Hope this helps some of you that had trouble finding it 🙂

  5. I’ve ate at this restaurant on several occasions, bringing someone new with me each time… and we all loved it… everytime! From the subs to the drinks to the customer service… this place is great! I’d recommend it to all of my friends!

  6. Kara,
    The same thing had happened to us. We drove around forever just trying to find this place and we arrived at 1 pm on a Friday only to find that it was closed as well. I’m guessing they’re not open during the week, which is such a dissapointment.

    I thought I had posted it earlier to forewarn people, but I guess it didn’t make it on here. It could have been a glitch or something. I have been having computer issues.

  7. A friend and I tried to have lunch here today and were so disappointed to find it closed when we arrived at 1pm. I have been wanting to go since I saw this article but I guess we will try again on a weekend!

  8. Correction to the directions for the second location. The dental sign you turn right at is not as listed, turn at SUNABE SMILE dental clinic. (If you get to the light that Rumiko’s salon is at you’ve gone too far)

    There’s a smaller menu, but it’s the top items from Manza. This smaller shop is called Big Midow’s. I asked and the hours are 11am-9pm daily. There’s no parking lot, so you’ll have to find somewhere along the small roads to park. Not much trouble though, and it’s worth it for the shorter travel time!

    No highchairs in this location, a rather small bathroom, and there are 5 small 2 person tables. Menu is 750 yen I believe for a half sandwich combo (with fries and coconut/chicken soup) or 900 yen for the full. Various juices, pop, bottled water, and green tea are available.

  9. I just had a delicious lunch at his new location in the sunabe seawall area. The name is Big Midow’s. He serves a smaller version of the menu than the manza location, but each sandwich comes with fries and a coconut soup that is intoxicating!!! The number is (098)926-0660. It is located just off the seawall. If you turn off 58 by the GI bill pay office make a left at the last traffic light before the seawall then turn right at the sign for the sunset dental sign ( about the 3rd or 4th street after the light) it will be on your right a few doors in from the seawall. Small light yellow building with a to go flag out front. From the seawall the road is right were the largest part of the seawall walkway is and there is a large grassy “park” directly across the street from the restaurant.

  10. My husband and I tried this place out this evening. Food was delicious!! He got the chicken taco rice and I got the 1/2 greek chicken sandwich with the coconut soup and french fries. The coconut soup was to die for. My sandwich was delicious as well! My husband got their passionfruit juice which was very yummy and the banana coconut tart which was also wonderful. This guy knows how to turn a submarine in to quite the trip for your taste buds!

  11. We went this past weekend for the first time and it was amazing! I ordered the half size Greek chicken sandwich and my husband ordered the herb chicken sandwich with a side of fries. The food was wonderful and the service was great. We can’t wait to go back again!

  12. We took the expressway and got off on #7- headed towards Nago. Pass the glassfactory on the L and Manzamato (sp?) turn off..you will see a Lawson store and then it will be on the R. We arrived at approx 1130 which was great time because then it started getting a good lunch crowd in. We were able to sit outside but it looked like there was plenty of seating inside. It is popular w/ the locals/tourist. I think they must change the water flavor because we had mint taste in ours. I ordered the chicken 1/2 for my son and salmon 1/2 for myself..along w/ the fry/drink combo~approx 1500yen. Our fries weren’t as much as shown in the picture, but it was still plenty to share and we were full! We ate everything..it was very good!! I would definately recommend or come back again~and yes, the owner/workers there were very welcoming and sweet.

  13. Went there today with a couple of friends and it was delicious! I will definitely be going back again and again. 🙂 I can’t remember the name of the sub I ordered but it had chicken, avocado, tomato and a yummy sauce on it. The ONLY complaint I have is that I was stingy and ordered the half size, and then shared my fries with my daughter. If you aren’t a birdie eater, I say definitely get the whole sandwich! 🙂 Oh and the mango juice is just amazing!

    I am not really into motorcycles, but I thought your story was great. 🙂 I’ll wave next time I see/hear your bike! 😉

  14. Wonderful place. we ventured out today and went to cape manzamo and to the sweet potato factory thing. Nice enjoyable ride. Its waaaay down there. I thought for sure we had missed it. The owner was great and so happy for the business. It was reasonably priced and delicious

  15. I thought this review was great. It really makes me want to check the place out! Pictures were awesome too. The first two comments were uncalled for in my opinion. Loud pipes on a motorcycle are not just “noise pollution”. They can actually save a motorcyclists life by attracting attention to them when driving down the road AND it probably gets just as good gas milage as a quiet Honda Fit 🙂

  16. Thanks Meredith…loved the story and we like the empty nest story and all. Brought a smile to our face. My parents came for a visit and I took them up there today (rainey day) for lunch. We LOVED it! The owner was so nice and catered to any need we had. We came from Rota, Spain before coming to Okinawa and miss our gamba’s ajillo (garlic shrimp, or on the menu- shrimp ajillo) I had the salmon sandwich as well and it was wonderful. We live outside of Kadena gate 1 so it was a bit of a drive.. but so worth the trip! The water came out in Ryukyu glasses, lime infused. We had half sandwiches and saved room for dessert….I had the banana coconut tart… AWESOME and my mom had the crepe.. flamming and all, YUM! So jump on your hog or in that Mazda MPV and check out this wonderful sandwich shop. I will definitly be going back!

  17. Found it today! I was thinking it was by the Ren. hotel. It’s way past the piccolino pizza place though. I kept thinking it was way before. Great find! We tried the roasted chicken sandwich. It was fabulous! Oh and we also tried the molten cake that came with vanilla bean ice cream topped with passion fruit? and had strawberries and some grilled banana. Outstanding. The water today was infused with rosemary. Do they change the flavor up regularly? Thanks so much for sharing this find. VERY good!!:)

  18. Hey! I tried to find this yesterday but I couldn’t find it. Coming from Kadena gate 1…we went to Onna and passed the Renn. hotel. I couldn’t for the life of me find the ANA hotel though. Please help:) Did the hotel change over to another name?

  19. We went today for lunch and sat outside as well. I had the veg sandwich and it was very good! We also liked the fries. The ones that came with our set were seasoned differently than the separate order of fries – both were very good. My daughter really enjoyed the opportunity to sit outside. Also, this may be strange – but that’s probably one of the cleanest bathrooms I’ve ever seen on island. Both employees were very friendly and attentive. We only spent about 2500 yen for the three of us to eat.

  20. Were in the general area today, so drove up (it is way up there). LOVED the place! Food was fabulous and FRESH. We sat outside which made it VERY kid friendly as I didn’t worry about spilling and there was a little rock garden area where the boys played while we finished our yummy food. I have to RAVE about the coconut soup (that comes as a set w/ the yum french fries for an additional 400Y) — FRESH, FRESH!! Asparagus, carrots, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes — nothing mushy, all bright colored, beautiful and tasty! The sandwich buns are super fabulous as well. I ordered the fish and chips for my boys, but wished I’d gotten it as an extra appetizer for us and kept stealing bites — the fish was sort of fried in a tempura batter. We had an orange crepe with vanilla bean ice cream for dessert and the mango ice cream — both homemade. LOVELY. 2 full sandwiches, fish & chips, 2 desserts for 4000Y. Overall, thrilled with the restaurant.

  21. Your story was GREAT! My Daddy was a Norton man but thats a story for another time. Loved the whole write up! Please post more of your adventures for us to read. And for the haters I will wave at you in your Honda Fit as I fly by in my Mitsubishi Dion mini van! hahahaha!

  22. Thanks for the review! Looks great! And I dream of someday riding a bike without the four kids in tow! Can’t wait to try the Smoked Salmon and Avocado sandwich-thanks for the pictures, I always remember to take them AFTER I took the first bite!

  23. Joleen, Bahahaha! LOVE it! I was reading the comments to this post to my husband (head still reeling from the first two comments… man!) and then I read yours. I laughed and it was my husbands turn to say “What?!” Teehee… cracked me up. I love your sense of humor. 🙂

  24. I have driven past this place before and wondered about what the food would be like. Unfortunately, the drive has always been under time constraints with no time to stop and check it out. Next time I’m up that way, I will definitely stop and check it out.

    The motorcycle parts of the write-up didn’t bother me a bit. In fact, my first instinct was to say ‘poor you’ to the author for riding a Kawasaki instead of a real road bike… lol. My bike would completely smoke that thing! They might as well be driving a Super Extra Town Ace!

  25. Well, I think the write up was clever all around! I’m not sure why the motorcycle bit is an issue. If we start picking apart every post then it distracts from the post itself and the reason behind it. I would, however, love to hear from others who have gone here. It looks yummy and I’d love to hear some recommendations on the other sandwiches. Great find!!

  26. I agree with the above commenter – we could do without all the “royal blue Kawasaki Vulcan 900” talk and just hear about the restaurant. Other than that, I thought the review was great, and it is now definately on my list of restaurants to hit! Thanks for finding it!

  27. Poor us? I know. Not all of us have the priviledge of owning noisey motorcycles that compete with the aircraft around here for noise pollution…

    As for the sandwich shop, looks good. We’ll have to try it on our next motorcycle-less journey up to the north end of the island in our sad fuel efficient (and quiet) Honda Fit.