CONTRIBUTED BY KAHO (March 2007)
Ufuya means a “big house” in the Okinawan dialect. This is a great restaurant to go if you’re in the Nago area or to stop by before or after visiting the Chura Umi Aquarium in the north. We always go there after our aquarium visit. They do not take reservations on weekends as it gets very busy. We’ve waited outside of the restaurant with our 2 year old and it is not a hard to place to wait with kids as there is a waiting room, water fountain, wooden swing, and a pineapple field outside.
If you have out of town visitors, they will enjoy this restaurant very much. We’ve seen families with kids at the restaurant and we’ve always felt comfortable taking our child. They have private rooms, so if you go there as a big group, it is possible to get a room if it is available. They mainly serve Okinawan soba, but some other dishes are also available and the prices are very reasonable. There are inside and outside seating. If you are seated outside, you’ll be able to view a nice waterfall.
The restaurant is open all year round.
UPDATE DECEMBER 2011, BY JULIA POOLE:
[The original post] was written in 2007. I have no idea if anything has really changed with the restaurant since we just got here but what we encountered was certainly different than we expected.
Hours: Day 11:00 – 17:00, Night 18:00 – 22:00
Phone: 0980-53-0280
Address: 90 Nakayama, Nago
Google Maps Coordinates: 26.6209963, 127.96367170000008
Directions:
From the Kyoda interchange on the expressway, head north on Highway 58. turn left at Shirogane Bridge onto 84. Pass Nago Pineapple Park on your right and make a left turn at the second traffic light after Pineapple Park. Make another left turn immediately and follow the winding road for approximately one mile until you see the Ufuya restaurant and parking lot on your right side.
This place was awesome. Loved the architecture and the soba was delicious. You can take a nice stroll up the stairs through the garden or through the little village homes.
I loooove that place, it’s beautiful and very Antique Asian Style, very unique.
Sile… What was attire during lunch?
Just went here yesterday. Lunch set menu was about 950 JPY – 1550 JPY depending on which pork/noodle set you choose. Really beautiful place for lunch and glad I tried it!
Hi! Is it OK to be in casual clothes for lunch?
I dont see why not. I went in shorts and flip flops at lunch. Also there are lots of tourists too and they were casual clothing and taking pictures of everything.
The directions r correct, the 2nd light after the pineapple park is for a crosswalk and there is a very small road there on the left (u can only turn left at that light.). But it’s easy to miss….. So drive slow. The place is really beautiful and I’m so surprised I ppl don’t talk about it! It’s a A MUST see!!
Ok, I’m usually great with directions — but I don’t think I came anywhere close to this today!! It’s not possible to turn left at the 3rd light. So I turned at the 4th (across from Lawson’s) and drove all the way til it “T’d” and there was no sign for Ufuya. Has anybody made it there? Can you tell me what I did wrong??
Joelle, I’m sorry that my directions were not accurate! I wrote the directions in the summer of 2006, so the signs might be removed.
Take Highway 58 North. Turn left on Route 84. Pass the 4th stop light where Okinawa Fruits Land is on your right, keep going. Look for a sign with Ufuya written in Kanji characters on your left. (There might be a stop light here and if there is, this would be the 5th one from Hwy 58, but I am not sure.) Take a LEFT here (it’s a sharp left). This road is very narrow. Follow the signs. The restaurant will be on your right.
When I first went there, I used this directions on USMC website. It was very helpful.
http://www.okinawa.usmc.mil/public%20affairs%20info/Archive%20News%20Pages/2006/060407-bighouse.html
I hope you can find the restaurant next time!
We finally got a chance to eat here today and loved it! We went around 11:30 AM and were lucky enough to get a table by the waterfall. It was absolutely beautiful. We also tried their cream puffs which were filled with what I think was coffee-flavored cream and they were delicious! Quite possibly the best cream puffs I’ve had on island. Thanks for all of the info Kaho!