CONTRIBUTED BY AVIVA BOWMAN

I love artisan breads…and I miss them terribly. Though I love to cook and bake, bread is not on my list of abilities. It’s a pain – and I don’t have the patience. Living in Okinawa, I miss fresh-baked, crusty, delicious artisan breads. Well a local friend of mine told me about Gidon Boulangerie.

Gidon Front view of restaurant
I’m told that the baker used to work at the Renaissance Hotel in Yomitan. Whoever it is, they work magic with not just the typical French baguette and berry pastries, but with wheat loaves, sourdough, and sun-dried tomato breads!
Gidon view of inside
The smell as you enter is heavenly. And if you’re smart, you’ll stop by at lunch time for a soup and one of the pastas of the day, or perhaps to enjoy your warmed up pastry with a cup of coffee or a latte. 

UPDATE: As of October 2016 Guidon no longer serves lunch.

Gidon Menu and pastry
They also create bread art! If you’d like to do something different for a dinner party, you can bring a photo or logo (in advance, of course) and they’ll create your loaf of bread with it!

Large Gidon loaf
The pastries are fantastic, the bread is fresh and when heated that evening for dinner it’s still melt-in-your-mouth amazing. And it’s not going to break the bank either, the prices are reasonable.

Gidon pastry examples
One of the women who manages & bakes there speaks very good English as well and was able to tell me the ingredients of the breads that weren’t marked in English! (Oh yeah – there are bagels too!)

Bagels
I didn’t ask if they take USD, but perhaps someone who visits next can comment with that information.


Boulangerie GIDON Bakery

Hours: Daily 12:00 p.m.- 8:00 p.m., closed Tuesdays

Phone: 098-989-0739

Address:  1001 Yara, Kadena

Google Maps Coordinates: 26.3656951, 127.77059869999994

Directions: From 58 north, pass Gate 1 Kadena and make a RIGHT on route 74 at the Kadena Rotary. Gidon is on the left about ¾ of the way to the Gate 3 entrance. If you’re exiting Gate 3 Kadena, make a LEFT at the first light outside the gate (74) and it will be on your right side – make a u-turn to access it. There is a small parking lot there, and bright red signage.

Photos by Aviva

Gidon view of sign

26 COMMENTS

  1. This place is very yummy. I really liked that it had less confections and more breads (we have many pastry places we like on island). We made our selections- several sweetened delights and several breads, to include a baguette. Upon checking out, the baker offered us freshly baked, warm cheese breads. We purchased two. After about 30 seconds in the car devouring them, we went back in for 3 more! So needless to say this place is great at their craft. Each item of the 10 items we purchased were VERY good .

  2. Went with my husband today, and we loved it! We ate an apple filled pastry on the way home that was still warm. It was amazing. They had these adorable pastries filled with chocolate that were decorated to look like little mice. We got some for our daughters. I can’t wait to try the smoked cheese bread I grabbed to eat with our dinner. Thanks for posting this!

  3. I don’t know if this is still open but I was looking at the Okinawa Hai map to add it to my iPhone map and noticed the pin is off. It is actually marked, in English, on google maps as GIDON. Just an FYI in case anyone is scrutinizing (read: paranoid) about exact locations. 🙂

  4. Aviva, thank you so much for unveiling this this little bakery. I always get fresh bread at the whole foods back home but the commissary or san-a baked goods here are neither appetizing nor fresh. I’ve been scouring the island for a place like this for years. I can’t wait to go there tonight! heee

  5. Sign is a bit harder to see from the opposite (westbound) side of the road for sure.

    Kristin, depends where you’re coming from but I’d say it’s more than halfway up 74 toward gate 3 from 58. Does that help? The sign in the photo is from the east-bound side of the road (coming from 58) so it’s easy to see – but I guess easy to pass if you’re going too fast! Good luck.

  6. I actually went running past this place yesterday. It is near Toma’s Garage (can’t remember if it was before or after.) If you go Left out of KAB Gate 3, then it will be after the intersection to turn to go to Torii (where the dragons are.) If you’re coming from 58 and turn onto 74, it’s kind of far down the street (before the dragons and before you get to gate 3.) It seemed like the sign might be kind of hard to see from the road.

  7. Wonderful bread; nothing is as good as homemade, but this comes awfully close! They also sell these mini loaves with a white cream piped into a slit in the loaf…it’s very very good; almost like butter/cream…yum. My kids loved the honey/raisin buns (look almost like a cupcake; not sure what all they’re really called). Was disappointed in the chocolate croissants; they put walnuts in there…blech. LOL!

  8. Thank you for finding and posting this bakery! We recently visited this bakery and were pleasantly surprised! The manager was fantastic and pointed out her favorites, she came over to talk with us (a group of ladies and babies) and told us about her children as well. I am not sure what JCD expects in a bakery, but this is one of the best I have been to on this island, the atmosphere and hospitality knock it out of the ballpark!

  9. Thank you for posting this bakery! I missed the bakeries in the states and this was just what I needed. I got a sourdough bread that is just fantastic. My son loved the soft bread so that works for me, I prefer the crusty ones. They have a great selection. I will definitely be going back!

  10. Wow, we went here this afternoon to pick up some bread to take to a friend’s house for dinner. I picked up a small half loaf of garlic bread which was amazing, a medium size loaf of what I thought to be whole wheat bread but was actually a rye or something, 2 apple pastries that were delicious, and a filled donut type thing with white sugar on the outside and japanese sweet bean inside. My total was only 530 yen and everything was extremely tasty. I’m excited to dry the baguettes that i saw being taken out of the oven…Yummy!

  11. I’ve been to this bakery and was not at all impressed. The bread loaves look lovely on the outside and do have a nice crust, but lack the dense chewiness and slightly tang-nut flavor of a great crusty loaf. It was entirely too light and airy on the inside – a common characteristic in breads over here. The croissants were just the opposite – instead of being light and flaky, they were gummy inside. I also sampled a currant-topped pastry, also not all that great. The only thing I had that was worth a second taste was a crystal sugar dusted thing that reminded me distantly of a churro.
    If you decide you like their croissants, they have a free croissant day. I forget which day of the week I was there, but it was free croissant day with any purchase.
    Don’t be intimidated by ideas of kneading and waiting and rising. Making your own bread is easy, a very forgiving process, and a very rewarding end result.

  12. By far my favorite bakery here on the island! Still haven’t gotten there to try the pasta although we always say we will the next time. The manager is a wonderfully sweet woman who happily walks with me and points out her favorites. She provides explanations of all of the items and takes great pride in the wonderful choices they have there. I can’t even tell you which is my favorite there as I’ve literally loved everything I’ve tried. I’m pretty sure it’s Yen only. It’s a hot spot with the locals in the evening who swing by to pick up fresh bread for dinner. I’ve actually never seen any other Y plates there either now that I think of it. If you haven’t been to try this one, go today! Definately worth it!