Editor’s Note: Newport Sushi was originally reviewed on Okinawa Hai on March 23, 2001; you can read a PDF copy of that original review HERE. The post below is an updated take on this attraction, published September 22, 2016.

CONTRIBUTED BY NICOLE RUSSELL

Newport Sushi

Newport Sushi is very close to Kadena with English speaking staff and delicious sushi. My husband and I recently came to the island and loved this place!

Newport Sushi

The food was absolutely delicious and reasonably priced. The menu was extensive with plenty of choices of sushi, as well as salads, and hot dishes (soba noodles, and other typical Japanese cuisine). We chose sashimi and sushi rolls, trying salmon and tuna rolls, and yellowtail sashimi. The yellowtail tasted so fresh!

Newport Sushi

There are alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages available. I’ve never seen saki presentation like this and they did not disappoint. The saki bottle that we ordered came out in an ice bucket with a saki glass laying on top. They gave us a great recommendation based on our preferences. I also had the iced green tea and it was delicious.

The service was great and our waiter gave us great recommendations. They do take reservations, walk-ins are welcome, and take out is available. Family-friendly with highchairs available. This is a bigger sushi restaurant than many in the area with dining in the front and a bar in the back. Very clean and modern feel.

 

We would definitely go back again.


Newport Sushi

 

Hours:
Mondays: 14:30-22:00
Thursdays: 16:00-22:00
Fridays-Sundays: 14:30-22:00
CLOSED Tuesdays and Wednesdays

Payment:  AMEX, Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and Yen

Phone:  098-926-0537

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/newportsushi/

Address: 614-6 Kuwae Chatan Cho

Google Maps Coordinates: 26.3227744, 127.7706778

Directions: Turn left out of Gate 1 Kadena.  Head south on Highway 58, turn left on Kokutai road (Hwy 23). You will come to a white pedestrian overpass. Turn right at this traffic light and “NEWPORT SUSHI” will be located on your right (past Yoshi Hachi’s restaurant). 614-6 Kuwae Chatan Cho.

Parking: There is a small parking lot with 4-5 parking spots in front of the restaurant. We opted for a Panda Cab since we hadn’t even bought a car yet and we were planning to drink a little saki!

28 COMMENTS

  1. Pros- Interesting artisan style rolls, fast service, easy menu
    Con’s – very average (read “meh”) sashimi/nigiri, small portion sizes

    Bottomline- Didn’t hate it, but Newport wont make my regular restaurant rotation. Anyone who thinks it’s the best on island needs to get out more.

  2. My wife and I ate here tonight for our 3 year anniversary. I am one of those people that rely heavily on customer reviews. After checking through dozens of write ups on OkinawaHai, and reading everything above, I decided to take my wife to this spot in hopes of having a nice quiet dinner experience void of noisy children, obnoxious drunk Marines, or dirty decor. I am very happy to say that I did not experience any of these issues at this outstanding establishment.

    Parking was great for us as we were able to park immediately in front of the door. On busier nights I am sure you may need to find a spot somewhere and walk, but such is life in Okinawa. We were cordially greeted as soon as we opened the door. We decided to sit down in a little alcove directly to the left of the front door which gave us exactly the environment that we were looking for on this occasion; Something isolated, dimly lit and very quiet where we could enjoy each others company. There were about 5-6 other Americans on the other side of the restaurant and we could not hear them at all. The decor was decent and had a big surfboard on the wall. Coming from SoCal prior to being in Okinawa and experiencing sushi out there made us feel right at home at Newport.

    After sitting down for only a few minutes, the owner came over and greeted us with menus. He spoke very fluent English, obviously from his time in SoCal. It was nice being able to talk to him without thinking anything would be lost in translation. He helped explain a lot of the rolls and even gave his recommendations on a few that were Newport menu favorites.

    I ordered the Diablo roll and the San-O roll through his recommendations, while my wife ordered the crunchy roll and the Philadelphia roll. We also ordered the crunchy goyoza. After a very short time, our first two rolls came out, the San-o and the Philadelphia. I was a little taken that our appetizer didn’t come out first but it wasn’t a huge deal to me at all seeing as our rolls came out in the same amount of time I would expect to wait for an appetizer anyway. The rolls were a little bit smaller than what I was expecting, but they made up for it with excellent taste. Our appetizer came out next after another 4-5 minutes, and it was very tasty. Very crunchy and fresh, not tasting like something frozen and reheated at all. A few short minutes later came out the Cruncy roll followed by the Diablo roll last. It was nice having everything spread out in terms of delivery time as we probably would have felt overwhelmed with all the food on our table all at once.

    All 4 of our rolls were delicious and tasted very fresh. I would highly recommend the Diablo roll, and the Crunchy Roll tasted on point to me. I have been eating sushi routinely for about 10 years now and can say that this was high on my list of sushi restaurants. I am not a sushi expert as some may self anoint, so my taste may very well be different from others. But I would highly recommend you try out this place and you may find it to be your favorite spot on island before you leave.

  3. The BEST sushi on island! We frequently go get sushi here and have since we arrived on island 2 years also. The food is amazing, but the service is even more amazing! It is never crowded and we never have to wait, which is wonderful when you have kids. They love Americans and even do 100 yen to the dollar, knowing they will lose money! I absolutely love this place, we go so frequently and they show their appreciate your business. This is a place you must go to while on island 🙂

  4. When I heard there was a new sushi restaurant I was excited to try it. We went there about 5 months ago and was not impressed. There are a lot more sushi places that are better. They put green onions and mayo in my tekka maki..gross. Not worth going to.

  5. What a nice find. This is probably the best sushi we’ve eating on Okinawa. Everything was super fresh and the prices were not to bad either. The staff was very friendly and welcoming. Will definitely be back.

  6. I went here about 1 year ago based on recommendations remember they had some really slow service with just a few people in there. Well, fast forward another year, and so many more recommendations, we decided to give this place another try.

    We were seated right away. However, we didn’t get menus until we requested (about 10 min). It took another 10 min to get their attention to order. We ordered the gyoza, newport roll, california roll, crunchy roll, new york sushi and the uni. It took about 15 min to get the gyoza, then another 10 to get the newport, another 10 to get the crunchy roll, another 15 min for the california roll, then 10 min to get the new york sushi. Uni never came out, didn’t get any explanation (even though the hostess could speak English pretty well). By the time everything was eaten and paid for, it was almost 2 hours.

    Food was great, I have no quibbles about the food at all. Great american style sushi! But service was sooooo SLOOOW.

    • I ate here just a little over a month ago, my 1st Okinawa sushi experience since arriving on the island, and I was VERY pleased. Everything I tried was delicious (including the edamame, not one slimy pod!). I’ve had lots of sushi/sashimi back in the states and this place satisfied (almost) my every craving. One thing I have been craving that was on the menus at my favorite sushi bars (in Vegas) is sashimi salad – a variety of fresh sashimi bites (tuna, salmon, white fish, etc.) tossed with sea greens, cucumbers (and sometimes a couple pieces of shrimp tempura) in a light and oh-so-delicious sauce/dressing. I have no idea what it was just that it was NOT mayo based and we could choose from mild to spicy, the flavor was spectacular and had some similar notes to the “spicy” in the Spicy Tuna Roll.

      Do you have ANYTHING like this on the menu?? (Does anyone know where I might go to satisfy my craving?!?) My mouth is watering just thinking about it…

      Either way, it is safe to say I will definitely be returning for more of your scrumptious sushi rolls!! I’ve tried a couple other places and they pale in comparison 🙂

  7. I just went there last night and I was blown away with the quality of the sushi they serve. I had their halibut sashimi with lime and sea salt and the chef told me not to eat it with soy sauce…. Sure enough, the flavor of the freshness of the sushi exploded in my mouth!! I also tired Dynamite Tuna and Newport Roll and they were both amazing! looking forward to coming back soon!!!

  8. Thank you for all the support and love from all of our customers!! We will be doing customer appreciation month during november and have deals of $1=100 Yen!! Come out and try our New Port Roll, Diablo, Halibut Sashimi w/ sea salt and lime, and more of our fresh fish:) you guys will not regret our love, sushi, and service!

  9. Went last night because I was craving sushi. Delicious. I can’t wait to go back. The chef recommended one of the specials of the day, a tuna. I ordered it as sashimi and it was the best sashimi I’ve ever had. So amazingly fresh and tender.

  10. ALL I CAN SAY IS WOOWWWWW!!!! This place was just absolutely amazing and delicious!! I tried their halibut sashimi ( they put lime and sea salt and ask you to eat it by itself without any soy) and it absolutely blew my mind away! The fish was so fresh and their rolls were absolutely fabulous. When I usually have Crunchy Rolls at other sushi restraunts, the inside is usually soggy by the time it hits the table but Newport Sushi some how still retained that amazing crunchiness. I also tried the Newport Roll and that litterally made me convince that this was the best sushi i have ever had in my life. I’m half Japanese and have been having sushi since i was a little kid and this place now has a resident eater(me) there. The owner is the chef and you can tell that he really takes care of his fish.. his name is taka( very nice and use to live in California). I really recommend this place and when its busy it might take a lil more time but the wait is absolutely worth it!!!

  11. Thankyou ladies for telling me about this place. Last night we went with some friends and were not dissapointed. They has some of the best sushi I have ever had. The girls were so nice and spoke great english. They were ok when we paid half in yen and half in dollars, I think we tipped a little because we were kind of confused but they were really nice about it. The prices were awesome as well, I took a few pictures but I can’t upload them on this comment. If you go get the Capitans Boat (i think is what it was called) it was kind of pricey for 2 pieces of sushi but it was slammin!

  12. We went to Newport Sushi last night. I have to say the BEST place on island we have found. Which the best sushi we had ever had before this was, in my opinion still, was in Albuferia, Portugal! We’ve been to Yoshi’s (over rated and overpriced) been to Sushi Zen (ok but don’t care for the attitude of some of the staff and the sushi is just ok, not the best) We’ve been to uumm, forget the name, the place all the locals swear is the best, it is located beside Bovino’s on the road I call “no name road”. (That was the worst sushi experienced yet! Hair in a roll we got and the taste… I wanted to throw up all night! Guess that’s why I don’t remember the name because we will not be returning) We’ve eaten at Samurai Sushi & Izakaya. (I like them for other items other than sushi) We’ve been to Kitakaisen (one of our kids favorites and if you have none sushi eaters in the group, the menu is full of lots of items to make everyone happy. I think the Monday night half price sushi is worth the price, but still not the best sushi. The staff is wonderful and the owner gets to know you if you return several times. I would have to say a family favorite just for a dinning out night) So in our opinion for now it’s Newport Sushi for a wonderful sushi experience! A little known fact that a lot of people don’t consider…. for the best sushi at whatever is your favorite sushi place you must pay attention to that mornings sea conditions. If the water is rough and the fishing wasn’t good your not going to get the freshest sushi! So make sure you check that sea condition for that day before eating sushi that night!

  13. We ate here yesterday and all I can say it is so good. I am from California and I love crunchy rolls but no one out here ever knows what I am talking about and I am so excited that they have them here at Newport Sushi and they are delicious!!! We love this place and would recommend it to everyone!!

  14. As avid sushi eaters, our family tried this place out three times before rendering a thumbs down. While the Nigiri tuna was some of the best we’ve ever had on-island, the rolls and appetizers were mediocre at best.
    Upon our first visit, we were never served one of the appetizers we requested…we waited and finally asked about it after eating all of our other food. Apologies were made and a little issue with the language barrier kept us waiting a little while longer, before we figured out we just weren’t getting the order and they were waiting on us to leave.
    The second visit- we tried a few new things, but ended up eating again at home because the food was underwhelming. But, the third visit “put the nail in the coffin” for us. One of the edamame/soy bean pods was beyond bad…slimy, and awful. I had already slid it between my teeth before the taste and consistency hit me. It was all I could do to keep from ralphing right then and there. I couldn’t get that taste out of my mouth all nite. Didn’t eat edamame for weeks after that.

    I don’t write this lightly, and rarely complain about places. But, there needs to be a little balance in these reviews. I’m sure my experiences here can’t possibly be bad luck.

  15. Newport is our favorite sushi restaurant. The New Port Roll is excellent with spicy tuna on top and crab & asparagus tempura inside. The T Street roll is also amazing. It’s crab inside but the best part is the tuna and jalepenos (or chilis) on top. Hidetaki sears the tuna and peppers with a blowtorch. It gives the fish and peppers a smoky flavor and tastes amazing. The Diablo roll is my wife’s favorite. It’s a spicy roll served warm. On top, its got octopus, shrimp, and other seafood with a crab roll underneath. Great spicy sauce on top. All of the rolls I described are on the special sushi menus on the table.

    Any of the appetizers are worth a try as well.

    For kids, there is salmon teriyaki that our daughter loves.

    Great service as they are all extremely friendly. This is a restaurant we will crave when we’re gone.

  16. We just went here over the weekend and it is FABULOUS! We have tried lots of sushi places on this island and this is right up there at the top of the list. Loved the Crunchy Roll and they also have some rolls on their menu that I haven’t seen other places that were super yummy! A must try for sushi lovers. My son loved the teriyaki chicken, by the way.