CONTRIBUTED BY LEEANN STEVENS

Sea Garden View
Sea Garden View

My husband and I found the perfect restaurant for our date nights. Sea Garden is right by the sea, perfect ambience and delicious food!

The restaurant has indoor and outdoor seating. We preferred to sit outdoors. As the sun sets, you can see American village light up. If you decide to sit outside, the staff brings you a blanket if you want one.

Sea Garden Mai Tai
Sea Garden Mai Tai

We started off with drinks. I tried the long island ice tea and the tropical mai tai. My husband had mango juice. They have a detailed menu for drinks.

Their menus are simple and each item has a corresponding picture. We tried the cheese fondue, with extra bread (which I would recommend). The fondue is very creamy and delicious. We also tried the bruschetta. Please note: your food will look exactly like what you see in the picture! So, we got three slices of bread with the bruschetta.

Sea Garden Beef
Sea Garden Beef

For our main course I got the chicken leg confee with honey and mustard sauce. I must say they serve this dish with a lot of grainy mustard. So if you are not a fan of mustard, I wouldn’t suggest this meal. My husband had the grilled beef with garlic butter sauce. The beef was delicious. I will definitely be getting that the next time we go. There were a few fries served with our meals.

I wouldn’t suggest bringing kids as smoking is permitted indoors and outdoors.

Sea Garden Exterior
Sea Garden Exterior

Hours:  The staff was very friendly and attentive. They were prompt with their service as well. The restaurant is open only for dinner. They start seating at 1700 and close at 2500. Last order is at 23.50.

Payment:  They accept credit card, yen and dollars. (There is a 100 yen service charge.)

Website:  You get a detailed view of the restaurant and menu download here- https://www.seagarden-okinawa.com/

Phone: 098-926- 2755.  Reservations are required.

Directions: The website has directions on it with a picture —  From Kadena Gate 1- go out of KAB gate1, turn left. Go past the first light and at the second one, turn right. You will see a family mart and a Lawsons opposite each other. Go straight all the way. You will reach the sea wall. We parked at the sea wall and walked ‘back’ along the sea wall. You will the restaurant on the second floor on your left hand side.

15 COMMENTS

  1. My husband and I went here for date night. The food is amazing, but the service was absolutely terrible. We had reservations at 2100 and got there a little early, but we were still seated. We had three different waitresses by the time we left. We had ordered desserts and waited a while and the table next to us who had just been seated about ten minutes into us ordering desserts had three plates of food and drinks and we still were waiting on our dessert. Eventually we got up he paid and cancelled the dessert. Almost an hour we waited for the dessert.

  2. A few friends and I met up for dinner tonight here. However, my perspective might be a bit skewed because our reservation was at 5:30pm, half an hour after they opened, and it was a Monday night. We were one of two groups inside the restaurant, and the other group was in another corner. There were three, maybe four, groups outside by the time we left.

    We weren’t told of any time we had to be out of there, though it was rather early, and we stayed until roughly 8pm.

    The service was alright; it was nothing fantastic, but it wasn’t terrible. There was one point where I basically had to raise my hand to get a server’s attention, but they came over within a few seconds because it wasn’t crowded inside the restaurant. They were “sold out” of one of the pizzas, though I assume it’s because they didn’t have the toppings for it rather than being sold out. It could have been a seasonal dish for all I know since I can’t read Japanese.

    The food was good, but it’s definitely not worth the price by any means. The servings are very small, too, if anyone would like to know.

    The view is spectacular, especially during the sunset and evening hours when all the lights of the city are on!

  3. I visited Sea Garden twice in the last two months and was disappointed both times. Twice, we made reservations and both times, we were informed when we arrived that we had 1.5 hours (the first time) and 1 hour (the second time) to eat before the next group was going to arrive and take our reserved area. Because we had a group of several people, we couldn’t just move to another place. Also, the first time, the food was mediocre; not like our previous visits, and the service was not warm or welcoming. The second time, I had ordered coffee while friends had their meal and it took until everyone was nearly finished eating before I received it. When I tried canceling it, I was of course served my coffee within that minute and it was too late to cancel since the server said it was being made (he called in the cancellation over the earpiece and then came back a few moments later to say it was being made). That made for an awkward time in which everyone was done eating and suddenly I had this huge cup of coffee to gulp down so we could move on with our evening.

    Thus, the moral of the story is… In my experience, the service from the staff and food has become disappointing and cold. I highly recommend trying other restaurants but if you really want to go to Sea Garden, please make sure you confirm you have enough time in your reservation before they tell you upon your arrival and then ask you to finish up because the next group is there. TRY CAFE NIRAI which is right around the corner and ALWAYS makes you feel welcome 🙂

    • Good review. I was interested to know as much as I could about this place lately, since some of the latest reviews were completed in 2013. I was actually planning a Birthday dinner there with some friends. I feel more confident exploring other options. Good to know about the time limit deal they have. SUCKS!!

  4. I went with my husband to celebrate our anniversary. It was wonderful. Of course the day we went, it was pouring down rain so we couldn’t sit outside. The staff was excellent, the food was delicious and the ambience was perfect. Will go there again.

  5. This place is cheap (as in poor quality). I asked for blood orange juice and they brought Minute Maid concentrate. … finish it up with a pretty flower and make it “look” fancy. I can make my own sushi, thank you!

  6. We love this place! Being foodies from CA, this is up there with some of our favorite restaurants back home. As good as Transit cafe (same owner). Good variety of dishes and great drinks. Service is awesome and the fondue is a must!

  7. The GOOD: Service, Food, Drink

    From the moment we walked through the sliding doors we were greeted in traditional tongue, taken immmediately to our table and provided prompt beverage service. Drinks were excellent, and price was average compared to usual “high-end” spot. The ambiance was amazing! Everything from interior decor, lighting, seating and overall service was on point. The waitress (though, I don’t remember her name) was on que from the moment we arrived. She timed her arrival departure, ordering just perfectly. So perfectly that during a “low” in my efforts to stay connected to my date-our waitress came to my rescue! She provided just enough interruption to prevent me from rambling on. And of course, not having to tip is always a plus….(although, I wouldn’t have mind purely due to her outstanding service). The best part was the food, I ordered spring rolls, sliced beef w/ veg, spaggetti w/ crab legs, clam for appettizer. There isn’t much more to say about the food, it was prepared to impress and it did exactly that. Drinks were excellent as well. My date order coconut/mango tropical drink which was prepared with all the trimmings (umbrella, slice of pineapple, funny looking spoon, and straws). However it was more sugar than alcohol.

    The BAD: Parking was difficult since there is limited space near the resturant. We found ourself driving couple loops to find a suitable parking. the Sea wall parking closes by 2200 so your best bet is finding someplace in the nearby side streets. Just make sure you don’t block anythones entrance/exit points including driveways.
    Once inside, the chairs (table for two) seem little overally large, meaning to lean back would require almost reclining your body, and we all know slumping over on your date is a no-no.

    The UGLY: absolutely none.

    With that said, highly recommend this spot to couples or group friends to eat well, drink a little and enjoy each other’s company, I know I did!

  8. I ate at Sea Garden with friends a couple of weeks ago. The servers were really friendly, but they had no idea about who ordered what at our table of seven people despite assigning us all numbers when we arrived. Every time they brought additional food out, they gave it to the wrong person. At the end, our bills were all mixed-up and fixing them added and extra 25 minutes to our time there. I ordered summer rolls, a California roll, and a salad- All were delicious and filling. I liked that I had the option of ordering a smaller size portion of my food because there is no way I could have eaten the larger portions. As appetizers, we ordered cheese fondue and bruschetta. The cheese fondue was really tasty (and, yes, order the extra bread…). The bruschetta was not good at all. My friends all seemed happy with the food they ordered. The drinks were pretty and tasted good, but they were pricey and we could hardly taste any alcohol in them. One last thing that we didn’t consider when we made reservations for 6pm- We sat outside and the smell from the low tide was really awful.