10 Great Restaurants in Naha

Waryu Shuki Wadachi is demarked by a single timber-frame door close to the Makishi Public Market. It's actually just a few steps off the main thoroughfare of ever-vibrant Kokusaidori Street, though it's a pocket of rustic charm once you've entered up the twirling staircase.

Here, a tight-knit space filled with timber tables and paper lanterns is the perfect setting for sampling authentic Okinawan cooking. Specialities include egg-noodle stir-fries and braised pork belly. Wash the whole lot down with your choice of one of over 50 different awamori – a distilled rice beverage made right on the island.  

Ryukyu Cuisine MIE bills itself as more than just a restaurant. Rather, it's a fully-fledged "dining experience," all aimed at showcasing the quality and finesse of the age-old Ryukyu Kingdom cuisine. The location is very central, just one block off the main Route 58 highway that carves through downtown Naha.

The vibes begin even before the food is served. The interiors mimic the classic look of Ryukyu buildings – timber ceilings, paper-plate walls, and hardwood floors. Guests choose between 9- and 13-course tasting menus that draw on the rich local seafood and offer samplings of sashimi, mozuku (brown seaweed) broths, and more.

Toutoganashi is the place to go for your sampling of the local Okinawan soba. It certainly looks the part – you're after a stoop cottage with tiled roofs and overhanging gables just a few steps from the leafy green spaces of Yogi Park on the southeast side of town.

Once inside, get ready for a menu that excels in the soba department. The name of the game is the local broth with noodles on top. There are umpteen varieties, starting with simple concoctions that shouldn't break the bank and ending with fancy medleys that come with braised pork and seafood sashimi.

Taste of Okinawa doubles up as a craft beer hall and a place to sample the local foodstuffs of the surrounding island. It's about 500 metres – or a 7-minute walk – from the main drag of Kokusaidori Street – fronting a pavement with its wood-panelled façade and small al-fresco eating area.

This is far from fine dining. Menus are on rough printer paper and laminated sheets – presumably to protect from beer spills. They offer up salad-soup combos and sausage dishes, along with some options that were brought to Okinawa by way of the GIs, like fish and chips. Later on, the spot can get rowdier with folk who come mainly for the liquid.

Yunangi is wedged into the tight-knit blocks right there in the beating heart of Naha, only a few steps from big City Hall and the forever-bustling walks of Kokusaidori Street. It looks like an izakaya beer stop and kind of is just that, save for a menu that champions the flavours of Okinawa and the Japanese islands.

You'll sample full-fried fish and chanpuru (Okinawan stir-fry dishes) topped in plumes of beansprouts. You'll sip salty soba broths and taste tangy kombu (kelp) salads. Ice-cold Orion beers are always at hand when it's time to wash it all down, along with rice wines and sake for good measure.

Yakiniku Hana is one of the leading gastronomic lights in the happening area of Matsuyama. Wedged neatly between the wooded hills of Matsuyama Park and the lanes of Route 58, it's got an easy central location and a menu that's bound to impress many meat lovers.

The name of the game here is steak, steak, and just a little more steak. The chefs are proud of sourcing some of the most celebrated – and pricey – cuts in all of Japan, which they cook artistically over open coals. The interior is slick to match, with hidden booths and dim lighting throughout.

Afro Nest is nothing short of legendary on the Naha gastronomy scene these days. It's not your usual Okinawan kitchen with soba noodles et al, but rather brings a touch of Jamaica to this distant Pacific tropic. Look for the joint and its lantern-lit exterior a single block off the south end of Kokusaidori Street.

Jerk chicken is Afro Nest’s signature dish. A spicy mishmash of flavours inspired by the home of reggae, it's certainly different to what you might be used to in Naha. That goes well with a backing track of steel drums and dub, which can sometimes usher in lively nights of drinking at the long timber bar.

Sobe Soba, just as its name implies, is a maestro at the noodle and broth medley that Okinawa is famous for. The spot itself, sat on the south side of the city about 15 minutes' walk from Manko Park, is a trip back in time – think wood-beamed ceilings and low tables throughout.

Sobe Soba keeps its menu short and simple. There are just a handful of varieties of soba to pick from. Some have extra fillets of pork, others come with added beansprouts and wild herbs. Orion beer and potent awamori rice drinks are on offer to boot.

Steam Dining Shimabutaya is an option for those after something a little special for their evening amid the Naha food scene. It's centrally located near the Kumoji Mansion, just over the road from the Naha performing arts centre and within walking distance of the Kokusaidori drag.

There are lots to sample but its speciality is surely the steamed Agu pork. The meat used in this dish comes from the so-called phantom pig, which is an uber-rare breed of swine that's native to Okinawa. It's said that light steaming is the only way to truly preserve the flavour, giving a juicy and tender edge to the meat. We'll let you be the judge.

Ibisco offers up the familiar tastes of Italian cuisine in the heart of Okinawa's biggest city. On the eastern end of the Matsuyama district close to the water, it's accessible on foot from Naha’s downtown and seafront, which is about an 8-minute walk to the west.

The focus here is on meticulously cooked Tuscan and Lazian foods. They bring together the rich flavours of hill truffles and tomato passata, along with juicy steak cuts and cheesy tagliatelle. All that's matched by arguably one of Naha's finest wine cards, a whirlwind of imported Merlot, Frascati, and Chardonnay.