The Best Value Home-Style Restaurant: Takara Shokudo
👋 Haisai! I’m CULT.
Today, let’s talk about a great value restaurant in Okinawa called Takara Shokudo. While it’s nice to enjoy Japanese home-style meals when visiting Japan, since you’re in Okinawa, you should try something a bit more Okinawan, don’t you think?
📌 Location and Appearance of the Restaurant
The restaurant is located between Fukushu-en and the Naminoue Shrine in Naha city. It’s in a great spot where you can visit both attractions and enjoy a meal at the same time. The restaurant is closed every Thursday, and ⏰ the opening hours are from 10:00 AM to 7:45 PM. [Google Map]
This is the view in front of the restaurant. There is parking available for about six cars, but as it’s a popular spot during lunchtime, you might need to park elsewhere. There are plenty of coin-operated parking lots nearby, so you could park there while you enjoy your meal, and perhaps visit Naminoue Shrine or explore Fukushuen afterwards.
The interior of the restaurant looks like this.
It resembles the typical setting of a restaurant serving simple home-style meals. However, for travellers from Western countries, it might offer a slightly unique atmosphere.
Ordering is done by purchasing a meal ticket from the vending machine and handing it to the staff. Japanese readers might wonder why such a simple process needs explaining, but since this is also for Western readers, I’ll go into a bit more detail.
For foreigners, excluding Japanese, it can be challenging to understand what’s written on the meal ticket vending machine. A good approach is to look at the pictures on the right side of the machine. Using Google Lens is an option, but the fact that there are photos displayed likely indicates popular menu items.
Insert cash, select your desired menu item, and a meal ticket will be dispensed. Simply hand this ticket to the staff and take a seat.
This is just an example, but this is what the meal ticket looks like.
It’s a very common system in Japan, but during my 11 years in Europe, I never saw this system in operation there. The ordering system at McDonald’s kiosks is somewhat similar, but since kiosks don’t accept cash, it feels quite different.
And they also provide refreshing water.
Although I am Korean, as I mentioned earlier, I lived in Prague, Czech Republic for 11 years. So, I still find it a bit unusual to be given water for free. Yes, for those of you coming from the West, feel free to enjoy the chilled ice water.
🍱 Okinawa Foodie Spot: The Dishes at Takara Shokudo
The first time I visited Takara Shokudo, I tried the Lunch Menu B. It was priced at 950 yen, and after ordering, it took about 10 minutes to receive the food. The meal included Okinawa soba, karaage, tonkatsu, and a fried egg—everything I love was there, and even before tasting it, the combination already lifted my spirits.
Okinawa soba has a slightly undercooked noodle texture that some older Koreans might not prefer.
It seems unavoidable. The older the restaurant and the more it is run by Okinawa locals, the more pronounced this becomes. On the other hand, in a trendy shop in the city centre with a very young chef, the noodles might be quite soft, but not here! If you’re a foreigner and part of the younger generation, it’s a style you can enjoy without hesitation.
Plus, there are salads and small dishes like tonkatsu, so there are plenty of options to enjoy a varied meal without getting bored.
I feel grateful to be able to eat so heartily at this price. Where else can you find a restaurant like this? (Well, there are actually more.)
The next time I visited, I ordered the Mini Donburi Soba Set (ミニ丼そばセット). I’ve tried various dishes, and I recommend this one the most. The price is 1,100 yen.
We’ve already covered Okinawa soba, so I’ll skip that part. The food is delicious, and it’s wonderful that you can enjoy such a wide variety, including shrimp tempura, eel, and sashimi rice bowls. It’s impressive that you can feel so full for just 1,100 yen; it’s truly a satisfying meal.
As expected, here’s a photo to prove how well I ate.
The following is tuna rice bowl (まぐろ丼).
This requires a bit of caution. You need to carefully drizzle the soy sauce and distribute it well with the rice and tuna, as the eating method is quite complex. Koreans might just mix in the soy sauce and stir it all together, but Japanese people might find that strange, and Westerners are likely to eat the tuna and rice separately. Therefore, I recommend this dish only to those who can enjoy the harmony of soy sauce, tuna, and rice.
So, I just recommend enjoying the second mini donburi soba set instead.
We’ve already talked about Okinawa soba, so I’ll skip that. As for the tuna rice bowl… the portion is really large. It’s a dish you should have when you’re very hungry, and as I mentioned earlier, the way to eat it can be a bit tricky. I don’t think it’s much of a challenge for Japanese people, though. I’ve only ever seen Japanese people eat it properly.
What do you think? Takara Shokudo offers a very filling meal at an affordable price. While it’s suitable for Koreans, in my experience, it might be more popular with Westerners, even though it’s not well-known among them. Now that you know, why not give it a try? I really like this restaurant!
That’s all for today. I’ll be back tomorrow with more news from my Okinawa travels. Matayasai 👋
