Kokusai Street: Korean-style Papa Chicken
👋 Haisai! I’m CULT.
Today it’s a tasty spot in Okinawa… Papa Chicken at the entrance to Kokusai-dori. It’s run by Koreans and serves Korean-style fried chicken. Well… I might get that in Prague, but Okinawa is close to Korea, so I’m not sure how many people would be looking for Korean food or Korean-style chicken. I meet Korean travelers all the time, though, and from talking with them I find surprisingly many come for 14 or 15 nights. They’re almost like resort residents — many get tired of resort food and look for Korean cuisine.
Anyway, if you feel like having Korean-style fried chicken while traveling, it’s a nice place to try. It’s located at the east entrance of Kokusai-dori around the Asato area.
📌 Location of Papa Chicken
Details
Closed every Thursday.
It’s located at the east end of Kokusai Street. Asato is… kind of one of Okinawa’s affluent neighborhoods, so parking is a bit pricey. Usually about ¥200 for 30 minutes, and it’s closed every Thursday. ⏰ Hours are 11:00 AM to 2:00 AM. On Sundays it’s only open until midnight. [Google Maps]
Papachikin is a traditional Korean-style chicken, like Cheogajip Yangnyeom Chicken or Mexican Chicken. If you want a modern style like BHC Ppurinkle, I recommend checking out Hongdae Chicken. Personally, I prefer the former.
The owner is Korean, so you can just walk in and say “hello~”. It’s a small shop with several two-person and four-person tables, so at best about eight people — and when it’s quiet maybe up to ten — can sit together. In Okinawa there are actually quite a few families who travel in groups of ten. Well… I meet those families almost every day. They always ask, “We’re a group of ten; can you tell us restaurants that can take us?” So I’m letting you know in advance.
The tables are easy to move, so if you’re in a group you can ask them to rearrange them a bit.
🍗 Half Yangnyeom, Half Spicy Yangnyeom
These are the side dishes that come as standard. It had been ages since I last ate julienned radish… so the only thing I remember from here is the radish. I’ve been living abroad for 12 years now… I’m not especially homesick for Korean food. I don’t get homesick — I just enjoy the local cuisine. Except for Middle Eastern food…
This is a half-and-half chicken — half yangnyeom (sweet-spicy sauce), half spicy yangnyeom. The price is ¥2,800, so it’s a bit pricey. Well… since it’s overseas and they import ingredients from Korea, of course the price is higher.
One thing I can say for sure… the sauce is kind of… not great. It’s been localized for Japanese tastes, so there’s not a hint of spiciness and it ends up really bland. The sauce just tastes sweet. However, the spicy sauce tastes like the Cheogajip Yangnyeom Tongdak sauce I used to eat in Korea. The spicy version is much better, so order it spicy.
Ah… it was tasty, but something felt a bit lacking… and that was the beer. Chicken is heavenly with a Pilsner bottled fresh from the Plzeň brewery, but the only one I get nostalgic for is Pilsner Urquell. Anyway, I enjoyed the meal with a friend… we went to karaoke, sang our hearts out, and then parted ways.
🚲 Takeout
Today.
The supermarket was closed… Without thinking much, I went to buy chicken, picked it up as takeout, and I’m on my way home.
The lid is left open on top to prevent it from getting soggy.
This is something I used to complain about all the time when I lived in Prague, but they never changed it… So when you order chicken delivery in Prague, it tastes awful… soggy..
Anyway, with the lid open it’s less soggy. Of course… I dawdled on the way home, took a few weather photos and some video, so it did get a little soggy.
Oh? I ordered the regular seasoning instead of the spicy one… Oh no…
I bought the 16-piece for 2,800 yen.
I ate them all by myself at home and felt like I was going to burst… The regular sauce is pretty sweet, so I only recommend the spicy one.
They didn’t have Pepsi Zero, so I bought Coke Zero.
World’s number-one country where Coca-Cola tastes the worst: South Korea
World’s number-two country where Coca-Cola tastes the worst: Japan
Did I finish it?
Normally it should revive and all, but that cliché doesn’t work…
Anyway, it was a proper day off for the first time in a while (?), so I wrestled with Photoshop all day and then happily ate a delicious dinner.
One more time: get the spicy sauce. Papa Chicken — the spicy one!
Alright, I’ll wrap it up here and I’ll be back tomorrow with more Okinawa travel info. Matayasai 👋
- There are several 2-person and 4-person tables, and if arranged well you can fit up to eight people. When larger groups come, they’ll join tables together to accommodate more guests. The place isn’t very spacious, so even with tables pushed together, about 12 people could probably sit at one combined table.
- Yangnyeom chicken can seem a bit mild to Koreans. Because Koreans prefer spicier flavors than Japanese people, the standard yangnyeom chicken here has been localized for Japanese tastes. For Koreans, a spicy yangnyeom chicken would be the typical version in Korea. I’d recommend this place more to Japanese or Western travelers.
- It's not like that at all. Japan has a well-developed culture of dining alone, so if you'd like to eat by yourself, feel free to visit—there's no need to feel self-conscious.
- Because it’s an indoor shop, rainy days aren’t a problem. And since it’s right at the start of International Street and in an area with well-maintained drainage, you don’t need to worry much about rain.
- As a Korean, I find the spicy yangnyeom chicken to be just like a typical Korean yangnyeom chicken. However, for Japanese people this is very spicy, so they might find the regular yangnyeom chicken more to their taste.
