Cafe GOZZA near the Blue Cave
👋 Haisai! This is CULT.
Today’s story is about Cafe GOZZA, a great place to eat in central Okinawa. The name “Gozza” makes me chuckle a little, because it sounds like a word from a famously meme-worthy scene with the character Sim Young in the Korean drama Rustic Period. Anyway, it’s in central Okinawa, and the snorkeling hotspot Blue Cave is nearby, so it’s a nice place to stop by before or after heading out to the sea.
I went snorkeling at the Blue Cave today and… wow, there were so many Koreans. So I figured I’d better introduce this place quickly… Today was supposed to be my Okinawa rental car review day, but I’m uploading this first.
📌 Cafe GOZZA Location and Opening Hours
Details
Tuesday: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Wednesday: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Thursday: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Friday: Closed
Saturday: Closed
Sunday: Closed
Click “Cafe GOZZA” above to open the location in Google Maps. I’m consolidating and updating everything on Cultravel, but I haven’t finished the automation program yet. I’ve been so busy lately that I don’t even have time to sit down and build it… I think I’ll have time sometime next week, and I’ll let you know again once I have a version that automatically refreshes the Okinawa restaurant list. Anyway, it’s in central Okinawa, closed from Friday through Monday, and ⏰ the opening hours are 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. [Google Maps]
Usually the earliest morning slot for the Blue Cave is at 8:00, so if you finish snorkeling and pack up you’ll be around 9:30 AM — even if you dawdle a bit, you should still be able to grab a meal.
There’s an empty lot in front of the restaurant where you can park. It’s a road out in the middle of the countryside, but there was surprisingly a fair bit of traffic.
Compared with the other restaurants nearby, most of them only serve traditional Okinawan food, so I think Cafe GOZZA is the best choice for a visit with the whole family. Traditional Okinawan food isn’t something older people tend to like much, and kids aren’t big fans of it either. Near the Blue Cave, I think Cafe GOZZA is the closest place I can recommend where the whole family can eat without anyone being picky about the menu.
🔍 What the restaurant looks like
In Japan, the idea of a “restaurant” seems a bit different from what we’re used to. Restaurants are places that sell traditional dishes, and if it’s not traditional food it often just gets labeled a “cafe.” If it stays open at night, it’s simply called an Izakaya. Well… cultures can be different, but I still can’t get used to places that clearly aren’t centered around coffee or tea being openly titled a “cafe.”
And there’s no elevator, so access with a stroller or wheelchair is difficult.
First, water is self-serve, and they were also selling artwork. I did say “artworks,” right? That might be useless info for some, but others are really sensitive about it, so I’m pointing it out. The paintings had price tags of around ¥100,000 each.
I’d been fasting for 20 hours, so I made a special exception and ordered two dishes.
Okinawa-raised black pork loin katsu sandwich with GOZZA special sauce (沖縄県産 島豚ロースカツサンド GOZZA特製ソース) 1,080 yen
Okinawa-raised black pork loin katsu black curry (沖縄県産 島豚ロースカツカレー) 1,280 yen
If you thought Okinawa only had Agu pork… you’ve clearly done your homework, but besides Agu pork they also raise a lot of black pork. The south has more Agu pork, and the farther you go into central and northern Okinawa, the more black pork dishes you’ll find. However good black pork is, Agu pork is still tastier.
Two menu items were served. The portions aren’t very large.
🥪 Black Pork Tonkatsu Sandwich
When you go to Aeon Mall, their tonkatsu sandwiches are really good, right? You can get one for about 400 yen, and this feels like a premium, upgraded version of that. The pork here tastes even better. The sandwich is filled with a kurobuta (Berkshire) pork cutlet. It’s set up so it can’t help but be delicious.
This is roughly what the meat’s texture looks like.
A Reddit user from abroad asked me to include magnified detail shots, so I’ll be posting more detailed photos from now on.
This is just… doesn’t it look delicious even from the photo? It’s pretty much exactly the taste you’d expect.
These are the things that come with the sandwich — they’re just delicious. I’d been low on dietary fiber, so that was a nice bonus.
🍛 Loin Katsu Black Curry
This is a katsu curry made with black pork.
The tonkatsu is tasty, and the curry is pretty good too. Yesterday I went to a place that’s really great at curry, and compared to that, this is about 80% as good. That place is so ridiculously good that I don’t even dare call it just a “good restaurant”… I’ll tell you about it soon.
Because someone asked, I took the photo like this.
It was delicious — I finished two bowls in no time.
I managed to finish two servings by myself like this.
I actually wanted to take my time, try one thing at a time, and visit the place several times, but my goal changed from reviewing every restaurant on Kokusai Street to reviewing every restaurant across Okinawa, so I don’t have the luxury to do that… 😭
Anyway… I’m sure plenty of you are heading out to snorkel at the Blue Cave in Okinawa today. I noticed someone there asking the instructor what to eat around here. Just go to Cafe GOZZA and have the curry. It’s delicious. If I find somewhere even better, I’ll let you know.
I’ll wrap it up here, and I’ll be back tomorrow with more Okinawa travel information. Matayasai 👋
- Blue Cave snorkeling experiences often have their first slot at 8:00 a.m. The 8:00 a.m. slot is usually the most popular, so you'll typically finish snorkeling around 9:00; after showering and getting ready it'll be closer to 9:30. Since it's only about a 10-minute drive from there, arriving for Cafe GOZZA's 10:00 a.m. opening works well. If, on the other hand, you book snorkeling for 3:00 p.m., Cafe GOZZA closes at 4:00 p.m., so I generally recommend either doing the snorkeling in the morning or visiting the cafe first for a meal and then going snorkeling in the afternoon.
- I visited twice, both times on my own. I usually went at an awkward time—around 2 p.m.—so it was quiet and pleasantly comfortable. Peak hours are roughly 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., so that’s good to know.
- All the dishes at Cafe GOZZA are the kind that people of all ages generally find easy to like. Kids love them, and adults can enjoy them without feeling weighed down. There’s tonkatsu, curry, and dishes that are variations on tonkatsu and curry — with that style of food, almost anyone can enjoy a meal here. However, it might not be the best choice for vegans.
- There’s only indoor seating, so rain isn’t an issue. Snorkeling isn’t canceled just because it’s raining — cancellations depend on wave height and the direction the waves are coming from, so on most rainy days going snorkeling and then out for a meal isn’t a bad plan.
- Most of the nearby restaurants only serve traditional Okinawan food, so they're not ideal if you're visiting with children or older relatives. Okinawan dishes are often not to the taste of older Korean visitors, and kids tend not to prefer them either. Blue Cave snorkeling is a beginner course that even young children can enjoy, so many families go snorkeling together with both kids and elders — I'm introducing this cafe as a place the whole family can visit.
