Cafe GOZZA near the Blue Cave
👋 Haisai! This is CULT.
Today I’m talking about a popular cafe in central Okinawa, Cafe GOZZA. The name GOZZA… it kind of reminds me of Shim Young from the Korean drama Rustic Period, so I find it a little funny. In any case, it’s located in central Okinawa and is near the snorkeling spot Blue Cave (青の洞窟), so it’s a convenient stop before or after you go see the ocean.
I went snorkeling at the Blue Cave today… wow, there were so many Koreans. Because of that, I wanted to introduce this place quickly… Today was supposed to be the day I post my Okinawa rental car review, but I’m posting this one first.
📌 Cafe GOZZA Location and Opening Hours
Details
Thursday: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Friday: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Saturday: ClosednSunday: 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 every Sunday and 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 open area in front of the restaurant where you can park. It’s on a really rural road, but more cars pass by than you’d expect.
Compared with other nearby places — most of which mainly serve traditional Okinawan food — I think Cafe GOZZA is the best choice for a family visit. Traditional Okinawan dishes aren’t usually favorites with older adults, and kids don’t tend to enjoy them much either. If you want the closest spot near the Blue Cave where the whole family can find something they like, I think Cafe GOZZA is it.
🔍 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 ordered two items specially because I’d fasted for 20 hours.
Okinawa Prefecture–sourced black pork tonkatsu 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 Prefecture–sourced black pork tonkatsu 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 might be surprised to learn otherwise: people who know the island well raise plenty of black pork too. Agu pork is more common in the south, while black-pork dishes become more frequent the farther you go toward central and northern Okinawa. As delicious as 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.
🍛 Tonkatsu Black Curry
This is a katsu curry made with black pork.
The tonkatsu is tasty, and the curry is pretty good too. I went to a place that’s really great at curry yesterday, and compared to that, this place is only about 80% as good. That other curry place was so incredible that I still don’t dare call CAFE GOZZA a “must-visit” — I’ll write a separate post about that curry place 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… there will probably be a lot of people snorkeling at the Blue Cave in Okinawa today. I noticed some people asking their instructor what to eat nearby. Just go to Cafe GOZZA and order the curry. It’s delicious. If I find a place that’s even better, I’ll let you know.
I’ll keep this short for now and be back tomorrow with more Okinawa travel info — 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. nnIf, 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.
