Tsubaki-ya

To those of you who've noticed it's been a while since my last post, I apologize! My husband recently deployed, and I've been working on finding new food adventure buddies who are as adventurous as he is. For today, I'll post about Tsubaki-ya, our favorite restaurant, where we had our last dinner together.

Tsubaki-ya is an izakaya style restaurant that serves both alcohol and food. They have a great selection of awamori and sake to compliment their fresh sushi. They also serve a variety of other traditional Japanese dishes.



My husband always orders the sashimi selections of the day when we go. The fish selections range from tuna and salmon to whitefish, and once we were even served fresh octopus. You can choose a plate that comes with three types of fish, or five, and they are served with garnishes of cucumber and daikon radish. If you're feeling adventurous, it's a great choice, since you never know exactly what you'll get.



There is also a great selection of sushi rolls available. My personal favorite includes Salmon, cucumber, and cream cheese. (I can't remember at the moment whether it's called an Alaska roll or a Philadelphia roll!) They also have cucumber rolls, California rolls, and a few others. The caterpillar roll is a very pretty choice that incorporates a lot of different types of fish- great for impressing guests visiting from home.



There are also a bunch of non-sushi entrees to choose from. The tempura here is excellent, and available a la carte or as a set meal. There is a selection of yaki tori style kebab skewers, some fun appetizer selections, and some standard Japanese dishes like stir fry, white or fried rice and miso soup. Pictured above is another of my husband's favorites- vinegrated seaweed noodles, with cucumber and a lemon slice for garnish.

Cocktails are reasonably priced at around ¥500-¥800, but the selection is a bit small. They do have very good plum wine, and my husband is a fan of their campari soda and gin with lime. They also have cassis soda, which is a favorite of a friend of ours.

There is a very nice English menu available, and the staff all speak fairly good English. This place is a bit pricey when you're eating with a hungry Marine, but as a couple, we usually get out for under ¥5,000 including a few drinks.


Hours and Directions:

Tsubaki-ya opens at 5pm daily, and closes after midnight. If you leave from Camp Courtney's housing gate early enough, it would even be a decent distance to walk to on a nice evening.

Tsubaki-ya is so close to Courtney that it's actually visible from the apartment tower I live in! To get there from Camp Courtney, simply turn left onto Route 75 (a double left from the housing gate) and drive past Capital Steakhouse and the first traffic light. The restaurant is on the right immediately after that light. From this direction you'll see a concrete wall painted white that reads "Parking for Customeis Only."

From McTureous, turn right out of the gate onto Route 8. Make your way to Route 75 and turn left. After you've passed through two stop lights, you'll pass through one more intersection before seeing Tsubaki-ya on the left. If you pass through a third stop light, you've gone too far.


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Obbligato - Uruma Location

I remembered from my first stay on Okinawa that Mexican food is few and far between in Japan. Other than the numerous taco joints scattered around, the only authentic Mexican restaurant chain is Obbligato. They have several branches: one in Uruma, one on 58 between Kadena and Lester, an Oblee in Yomitan near Torii, and a new restaurant called the Tortilla Factory near Foster. I was very pleased when I found out that my apartment on Courtney was less than 5 minutes away from the Uruma store! Depending on where you live, you could even walk there on a nice day.

For as long as I can remember, I have been a huge fan of Mexican food. I've been fortunate to have spent most of my time stateside in Oklahoma and Illinois, both of which have very good, authentic Mexican food. That, combined with my fondness for good tequila, makes me a bit picky about Mexican restaurants.

I'll be the first to admit that Obbligato is a little bit Japanesey at times. For example, most of the lunch menu items include an egg over easy, and some white rice. My friends and I all think that the salsa tastes a bit like marinara sauce, too. Their biggest faux pas (in my opinion) was the fact that their margaritas are made with whiskey, and not tequila. (Shenanigans!) For the most part, though, the food is pretty good; probably the best Mexican food on Okinawa. (Okay, so they're the only option. That does technically make it the best!)



Some dishes are more authentic than others, like the Enchiladas Mexicanas that I had for lunch today. The enchilada sauce is a bit milder than you would normally expect, but I like it, and the meat inside is well seasoned. This particular set cost ¥650, and includes two enchiladas, one ground beef and one shredded chicken; a choice of beans or mole; and Mexican rice.

They have a good variety of food to choose from, and all my favorite Mexican foods are included. They have chimichangas, tacos, taco rice, mole, carnitas, and a lot more. Everything is reasonably priced, too. Lunch items tend to cost ¥800 or so, and some of the bigger meals are a little pricier, but usually aren't more than ¥1,200 or so.

Obbligato also sells their fresh, homemade flour tortillas at all of their locations. They come in packages of 6, and there are two sizes that I'll call taco sized and burrito sized because I forgot the measurements. They are definitely more expensive than the El Paso brand at the commissary, but sometimes it's nice to splurge on fresh stuff.


Hours and Info:

Obbligato is open from 11:00 am until 10:30 pm every day. If you'd like to call for take-out, their number is 098-972-4220. The staff speaks very good English, and usually your order will be ready by the time you drive over there. Their website is http://www.obbligato.co.jp/, and they do list their menu items online, complete with photos. There is plenty of parking in the front of the building.

Directions:

From Courtney, turn left onto Route 75. Obbligato will be on the right just past the first stop light at the Family Mart.

From McTureous, turn right onto Route 8. When you come to Route 75, turn left. Obbligato will be on the left.


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Kaisen Sumibiyaki Shinsenmaru

My husband took me to this great Izakaya (Japanese bar and grill type restaurant) a few weeks ago. He had his eye on it for quite some time, but recently I have been very picky about what type of food I am in the mood for. He finally convinced me, and we both really enjoyed it! We plan to visit again sometime when I can get up the nerve to call in and make a reservation in Japanese.

When we arrived, there was a valet outside. Since there was an open parking spot right across from the door, we just parked and walked in, but we saw him retrieve a car for another couple after they had finished their meal. I believe his main job is to make sure customers aren't parked in spaces where they'll get towed.

After you go through the large entrance way, you'll climb a flight of stairs to get to the restaurant. They have mostly Western style tables that are separated into rows by wall dividers. It's dimly lit like you'd expect a bar restaurant to be. They told us when we arrived at 6:00 pm that we needed to be finished by 8:00 pm because they were booked solid for the night. I would recommend making a reservation if you plan to try this place!

The food there was fairly good, and not too expensive. They served a variety of a la carte items, including pizza, salad, yakitori, assorted appetizers, and a big variety of sushi and sashimi. Prices for each individual item were around ¥300-¥400 for the smaller items like yakitori or some of the nigiri sushi. Pizzas were a little more expensive, around ¥600 for the one we tried, but some were more expensive. The pizzas were a little small, if my husband had ordered only it, he would've left hungry. They come in 6 pieces, about the size of a small in the states. Some of the larger items and the set arrangements of sushi and sashimi were around ¥1,200 or so.

It was pretty dark inside, so we couldn't take pictures of our food, but we enjoyed it! I loved their vegetable Kimchee, and I also ordered an asparagus and bacon kebab. We ordered a set arrangement of sashimi, and two kinds of nigiri sushi. Their fish was very good! We both loved it. My husband also ordered fried cheese, which was essentially a cheddar cheese lumpia, and it came with ketchup and mayonnaise. He also tried the Potato pizza. It was good, but not at all what we expected! It had mashed potatoes on a thin crust with no sauce, and it was covered in cheese and a mayo sauce. Next time, I would rather try the taco pizza, it sounded good! We got out for only ¥4910, which is pretty good for the amount of food and drinks we had ordered.

The best deal there seemed to be the drinks. They have a great special where if you ask for it ahead of time, every alcoholic drink you order for an hour's time is only ¥105. Kirin Draft beer and their cocktails are usually ¥399. I ordered a soft drink, which was ¥300 or so, but beware there are no free refills! My husband ordered two draft beers, and ended up paying ¥210, while we paid ¥600 for my oolong teas!

The staff spoke fairly good English. However, I will warn you that the English menu they brought us didn't include the list for sushi or sashimi, the day's specials, or the drink menu. I am unclear whether there is a printed English drink menu or not- he seemed to understand that I could read a little, and since we didn't order mixed cocktails it wasn't an issue for us.


So how much Japanese should you know to go here?

Overall, you could probably get away with little to no Japanese knowledge, if you are smart about reading the menu. If you don't read Japanese, but want sushi or sashimi, there are a few premade sets of each. You will be able to identify them on the menu because they are more expensive than everything else listed, and they have numbered how many kinds of fish come in the set. If that fails, you can point at the pretty picture of the set on the menu, and your server should be able to help you from there. Don't do this if you are picky about fish, because our sashimi had both ika (cuttlefish) and tako (octopus) sashimi in it! Luckily, I like ika and my husband can stomach anything.

If you are fairly proficient at reading Katakana, you will be able to make out everything on the drink menu. If you know both Hiragana and Katakana, you can read about 90% of the sushi and sashimi list. I have taken some Japanese classes in college, and I was able to read everything I wanted to on the menu, albeit slowly! There was some kanji that I didn't completely remember, but it is pretty self explanatory what it means.

If you are calling to make a reservation, I think it would help to know some Japanese, but you could probably get away with just leaving your name, a time, and the number of people in English.




Directions:

Kaisen Sumibiyaki Shinsenmaru is located on top of the Lawson convenience store on the corner of Route 75 and Route 8.

From Courtney, simply hang a left onto Route 75, and continue until you see the Lawson at Route 8. You can turn straight into the Lawson parking lot, just be careful not to park in the marked "Lawson Customer" spots. (The first letter in Lawson in Japanese looks like an empty square box.) Or use the valet.

From McTureous, take a right on Route 8 immediately out the gate. The Izakaya will be on the left immediately after KFC.

From Foster or Kadena, make your way to Route 330, and head north. Route 330 will turn into Route 75 as you enter Uruma city, so just continue straight until you see signs for Route 8. The restaurant will be on the left, so turn onto Route 8, and then hang the first right into the parking lot.


Map:

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