An Okinawan soba restaurant is still new in the Itoman area. Nanbu Soba is an Okinawan soba restaurant that is popular among tourists and residents who came from outside the prefecture.
Nanbu Soba is famous for its thick tebichi (pig’s feet), which is simmered to perfection, and the soup also has a thick bonito broth, making it a perfect match.
If you are not a fan of tebichi, you may have soba with pork ribs. The soup also matches well with the ribs. The most popular dish among ladies is “yushi tofu soba.”
[Eat Okinawa soba at Nanbu Soba during trips to Itoman, Okinawa]Tebichi is the most popular dish at Nanbu Soba!
Address: 3-2-2 Shiozaki-cho, Itoman, Okinawa.
Opening hours: 11:00-17:00 (last call 16:30), closed on Sundays
Telephone: 098-992-7711
Nanbu Soba is available in three sizes: extra-large (including three pieces of tebichi), large (including two pieces of tebichi), and medium (including two pieces of tebichi). If you order the juushii (Okinawan style of rice with assorted ingredients) set meal, or Zenzai set meal, they are available in medium for 880 JPY or large size for 980 JPY.
*Please note that prices and opening hours are subject to change.
Brown sugar and sweetened soybean flour syrup is 450 JPY, strawberry-flavored milk is 400 JPY.
You can order shaved ice a la carte or have it with a set meal at a discount.
Itoman locals gather at “Iibaruya.”
Next, the Okinawan soba restaurant “Iibaruya” attracts less tourists, but more locals in and around Itoman. Their set meals come with tofu, iced tea, and juushii.
The flavor is lighter than Nanbu Soba and other Okinawan sobas.
Apart from its soba, Iibaruya is well-known for its “honejiru” (bone soup).
[Eat Okinawa soba at Iibaruya during trips to Itoman, Okinawa]A large bowl of honejiru is beloved by Okinawans, so much so that it is often sold out!
Address: 593 Teruya, Itoman, Okinawa
Opening hours: 11:00-16:00 closed on Wednesdays and the fourth Sundays of the month.
Telephone: 098-992-1186
A large bowl of honejiru, an Itoman locals’ favorite, costs 580 JPY. Okinawa soba is available for 580 JPY and Soki soba, 650 JPY.
The juushii meal, popular with ladies, includes a small portion of Okinawa soba, a side dish (usually tofu served cold), and iced tea for 650 JPY. The children’s soba meal includes rice balls and a soft drink for 450 JPY.
The locals are quite fond of “nakamijiru”, although some tourists may not like so much.
Nakamijiru is a traditional food that is served during celebrations such as Chinese New Year, and is a soup made with pork offal. At IIbaruya, many people order the nakamijiru set meal, which includes a stir-fry dish and rice.(830 JPY).
Grandma’s home cooking, Tanpopo Shokudo.
Tanpopo Shokudo is one of the least touristy restaurants you could hope to find! There are almost no tourists there, and the restaurant is little known even to residents who have recently moved to the area.
If you want to feel the nostalgia of classic Okinawa from the Showa era, this is the place to go.
Itoman grandpas and grandmas (ojii and obaa) love this diner, and they serve a hearty helping just like other traditional Okinawan restaurants!
[Eat Okinawa soba at Tanpopo Shokudo during trips to Itoman, Okinawa]The menu has a wide variety of Okinawan dishes, from soba to tofu champuru (fried tofu), nakamijiru, and soki soup, but the most popular dish is tebichi soup.
Address: 2042-18 Aza-Itoman, Itoman, Okinawa
Opening hours: 10:30-18:30 closed on Sundays
Telephone: 098-992-1186
Their menu includes:
Boiled ashi-tebichi, ashi-tebichi soup, soki soup, and nakamijiru for 650 JPY.
Tofu stir-fry and Fu-stir-fry for 500 JPY.
Somin soup (somen noodle soup) served with side dish (e.g. stir-fry) has been an essential, traditional food for the old Bon Festival in Okinawa for a long time.
This is a good place for tourists to get to feel kindness of obaa, Okinawan grandmas.
Tamaya (outside Itoman)
Finally, although not in Itoman, there is an Okinawa soba restaurant in the neighboring city of Tomingusuku that is both easily accessible and highly regarded by Itomanchu and tourists alike: “Sobadokoro Tamaya”.
[Eat Okinawa soba at Tamaya during trips to Itoman, Okinawa]Tamaya always serves delicious food, including excellent juushii, so order it along with your soba!
Address: 1-1069 Aza-Toyosaki, Tomigusuku, Okinawa.
Opening hours: 11:00-18:0 closed on Tuesdays
Telephone: 098-850-0616
Soki soba, large for 700 JPY, small 600 JPY; Pork rib soba, large for 600 JPY, small for 500 JPY; juushii for 150, and more.
The huuchibaa (aromatic leaves) comes free of charge if you ask.
You are welcomed by a large Okinawan shisa (lion) eating soba at the entrance. Its hearty but not too strong, interesting and fun to compare against other Okinawan soba restaurants.
If you stop by Tamaya, we also recommend that you try the handmade, uniquely moist chinsuko (cookie) “kuru kuru” at the counter!
What do you think? Do you want to try these three Okinawa soba restaurants recommended by Itoman locals when you come to Okinawa?
Near Tamaya in Tomigusuku, there are various other places that are fun to visit.
The outlet mall Ashibina and the Iias Okinawa, which opened last year, are the shopping spots where locals go. The Iias Okinawa houses the nationally renowned restaurant 88 steak.
There is also the Okinawa Soba Museum in the plaza of the shopping center “Tomiton”. This place is more for locals than for tourists, but it would be interesting to stop by here as well.
Summary
Popular Okinawa soba restaurants in and around Itoman:
– Tebichi is the most popular dish at Nanbu Soba
– Eat the honejiru at Iibaruya
– Tanpopo Shokudo, the old-fashioned Showa era diner
– Tamaya’s food is authentic Okinawan and consistently delicious.
– When you go to Tamaya, try some chinsuko “kuru kuru”!
