About 17 minutes by car from Naha Airport. It is an Okinawan tempura restaurant located at the end of the shopping street in Matsuo, Naha City. It is located near Kokusai-Dori Street, making it easy to access. It is the perfect place to enjoy Okinawan tempura in a casual, snack-like atmosphere.
Point 1: In a shopping street near Kokusai-dori! What is the location of Goya Tempura Restaurant?
Goya Tempura Shop” is a restaurant selling Okinawan tempura located in Matsuo, Naha City.
Located at the end of a shopping street, it is only a five-minute walk from Kokusai-dori, so you can drop by and eat there on a whim.
Inside the store are hot cases of tempura, and behind them are the ladies who are busily working behind the scenes. The restaurant is open anytime during business hours but may be temporarily closed during typhoons.
It takes about 17 minutes by car from Naha Airport.
By bus, take Ryukyu Bus No. 120 or Naha Bus No. 125, which passes by Kokusai-dori, and get off at “Hotel Collective-mae”. It is a 4-minute walk to the restaurant.
Enter Ukishima-dori Street next to Lawson next to Hotel Collective, which is located almost in the center of Kokusai-dori, and you will find the shop behind Minamijima Seika, a well-known confectioner of konpen sweets.
While the glamorous Kokusai-dori Street is nice, exploring the back alleys is also a fun way to stroll around Naha.
Point 2: What kind of tempura is sold at “Goya Tempura Shop”?
Kureya Tempura sells Okinawan tempura that can be eaten like a snack.
There are a variety of tempura such as bitter melon, sweet potato, squid, string beans, fish, and Mozuku seaweed, and although they may vary slightly from day to day, the standard fish, bitter melon, and Mozuku seaweed always seem to be available.
The price of 70 yen per piece is also very reasonable.
Tempura in Okinawa is a street food, so to speak, with the batter flavored with dashi (Japanese soup stock) and eaten as if it were a snack! It is fun to eat freshly fried tempura at this store located in a shopping street where you just wander by.
Point 3: There’s more than just the standard tempura! Introducing other products from Goya Tempura Shop!
Goya Tempura Shop does not only sell vegetables and fish tempura.
There is also “Sata Andagi,” which comes in brown sugar, sesame, and plain varieties, and “Kataharahumbu,” a rare treat for people from the mainland, in which only the tempura batter is deep-fried in oil.
Sata Andagi is a well-known Okinawan snack, but many people may have never heard of Kataharahumbu before.
It is larger than vegetable or fish tempura and has no filling, just dough. In fact, in Okinawa, it means “one belly hurts” and is known as a symbolic food for men.
On the other hand, Sata Andagi is considered a food symbolizing women and is offered together with Kataharahumbu at the betrothal ceremony.
Despite being in Japan, Okinawa has a unique food culture, and it is fun to learn about Okinawan food culture while traveling.
