This cafe with a curry shop is located in Motobu-cho, in the northern part of Okinawa’s main island, about 1 hour and 25 minutes by car from Naha Airport. The staff is male, and the store’s exterior and interior are bare concrete, giving it a hard look, but it has a reputation for serving a wide variety of coffees from around the world, as well as authentic and exquisite curry! What kind of cafe is it?
Point 1: COFFEE SENTI is a stylish cafe in the mountains!
Okinawa has many truly unique cafes. Among them, there are quite a few that are run by all-male staff and offer excellent coffee and food.
This “COFFEE SENTI” is one of them, with an astonishingly high 4.7 review score!
Located about an hour and a half drive from Naha Airport, this cafe was established in July 2021 on the way to Nago Pineapple Park and Churaumi Aquarium.
It is located on the way to Nago Pineapple Park and Churaumi Aquarium. A café opened in a place like this! and many people seem to be determined to repeat their visit because of the delicious coffee.
Inside the store, you can smell the aroma of roasting coffee.
The cafe, run by several men in casual sweatshirts with black caps, offers coffees from all over the world, including South America and Asia, and they are brewed well, with a great aroma and taste.
The “cold brew” is one of the most popular, inexpensive, and flavorful at 500 yen!
Also popular are the muffins from the popular “SoySoy Cafe” in Motobu-cho and the store’s original “Oreo Cheesecake.
It is also fun to order a cold menu item and have it served in a colorful Okinawan glass!
In addition, Warung Rempah, an Indonesian-style curry restaurant, is located in the back of the store, and the two stores are connected in an interesting structure.
Point 2: COFFEE SENTI began with crowdfunding!
COFFEE SENTI was created by raising funds through crowdfunding in 2021.
Okinawa is a place where tourists come from all over the world. Since many of the guests are down-to-earth people, they need a place to drink authentic tasting coffee, and the store owners must have seen this as an opportunity.
The crowdfunding campaign launched to connect people with Okinawa’s rich nature, regional development, and the happiness of Uchinanchu, raised a lot of funds, and the store will open in July 2021.
Raising funds through crowdfunding is a very current way of starting a business, isn’t it?
In addition, COFFEE SENTI’s interior background music is elaborate and has a reputation for being good, with slightly nostalgic Western music to K-POP that fits perfectly with the atmosphere of the restaurant.
In contrast to the hard concrete interior, the exposed wooden beams of the ceiling are also a nice touch, which may contribute to the cozy atmosphere.
Point 3: COFFEE SENTI guest baristas and pop-up stores are fun!
COFFEE SENTI sometimes invites “guest baristas” from Tokyo and other places.
The Okinawan coffee industry is currently working hard in partnership with farmers to market Okinawan coffee, but these “guest baristas” are a great source of inspiration when you want to try a different kind of coffee once in a while.
It is also fun to have a pop-up store with goods and coffee beans in the store to go along with them.
It is a good opportunity for the guests to learn about Okinawa’s unique coffee, and I think it is also a good way to enhance each other’s knowledge.
I hope the store will continue to do its best by absorbing various knowledge about coffee and feeding it back into the creation of the store.
