About 11 minutes by car from Naha Airport. This Italian-style restaurant is located on the first floor of the Southwest Grand Hotel, a hotel just a short walk from Kumoji and Kokusai Street in Naha City. Although it is not located by the sea, there are terrace seats, giving it an urban resort atmosphere.
Point 1: What is the location of A LONG VACATION?
The decor is a mix of resort and urban. It’s cozy!)
A LONG VACATION is an Italian-style restaurant on the first floor of the Southwest Grand Hotel, located about 80 meters from the Matsuo intersection in the Kumoji direction, almost in the center of Kokusai-dori in Naha. The restaurant is located on the first floor of the Southwest Grand Hotel.
It is located on the first floor of the Southwest Grand Hotel, just a short walk from the busy Kokusai Dori street, and is a very quiet place with few people.
The hotel has a lounge on the upper floor that can be used by everyone, a free mini bar, and a superb breakfast that includes self-serve kayuyu, cut-up cheese, bagels, and other delicacies.
For an introduction to the hotel, please click here.
Although billed as an all-day dining restaurant, the hotel’s breakfast is served at the Sailor’s Club on the 11th floor, which is actually open from 11:00 a.m.
I did not have a reservation, but I was shown to my table without waiting.
The décor is warm with wood and concrete. A ceiling fan spun on the ceiling, giving the restaurant a resort-like atmosphere, but with an urban feel as if you were in Tokyo. It seems to be affiliated with the Oriental Hotel in Yurakucho, Tokyo.
Although people in their 20s to 40s may not know this, the first thing that came to mind when I heard the name “A LONG VACATION” was the album “A LONG VACATION” by Eiichi Otaki, a musician of the past.
Just by looking at the jacket depicting a colorful tropical swimming pool, I was transported to a tropical resort! I still have the cassette I was listening to at the time.
Perhaps someone from the Eiichi Otaki generation was in charge of this hotel? No wonder the hotel’s concept is “old and new.
Point 2: What is lunch like at A LONG VACATION?
(The serving style is simple and stylish! (The serving style is simple and stylish!)
A LONG VACATION offers a salad lunch, a pasta lunch, and a main lunch (1,400-2,600 yen) that includes salad, potatoes, and a main course.
There is also a “A LONG VACATION LUNCH” (3,000 yen) that includes appetizers, pasta, main dish, and dessert, and I ordered this luxurious lunch and the steak main lunch this time.
The appetizer was fresh and crunchy fresh fish carpaccio. The steak, which was thinner sliced than I expected, but had a lot of flavor, came with two different steak sauces.
Potatoes were served in a small bucket and served in style.
(At first glance, the shape is not recognizable as Mont Blanc.)
I was surprised when I saw the “Japanese chestnut Mont Blanc” for dessert! It was a shape of Mont Blanc that exceeded my imagination.
(What a surprise! There is a macaroon at the bottom of the mont blanc!)
When I broke it open a little with a fork, I found a macaroon at the bottom and chopped Japanese chestnuts on top of the macaroon! The not-too-sweet cream was topped with white chocolate.
Well, it was stylish in every way!
While I was eating, I noticed that the background music was playing “Kimi wa natu-iro” from Eiichi Otaki’s album “A LONG VACATION. For those of us of the real-time Don Picha generation, we can’t get enough of it.
I guess there are not many cafes where 80’s city pop music is so addictive.
Point 3: What is the cafe/time menu for A LONG VACATION?
A LONG VACATION is open from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. during café hours as well as lunch hours.
During café hours, non-alcoholic cocktails, coffee, tea, and light meals such as pasta and hamburgers are available, but the highlight of the café menu is the “6th Pancake” (900 yen for one pancake, 1,700 yen for two pancakes) shown in the photo.
The pancakes are fluffy, moist, and melt-in-your-mouth, and are not to be found anywhere else.
These pancakes are also popular at the affiliate 6thCAFE in Yurakucho, Tokyo.
Rich vanilla flavor. Served with salty homemade whipped butter and maple syrup.
The topping of “Hanging Bacon + Fried Eggs (800 yen)” is very Okinawan.
