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If you would like to enjoy Okinawan food in a traditional setting, Oshokujidokoro Chanya is the right place to go. The restaurant is a converted old-fashioned Ryukyuan-style house - complete with tile roof - and is very popular among tourists seeking the real Okinawan experience.
Chanya is nestled in Bise, a village in northern Okinawa known for a path lined with fukugi (garcinia) trees and old native houses. Hundreds of years ago, Okinawan houses were built without nails. Although itself only 55 years old, Chanya also was built without nails and replicates features of old native houses, giving visitors an idea of how Okinawans used to live.
In this setting, you can enjoy Okinawan premium “aguu” pork.
Aguu hogs are low in cholesterol and contain three or four times as much glutamic acid as regular Western-bred hogs, making the meat tender and tasty. Chanya uses the highest quality of pork from hogs raised in the Yanbaru region of northern Okinawa.
Chanya owner Makoto Kyan recommends the aguu pork shabushabu, featuring thinly sliced meat, tofu and vegetables dipped in boiling water or broth, then dipped in sauces.
“You sure will enjoy our sweet and tasty aguu pork with best in-season vegetables and seaweeds,” said Kyan, who turned his family’s home into a restaurant in 2007.
Other aguu pork sets include aguu pork touban-yaki (grilled on a ceramic plate) and aguu pork Seiromushi (steamed in a basket).
These sets include seaweeds dishes, somen-chanpuru (noodles with stir fried vegetables), seasonal vegetables, rice, soup and dessert. The vegetables are grown by Kyan and local farmers. The seafood bought daily and local markets. As for the dessert, Chanya offers visitors the opportunity to enjoy homemade seaweed jelly.
The restaurant also offers various drinks, including aged awamori (Okinwan rice brandy), Okinawan beers, wines and fresh juices. Among them, juice made from wild acerola is especially popular for its fresh, sweet, sour yet bitter flavor, which perfectly goes along with aguu pork’s rich taste, according to a review of the restaurants.
Chanya is located walking distance from Ocean Expo Park, so you can drop by this restaurant and enjoy premium aguu pork dishes on the way to or from this popular attraction.
Visit Chanya, and you can enjoy some of the best foods that todays’ Okinawa has to offer while soaking into an old native Ryukyuan atmosphere.
Oshokujidokoro Chanya
Open Daily / Lunch 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. / Dinner 5 p.m. - 10 p.m. (reservations required) Location: 624 Bise, Motobu Town (5-minute drive from Ocean Expo Park) Website: http://www.chanyaa.com/index.html facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chanya2006
For reservation, visit ws.formzu.net/fgen/S71241933/ (required), for more information, call 090-6862-4712, or email ryuukyuukominka_chanyaa@yahoo.co.jp
