Slurp Okinawan noodles at seaside restaurant near Kadena AB

If you are looking for a tasty Okinawa noodle shop near Kadena Air Base, Hamaya is the place to go.

Located at Sunabe Seawall in Chatan Town, this 40-year-old Okinawa noodle shop is very popular with locals and tourists alike – one of the town’s most popular, according to a Chatan Town Visitors Association staffer.

Why?

Unlike your typical Okinawan noodle shop, Hamaya’s doesn’t use soy sauce in its noodle dishes but only salt to season the soup.

“With our complex blend of flavors from bonito (dried fish) flakes, pork and chicken, only salt can give our noodles the perfect balance for that profound taste,” says Hamaya’s Katsuya Omine.

“Usually, we eat Okinawan noodles with red pickled ginger,” adds Omine. “The simple yet full-flavored clear salt-based broth goes well with the extremely tender pork spare ribs and chewy noodles.”

Hamaya’s rich soup broth has even attracted the attention of local gourmets as well as from many visitors to Okinawa, according to the visitors association.

Its soba, which costs 500 yen ($4.35), comes highly recommended. 

“This is a typical Okinawan noodle with stewed ‘soki’ (spare ribs with the cartilage still attached) and a soy-flavored thin omelet on top,” says Omine.  “Since the cartilage is very tender, even seniors can eat it easily.”

Other popular menu items at Hamaya include Sanmai Niku, or three-spare ribs, soba (750 yen) and Okinawa Soba (800 yen).

Besides its tasty noodles, this eatery is also popular for its ideal location at Sunabe Seawall, a good diving spot and mecca for divers, surfers and swimmers. Wet swimwear? No problem. There’s plenty of outside seating at Hamaya to accommodate this crowd.

“Since our shop is located only a 10-second walk from the beach and faces the West, you can enjoy breathtaking sunsets with our tasty noodles as well,” says Omine, adding that it makes for an ideal date spot. “Since the beach is beautiful, we often see video crews coming here to shoot for TV programs.”

Of course, a cameo in a local TV show, or even luck in romance, are not on the menu at Hamaya. But according to the talk around town, you can count on a great bowl of noodles and a sunset to match.

Hours: 10 a.m.- 5:30 p.m. (last order at 5:00 p.m.)
Address:  2-9-9 Miyagi, Chatan-cho (near Kadena Air Base, 10 minutes from Kokutai-Iriguchi bus stop)
Website (in Japanese)
Tel: 098-936-5929 (Japanese)