Sushi Bar Yoshihachi near Kadena serves some great sushi

Sushi Bar Yoshihachi in Chatan has been a hit with the military community in Okinawa because of its innovative sushi rolls.

It is not common to see Western-style sushi rolls at your typical sushi restaurant in Japan. However, Yoshihachi serves up more than 30 original ones.

Yoshio Maekawa, owner of Yoshihachi, opened the restaurant more than 20 years ago after spending 10 years as a sushi chef in many places across the United States. His experience and passion has made him known as a pioneer of sushi rolls in Okinawa.

Some of his specialties include the Love Roll and its sweet aroma of brandy (700 yen), Chatan Roll with shrimp, capelin roe or masago, avocado, cucumber and cream cheese (800 yen), and the Sweet Potato Rainbow Roll with Okinawan sweet potato, pumpkin, avocado and crab. (900 yen).

The restaurant’s California Roll (600 yen), Rainbow Roll (1,100 yen), Soft-shell Crab Roll with soft-shell crab, avocado and sprouts (800 yen) and its Spicy-Tuna Roll are some of popular choices by customers, according to the restaurant.

The restaurant recommends its customers to order the Yoshihachi Set, which includes a California roll and eight different sushi nigiri (1700 yen), which allows them to sample a little bit of everything.

But Sushi is not the only thing they serve at Yoshihachi. A variety of local dishes are available, so if you’re not into raw fish, there’s still plenty to enjoy. In fact, it offers more than 200, including tofu stir-fry, tempura and teriyaki chicken.

As for Maekawa, he continues to create new sushi rolls for his clientele, 80 percent of whom are American. And this place gets packed so go early if you don’t want to wait to be seated. But if you have to wait, you’ll enjoy checking out all the photos of famous athletes and celebrities who have visited the restaurant.

They have counter seats and Japanese-style tatami rooms. U.S. dollars are accepted, but credit cards are not accepted.

So, if you feel like trying something different from typical Japanese sushi, roll down to Yoshihachi.

Address: 590-3, Kuwae, Chatan-cho, Nakagami-gun, Okinawa 904-0103
TEL: 098-936-2359