Hidden Café by the Beach | Okinawa Day 3 –

Hidden Café by the Beach | Okinawa Day 3 –

back and greetings from Naha Okinawa. So this is uh day three here in Naha. I am standing outside Fukushuin Garden, one of my favorite gardens here in Naha. But the gardens is not my destination. Today I’m going to be visiting a cafe. Uh that’s uh near Namino Uichi. That’s the beach with a highway running across it and it’s walking distance from uh Naha city center. And so yeah, let’s go check it out. So this is the garden and that way is uh Naha Kokai and that’s where I’m staying. And I just walked about uh maybe uh 5 minutes and uh Naminoi Beachi is maybe about another 15-minute walk from here. But the cafe is between here and the beach. I believe today is a little bit cloudier than yesterday, but it’s still nice and it’s also a little hotter today. Maybe muggier, but once again, it’s not too bad. I feel like this is one of the best times to visit uh Okinawa. You know, it’s not raining. There’s no typhoon and it’s not that hot. Bugin villia. You can see lots of bugimilia blooming here in Okinawa. It’s really beautiful, isn’t it? And I didn’t know, but bug villia, you know, the the the the colors, they are not flowers. I heard that they are actually leaves that change color. Isn’t that interesting? Correct me if I’m wrong, though. Wow. There is actually a huge cruise ship over there. That means we’re very near the harbor. But anyway, um I just realized that the cafe was actually nearer to the beach than I I thought. And if you’re in this neighborhood and heading back to the hotel or maybe you want something to drink or something to nibble on, there is a max value store here which is nice to pick up something to drink and eat. Namino U beach that way. You know, on this trip, I’ve been fortunate enough to visit a few new places. Uh the last time I went to Scoop, which is like a cafe/ gelataria, and I really recommended that one is uh that one is um really uh inside Naha. It’s It’s very uh centrally located uh uh near Kokaii. You guys see the cruise ship over here? Look, there’s a cruise ship. Wow. And right across that is Namino Beach. But I believe the cafe is down this street. So, let’s go look for it. Let’s see. Let’s see if I can actually find the cafe for us. They’re doing some kind of construction at the beach right now. Wonder what they’re doing. Can you guys hear that? They’re doing something that’s at the harbor. Maybe this is the the garden area of uh Naminoi beach. I believe this is the only beach in the city of Naha. Naha is a metropolitan area. Hm. Let’s see. Do I see a cafe? It should be around here somewhere. Yeah, I think this is a brand new cafe. I think they just opened. Um, okay. I think I found it. Here we go. Niji Cafe. It’s really hard to spot. Uh, yeah. So, the beach is right here. Uh, uh, we we’ll visit the beach later after the cafe. And um that has closed down. This used to be a hotel and a restaurant, I think. Anyway, the cafe is right here. Look at this. Whoops. Watch out for cars. Here we are. This is Nijito Cafe. Hello. So, this is Dennis. He owns this place with your husband, correct? That’s right. We opened on March 9th of 2025. Okay. So, so just opened pretty much. Yeah. Yeah. We’re we’re in we’re in early days here. We are in Naha at uh Namino U Beach. Um Namino U is uh very very easy to find here in Okinawa. Um there’s a shrine nearby that’s very popular. People come to this beach all the time. The area around here um has kind of been coming up. There’s um a really good taco place around the corner. There’s car rental places here. There’s some Airbnb places around. Um and we found a very very very very tiny place um to get uh takeaway um food. Koji is the chef. Um between the two of us, we have 40 years of experience. He has 40 years experience. I’m not a chef. Really? I stand here and look pretty. That’s so Koji son has experience in uh you used to be a chef or something. Uh yes, yes, yes, absolutely. Oh, wow. That’s amazing. Say hello, Koji. Oh, by the way, I love your uniforms, your aprons. Thank you. They’re so cute. They’re so nice. Okay, so I got my drink and food. Let’s go eat. Let’s go eat this. I got the Yuk style chicken rice. That’s their signature dish. And I think that’s the cool thing about this cafe. It’s right It’s literally right across from this beach right here. Look at this. Sure, there is a highway running across the beach, but the waters are kind of amazingly clear and it’s really nice and it’s walking distance from the city. Okay, I think I’m going to sit right here on these uh benches here. Yeah, this looks perfect. All right. So, first things first, let’s drink my sangria. The housemade sangria. Looks good. Takimos. Oh, it’s kind of hot today. Ooh. Oh, wow. Okay, that’s a good sangria. I did not expect it to be so good. M. Definitely boozy, but fruity. Just the perfect amount of sweetness. Yum, yum. Pardon the noise because of the construction they’re doing. Usually this beach is quite peaceful. But anyway, let’s get started with yuku uh chicken rice. So, this has amount of rice and there’s chicken and then there’s two kinds of sauces. There’s some veggies. This is made with Okinawan ingredients like alamorei which is the distilled liquor and they also use some other local ingredients. Anyway, uh let’s start off with the rice. So, I always start off with rice when it comes to chicken [Music] rice. The rice is cooked perfectly with a chicken broth. Oh, so it has so much umami goodness. That was delos. Okay, let’s try the chicken with this dark sauce. Looks like some kind of like soy sauce with scallions. M m. The chicken is super tender. M definitely has like a Japanese flavor to this. It’s It’s not It’s not like Hainanese chicken rice. Let’s try with this green sauce. Mhm. There’s like a misoesque flavor to this. Tastes a little bit like miso. So, lots of umami, some red cabbage. M. Nice and a little bit u sweet and a tiny bit sour and nice crunch. So refreshing palette cleanser. I’m going to give this au chicken rice. I’m going to give this an A cuz it’s really good. Um they made it their own. They gave an Okinawan twist to it. I love it. I love it. And if you like alcohol, don’t forget to get the sangria cuz that’s also really good. So, I ended up chatting with the owners of the cafe. They were so nice. We ended up Oh my gosh, I don’t know what time it is now. I think we chatted for over an hour, but really fun people. Super nice. And I definitely recommend you guys check this place out on your next trip to Naha. Once again, it’s right next to or right across from the Namino Beach. Really good food. I recommend the Yuki style chicken, but Oh, Aaso uh he let me try uh his uh creme brulee, the brown sugar creme brulee. Amazing. Oh, I could eat like 10 of those. It was so good. I cannot wait to bring Satoshi back here because he loves creme brulee. Anyway, thank you so much for watching. All the information, the details of this place is in the description. Check it out. I’ll see you guys on the next one. Bye.

It’s Day 3 of my solo Okinawa trip, and today I visited Nijiiro Café, a brand new café located right by the only beach in Naha City! 🌴

Nijiiro Cafe
https://maps.app.goo.gl/BJgqqepZ9rF3q9Vs5

I wasn’t expecting much at first—it’s a tiny beachside café after all—but wow, the food completely blew me away. I tried their specialty, Ryukyu Chicken Rice, and honestly… it might be the best meal I’ve had so far in Okinawa. Flavorful, comforting, and beautifully presented.

Nijiiro Café just opened, and it’s definitely a hidden gem in Naha. If you’re ever in the area and want a relaxing spot with great food and ocean views, this place is worth the stop.

Don’t miss this one if you’re planning a trip to Okinawa!
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