Food lately

cafés
Last week at work was crazy-busy, and one of the saving graces was the food that accompanied it. We've also had G's dad over here for a visit, which has meant eating out a lot, as well as the chance for H and I to have our first date night in 6 months! For date night we went to Pizzeria da Enzo, which is a new place right near Cape Maeda, and it was seriously delicious! I think it's my favourite place in Oki. It rivalled some of the best Italian I've had in Melbourne, and it makes me so happy to think we can get this food here now!

Kakigori from Onna-no-eki

Okinawa green curry from Onna-no-eki

A kimchi pork and bean sprouts stiry-fry from an Izakaya near my place (no idea what it's called)

Every Thursday and Friday Kijimuna comes to my work and sells tacorice bentos. These are the best lunch days

Spam and mayonnaise sushi from Hama sushi. I didn't eat this, but it felt like an "only in Okinawa" moment.

Date night we tried Pizzeria da Enzo at Cape Maeda, and it was amazing!

Fresh gnocchi from Pizzeria da Enzo was seriously delicious

I love these cold noodles on a summer's day from Family Mart

Pizza-man - A steamed bun with a cheese and Bolognese filling.

This was tasty.

Ploughman's Lunch Bakery

cafés
Sunday morning after our usual breakfast cafe was full, we decided on a whim to venture down to a vegetarian friendly cafe in Kitanakagusuku. I'm so glad that we did because I think it is my favourite cafe in Okinawa so far. The Ploughman's Lunch Bakery isn't too far from the Kitanakagusuku exit of the Okinawa expressway in an area with lots of other cute looking cafe's (of which I now must try!). The thing that first drew me to this place is the fact that it opens at 8am (unlike most other places which don't open til 11) so I can actually get breakfast at a breakfast hour! The menu is short, but I want to try everything on it. I decided on the vietnamese ham sandwich (their take on a bahn mi), and H got the Avocade open sandwich. We also got a side of their carrot and tomato soup. All the food was really good. My only regret is that on the way there we stopped at Family Mart of a little snack because I was hangry after our original choice of cafe was full, and this meant that I didn't get through all the food we ordered.

I really enjoyed the coffee we got here and i'd almost say it was comparable to Melbourne standards. Next time I will be sure to ask whether they do a soy latte, which I didn't think of before ordering yesterday, although the fact that 2/3 of the menu is vegan makes me think this would be possible. 



Stairs up to the cafe


Vietnamese ham sandwich (bahn mi)

Avocado open sandwich

The coffee was delicious

Cute seating outside

Lovely interior

Ploughman's Lunch Bakery is open from 8am - 4pm everyday except Wednesday
http://www.ploughmans.net/

Cafe Doka Doka lunch date

Cafe
Now that my lady is back, and has a visa, meaning she can stay, we had our first lunch date in about 6 weeks. The weather was beautiful, so we ventured to Cafe Doka Doka, in Onna, which is only 5 minutes drive from work. We sat on the balcony and looked at the amazing ocean whilst eating our lunch. Sometimes it's hard to believe that we live here and that views like these exist in real life!

Entrance to Doka Doka
This view! Seriously!


I can't believe I get to live here!

My love is back, and with a visa! I'm so happy.
Margherita pizza and a mango juice



Coffee cravings

cafés
Now I've been in Okinawa and away from Melbourne for 4 months, i've been a bit homesick for my old cafe frequenting lifestyle, whether it was going out for a delicious family breakfast on the weekend, or just having a large number of quality cafes to go to while I was at work. Okinawa is much much sleepier, and is definitely lacking in quality coffee, so when I read about a cafe in Naha (about 50 minutes drive from my house - this is my level of desperation) run by a Melbourne couple, I had to go check it out.
The food menu was awesome! It was full of all the breakfast foods i've been craving, and the coffee was delicious, although I was a little disappointed they didn't have an option for soy milk (but hey, I can't have everything, right?). You can find their website here (Japanese only) and their Facebook page here.

The cafe is located on a hilly street in Naha near Shuri Castle


The coffee machine and kitchen

I love the communal table

The delicious sounding menu! I need to go back and try it all

There's baked beans, ricotta and poached egg on toast under the leafy greens

I had a latte and Griff had a hot chocolate

沖縄に住んでいます I live in Okinawa

beach
I live in Okinawa now....
This has really hit me this week. In the middle of house hunting, driving around in my little car, grocery and furniture shopping. 
The pets arrived on Thursday night a little disturbed, but in one piece and having them here with us makes it feel even more like home. I can't wait until I sign the lease and move in to our new house next week so we can really start making a home here. I think all of us will benefit from our own personal space again.
Last night I discovered a gorgeous little cafe/pottery shop called Doka Doka a couple of minutes from our temporary accommodation. It was up on a hill overlooking the ocean where we had the chance to watch a beautiful sunset. 

And this morning I tried out a little cafe on the beach for breakfast that served organic pancakes and curries called Island Cafe. I'll definitely be going back to both! 
Breakfast view at Island Cafe.

Even though it's technically winter here, the sun was warm and the water was inviting today so we even spent some time swimming at the beach. I can only imagine how much time we'll be spending there as the weather warms up!