Enjoy Seaweed Noodle in old traditional house with red tiles

The Okinawa Noodle restaurant Yagi-Ya is located in Yaese cho,
 the southern part of Okinawa prefecture.
As the picture shows, the sign board is standing alone on a rather crowded road
and lead you to a small path and you will find Yagi-Ya,
 an old traditional house roofed with red tiles.

Within 10 minutes drive from Yagiya,
you can reach to some sight seeing places such as Okinawa World or

Peace Memorial Park.
You can also reach to Sefa Utaki, the World Heritage ,
the most holy place of former Ryukyu Kingdom within 30 minutes drive from here.



This old house was build in the very traditional way of Ryukyu architecture
and registered as the Tangible Cultural Properties in Japan.
Now the house is used as a noodle restaurant with the same housing lay-out. 

As you walk in the entrance,
you will find a partition called Himbun which is said to be built
as a blindfold or a charm against evils.
 Over this Himbun, you will see a main house and a small house.



It is mysterious and exciting to imagine what stands over the Himbun as you proceed.
On the way to the entrance, you will see the big tropical
trees called Gajyumaru (Ficus microcarpa) and
Kuba (Livistona Chinensis) swing in the gentle breeze in the garden.



The picture shows the main house.

The owner Mr. Yagi was born here and brought up.

After the war, his grand father tried very hard to find the building material
and managed to build　this house.

The house had been taken over to generations,
however Mr. Yagi needed to renovate the decrepit house.

After the renovation, he felt as if a new life was born and the ancient
atmosphere revived there, and wished to share the feeling as many people as possible.  



The picture shows a small house where you can enjoy
the noodle privately on reservation.

Then, he has decided to open an Okinawa noodle restaurant
in a relaxing atmosphere in Okinawa style.
He studied very hard on how to open a restaurant,
about menu, and a taste of the soup.
The restaurant has grown to receive customers continuously by now.



Once you take off your shoes and cross the shop curtain to get in, you feel like visiting
your friend, such a nice and comfortable atmosphere is there in the wide living room.



When you look outside through the window,
you can enjoy a nice garden view of a plenty of green trees.
You will surely be fascinated by the nature view.



Yagi-Ya's specialty is Ahsa Noodle.
 Ahsa is a kind of seaweeds and normally used for soups,
Tempura (deep fried), or for rolled eggs. It is a very familiar ingredient in Okinawa.
This Ahsa contains a lot of Carotene and Dietary fiber and has good value for health.

The Ahsa noodle with bonito broth is light in taste and popular from kids to adults.



The Ahsa seaweed is blended in the noodle dough and
you can enjoy the good texture of the noodle.
A plenty of Ahsa topped on the noodle is very tasty
and you can also enjoy the fragrant of the sea.

Another topping of sliced pork is cooked with soy sauce and sugar in the night
 before to make a rich taste　and chopped green leeks also perform very well in the soup.

If you would like to experience the real Okinawan taste,
a set menu is recommendable which offers home made Jimami Tofu (peanuts curd),
Mozuku (sea weed), pickles and a bowl of pilaf of
Okinawa style in addition to the standard noodle.

There are also other noodle menu such as noodle with soy beans milk added both
to the noodle and to the bonito broth, and a standard Okinawa style noodle
with pork (spareribs are also available).



For dessert, how about trying Kuromitsu-Kinako Zenzai ?
This is a shaved ice topped with brown sugar syrup, soy bean powder?
Inside the shaved ice, you can find some sticky white balls and tenderly
 boiled kidney beans which are also　delicious.

If you wish a small portion of dessert, the half sized Zenzai is also available.



The owner Mr. Yagi truly wishes all the customers to enjoy
the landscape and tastes of Okinawa.

Thanking his grand father for having built
the house and also thanking all the customers,
he hopes to put his steps forward day by day.

The owner's gently smiling eyes are showing his passion to please all
the customers with all of his heart and it is unforgettable.

Yagi-Ya
Address/ 1172 Ohton, Yaese cho
TEL/098‐998‐2774
Open/ 11:00～16:00
Close/ Tuesday (open on holidays)
HP／http://www.ne.jp/asahi/to/yagiya/index.html

Okinawa CLIP Photo writer by Ono