One of the first things that come’s to mind when people think of Japan is sushi. Unfortunately, the sushi in Okinawa is nothing like the country’s capital. Being surrounded by the ocean, a common misconception is the island’s quality of sushi. However, Okinawa is known for its incredible Ishigaki beef, Agu pork, beni-imo purple sweet potatoes, pineapples, and other produce. Sadly, seafood is not on this list so I would recommend staying away from sushi. Instead, hit up restaurants that highlight Okinawa’s strong suits such as shabu-shabu (Onnaton was my favorite)!
If you’re itching to eat seafood like I was, there are a handful of fish markets in Okinawa. We went to two different fish markets and they weren’t too shabby, but nothing compared to Tsukiji. The first one we went to is called Awase Fish Market in Naha. Located in an unassuming building, the market was packed with both tourists and locals. On one side, fishmongers were selling seafood along with fresh produce. On the other side, there was a restaurant selling different set lunches with a selection of sushi, tempura, grilled fish, steamed fish, rice bowls, sashimi and grilled lobster. We ordered a few set lunches and shared, but only one I would recommend is the grilled lobster with a side of uni, soup, and rice.
The second fish market we went to was in the Makishi Public Market, called 第一牧志公設市場. Also located in Naha, the fish market is a stone’s throw away from Kokusai Street, right in the middle of Naha’s tourist district, surrounded by souvenir shops, clothing stalls, food vendors, and more. The market is quite touristy, but the seafood selection was much better than Awase’s. The main level is filled with fishmongers selling fresh fish, shellfish, and sushi, whereas the second floor contains restaurants. The idea is to buy your seafood from the fishmongers, who will then bring your seafood upstairs to be prepared by the restaurants.
The Makishi fish market was the better of the two. The seafood seemed fresher as it was mostly live and swimming. The Awase’s fish was either already hacked up and frozen or put on ice. There was also a wider selection and prices were negotiable at Makishi.
This was the grilled lobster from Awase priced at ¥6,300 ($61 USD). In retrospect, this was not worth $61 USD. The soup was on the fishy side, the uni was still slightly frozen, the fish was palatable and the lobster was OK.
I wanted ikura with my rice and uni so I bought some from the fishmongers. Big mistake — it wasn’t fresh at all and had a super fishy aftertaste.
The second set we ordered at Awase was ¥1,500 ($15 USD) and it came with sushi, fried fish, rice, and soup. The sushi was terrible and the fried fish was even worse.
We had some better luck at Makishi fish market.
The uni was much better, imported from Hokkaido! I can’t remember how much it was, but it was so good, I would have bought another tray.
We also bought a fresh lobster and had it sashimi style! It was super fresh and tasty. The other fish wasn’t too shabby, but better than the sushi we had at Awase.
After we were done eating the lobster sashimi, the restaurant took its remnants and threw it in some miso soup!
We finished our meal with some traditional Okinawa doughnuts from the market — Okinawa brown sugar, coconut, and black sesame.
This map is for Makishi Public Market since I wouldn’t recommend going to Awase.
Japan, 〒900-0014 Okinawa Prefecture, Naha, Matsuo, 2−10−1
MAPCODE-HR: 33 157 264*63
Hours: Monday – Saturday 8am to 8pm
This was really helpful, as I’m planning on heading to Naha myself in a few days, almost entirely for the food.
I was looking into the agu pork shabu shabu as well, and a kobe shabu like you mentioned before. Any other remarkable food experiences you had here?
The Agu Pork Shabu Shabu was definitely the most memorable experience! I highly recommend going there 🙂