Mukaiya is located in a residential area in Taketomi, Itoman City. It is a little difficult to find, so it would be better to learn the location with Google Map in advance. The exterior of Mukaiya looks like a house as shown in the photo above.
And here is a photo of the interior of Mukaiya. It looks more like a café converted from a house than an Okinawan soba restaurant. Quiet background music like jazz is playing, and the atmosphere is really like a café.
The first day I came to Mukaiya, I arrived before 12:00 pm on a Saturday, and the restaurant already had three groups of people waiting for an empty seat. The menu was posted at the entrance. It would have been easier to understand and decide if it had a picture.
Before entering the restaurant, I thought about which menu item to choose and decided the Mukaiya Set, which was the most hearty of all!
A meal ticket machine was located on the right side of the restaurant as you enter. I buy my meal ticket here and order from the waiter. Mukaiya seems to be particular about the taste of their soup, and we can choose either the standard soy sauce flavor or the rich miso flavor for the cartilage soki. You can also choose from two types of “ji-mammy” tofu, one with a light ginger sauce and the other with a classic sweet sauce. I first chose the Mukaiya set with bonito soup.
This is the Mukaiya Set (980 yen). It is a hearty set that includes bonito soup, soy-sauce-flavored cartilage soki, juicy Okinawan-style cooked rice, salad, ji-mamy tofu with a light ginger sauce, and umukuji, an Okinawan sweet. Unfortunately, the umukuji is hidden behind the soki soba in the picture.
First, I took a sip of the bonito-based soup. It was an elegant and clear soup with a light and gentle bonito broth. It had a rich aroma of bonito, and although it tastes light, it was full of umami. Yes, this was solidly good! The noodles were medium-thick and firm, very satisfying. The ginger was a nice accent, and I would never get tired of eating it.
And the pulled tender cartilage soki. It was delicious when eaten directly with wasabi and wrapped in sanche, and could also be enjoyed with Okinawan soba noodles for a different flavor. The juicy and gently seasoned fish goes well with the bonito broth.
In addition, the Ji-mamy tofu with a light ginger sauce. It was the first time I had ji-mamy tofu with ginger sauce, so it felt very fresh. This was a good choice. The last one was Umukuji, an Okinawan sweet. It had been a while since I had had Umukuji, but it was delicious.
And this is the Mukaiya set (980 yen) with pork bone broth. The color of the soup is completely different from that of the bonito broth. First, I took a sip of the soup. The mild umami of tonkotsu (pork bone) filled my mouth with the gentle flavor of the pork bone broth. It had a strong tonkotsu flavor, but unlike tonkotsu ramen, I could taste the flavor of Okinawan soba noodles. It was quite a strange sensation. Was it because the soup had a strong broth other than tonkotsu (pork bone)?
On this day, I ordered the cartilage soki in miso flavor. It was the first time for me to try miso-flavored cartilage Soki. It was quite good. It was delicious with wasabi (Japanese horseradish) on it, and I could enjoy the different flavor by adding it to the soup. And then there was the ji-mamy tofu. It was definitely delicious even if I eat it with the standard ama-dare (sweet sauce).
Next is the Mukaiya set (1,000 yen) with miso soup. Only the miso flavor is an additional 20 yen, making it 1,000 yen. As one would expect from miso-flavored soup, the color is completely different. After all, the soup was the first thing I should try. The miso flavor was very thick and rich. The miso soup was rich, but has a refreshing and elegant taste that went down my throat. Next, the noodles were served with the miso soup. The firm, chewy, medium-thick noodles matched well with the rich miso soup.
However, perhaps because this was my first miso-flavored Okinawa soba, I had the impression that it was more like miso ramen than Okinawa soba. I think it would be easier to understand if I call it a rich and elegant miso ramen.
And finally, the salt-flavored Mukaiya set (980 yen). The color of this soup is also completely different from that of the miso-flavored soup, and appears to be clear. I took a sip from the soup first. The soup had a clean, elegant flavor that was completely different from the miso soup. Although it had a clean taste, it was not light in flavor, and I felt the richness in the aftertaste. It was a very flavorful Okinawan soba. The kohre-guusu was also a good match.
I had four kinds of Okinawa soba (bonito, pork, miso, and salt), and each had a different flavor and was very tasty. The Mukaiya set was very generous and filling. Mukaiya is a satisfying Okinawan soba restaurant.
About Maasan-dokoro Mukaiya
The Mukaiya is a famous Okinawa soba restaurant located in Kosa, Okinawa City. True to its reputation, the four types of Soki Soba (bonito, pork bone, miso, and salt) were very tasty, and the set menu was even more satisfying with its generous portions. The restaurant is very popular, so it is recommended to come early, as the seats fill up quickly.
- Address: Zip901-0311 Taketomi 345, Itoman city, Okinawa
- Open 11:00~15:00, 17:30~20:00
- Telephone: 098-961-7049
- Closed: Sunday and Monday
- Parking: There is a parking lot in front of the restaurant and a second parking lot
- Price: 850 yen ~ 1,000 yen
- Click here to visit Mukaiya’s Instagram
The Mukaiya is here ↓
If you want to know delicious restaurants of Soki soba or cuisine
Since you are coming to Okinawa traveling a lot, you would like to know the delicious restaurants of Soki soba and Okinawa cuisine. The book I refer to is "Pia Okinawa Food Book". Not only Okinawa soba and ramen, but also a variety of delicious Okinawa restaurants such as steak, Italian, Chinese, cafe etc are covered. There are also many pictures, and recent Okinawa delicious shops are introduced. "Okinawa shop 77 popular bloggers choose to pick" is an electronic book, but very interesting shops are introduced. A restaurant I do not even know about is included and it is helpful.
※If you click on the image you can buy it directly from Amazon
