Kishimoto Shokudo — Restaurant in Motobu

If you are looking for the best and most authentic traditional Okinawa Soba experience on the island, then look no further. Kishimoto Shokudo is 100% the place you should put on your bucket list for Okinawa Soba.

For all those people complaining about the "waiting time", get over it. The shop is quite small and has had a line outside (even before opening) for years now as they are well known by everyone as one of the handful of quintessential spots on the island for REAL Okinawa Soba.

My advice is to get there about 10 minutes before opening time and queue up with the rest of the folks (as they DO sell out daily). Check the hours, but the sign says Open at 11:00am and close at 5:30pm -- Fact is, I've rarely seen them open past 2-2:30pm...

The soup base (tsuyu) is amazing -- but you should know that it is light, simple, and subtle. This is one of the major contributing factors that makes their Soba outstanding. If you are seeking something overly intense, you are really missing the point of Japanese Food and Okinawa Soba in general. A fine soup base shouldn't scream of flavor, but should just perfectly meld with the rest of the components as they do here.

The noodles are a huge standout, as they are made freshly and following Okinawa tradition, the include a small amount of banyan tree ash that is used to define Okinawa Soba and gives the noodles a chewier textures while contributing to the dish flavor.

Finally, the "sanmainiku" pork belly is spot on, simmered and braised for countless hours in a rather elaborate process that yields an outstanding tenderness of layers infused with just the right balance of soy sauce, sugar and Awamori.

The menu options are very simple: Either the large bowl (そば大) or the small bowl (そば小) and if you would like an accompaniment, you should absolutely order the Okinawa Jyushi (ジューシー)

Jyushi is a local only style rice dish (known as Takikomi Gohan throughout the rest of Japan) that gets it's flavors from a pork and dashi based stock cooked with small bits of carrots, pork, mushrooms and onions... It's a staple compliment to Okinawa Soba (Just like Ramen and Gyoza) and is the only other "must try" option on the menu.

Otherwise, like any specialty shop in Japan, that's pretty much all you have in the way of options -- But, seriously after you've done Oki Soba here you will have conquered this dish and the rest of the island soba is pretty much just "meh" (save for a few other well known shops...

In general you can ignore reviews in English for any place in Japan (this one included). The noodles are spectacular, definitely the best part of this bowl of noodles if you ask me. The noodles are handmade and thicker than machine made noodles. Nothing is worse than soft, overcooked noodles but these are perfect - al dente. The broth is also outstanding. The pork is good but nothing special and the koregusu (コーレーグス) is nothing different from what you'll find other places on Okinawa. That being said I'm very happy to eat here. It's over 100 years old and they clearly love their craft. One of the top 10 bowls of soba out of thousands I've had in the...

Great little Okinawa Soba restaurant. We got there just before it opened at 1100 and by 1105 the restaurant was full. They have three menu items, a small or large bowl of Okinawa Soba and and bowl of takikomi rice. We had the the soba and it was delicious! Noodles are homemade and the pork and broth were also very good. Service is very fast, but if you don't get there before it opens you will be waiting in line. Just like many soba and ramen restaurants in Japan, they only stay open as long as they have food, so plan on going early or you will...