Shimabutaya Tonkatsu Dining — Restaurant in Naha

This is quite possibly the best tonkatsu I’ve ever eaten, and it might well be yours too.

I’ve eaten a lot of good pork from some pretty exotic places, and to me, the best pork has a particular succulence in its fat, almost chewy, and oh-so-rich in flavor that is aromatic and yet not “porky”. Agu pork is the new king of the pork charts for me.

We had it multiple ways here - our first encounter was to taste it lightly seared on top of our salad, where we could immediately taste why this was exceptional pork; followed by thinly sliced pork shabu shabu swished and then dipped in a light but intensely flavorful home-cooked Tsukedashi made from Agu pig bones, which made all the accompanying shabu vegetables taste amazing; and the crowning dish, Agu pork rib cutlet and roulade, deep fried as tonkatsu in bread crumbs. The tonkatsu was firm to pick up but literally melted in my mouth to produce incredible flavor. Interestingly, while the pork was very fatty and I thought it would be overwhelming, I didn’t actually feel saturated and we managed to finish all the food. Perhaps this was because all the flavors and dishes balanced one another well.

(PSA: I saw a brochure in the restaurant that listed 8 Agu pork specialists, of which Shimabutaya Tonkatsu was one of them. I was delighted to see that another restaurant that I had reserved blind with no expectations was on the list, serving steamed Agu pork, yet another variation that we have yet to try. Wait for that review!! These specialists all seem to have outlets in Onna - not quite sure why that seems to be the Agu Pork epicenter.)

Everything tasted amazing - even their pickles were really good, my favorites being the radish and the spicy kimchee. The tofu soup was light and fragrant, tasted a bit like Chinese 豆花 but not sweet. And did I mention the pickles and tofu soup are self-serve/freeflow? I must have eaten at least 3 plates before the mains came, which actually prepped me quite well for the richness of the pork. The decor was quirky and stylish, swirling colored glass and wooden interiors that accentuated the warmth of their smiles, service and so-good food. The restaurant was full and we were lucky to be seated without a reservation, though the staff did warn us that it might be a 30min - 1 hour wait for food.

To top it all off, I had an intercultural moment when I recognized one of the traditional Okinawa songs they had on loop as a very popular Taiwanese song — the Okinawan song was “Nada Soso”, sung by Rimi Natsukawa, while the Taiwanese song was “凤凰花开的路口” by Terry Lin 林志炫. The beautiful staff seemed happy that we really enjoyed ourselves, and even offered to help us take a picture in front of the restaurant. I haven’t enjoyed a meal quite like this in a while, and I told the staff I would give this place 10 stars if I could.

We left with our tummies and hearts very full, and can’t wait to be back, with more family...

Unfortunately, this was a disappointment. I rarely spend at a premium for food in Japan because dishes at ¥800-¥1300 are so reliably good, but I thought I'd try this place as it was reviewed so highly (I've had Okinawa soba 4 times this week, only once was that more than ¥1000 and every time it was amazing). I got the sirloin tonkatsu. They do say that if you don't like fat you shouldn't get this cut, but it was honestly a bit unpleasant. So much oil / fat came out when I bit into it. And I don't think this is oil from the meat, to me it's much more indicative of frying in oil that isn't hot enough. The exterior was glistening when it was served, properly deep fried food shouldn't be like this. It was very reminiscent of fried bread that you'd get from a greasy spoon café. Even if this fat were from the meat, it just wasn't nice and if that's what happens then this type of meat shouldn't be used in tonkatsu. Looks like I'll be sticking to the cheap and reliable places in future. I will say that the accompaniments were all very tasty, especially the pickled chilli cabbage (basically kimchi). Alas, the main part of the dish spoiled the show...

The restaurant was nice and had a pleasant feel. Upon arrival they said they had alot of reservations and that it could take some time to get the food, but in our opinion, we think we got it rather quickly!☺️

The food was delicious!! We ordered pork tonkatsu, it was fresh and crisp!! The people that worked there seems nice and tries their best to help you if theres something you dont understand, even if there is language barriers.

The two things i will point out, is that one of the waiter was coughing alot, maybe he wasn’t feeling well. I think he should have worn a mask, instead of coughing in his hands without washing them and touching everything afterwards. This is a restaurant, hygiene is very important. The other is that while its good to show effort and eagerness to serve or clean the tables, maybe wait next time to take our plates til after I have eaten up everything😂 I was still holding pork with my chopsticks and eating when one waiter came and asked to clean the table.

But all in all a good place🙌 Thank you...