Azahaemi — Restaurant in Taketomi

One of the best places that we've just "popped in" to in recent years. We could see the cool music mural from the road as we walked from La Teada for dinner. We both agreed that we'd visit after dinner.

It's a lovely izakaya run by the wonderful Satoko. We came in and sat down, immediately welcomed. We ordered beer and an Iriomote cocktail (if you love awamori, try it). We had fun conversation in my limited Japanese and everyone's limited English.

Whenever Satoko made food, it smelled great! If we hadn't already eaten dinner, we would have eaten there.

The atmosphere was warm and inviting, with Christmas songs playing and laughter all around.

If you stay near here, definitely enjoy a beer (or three)...

ある日ふとGoogleマップでAzahaemiを見返してみたら、思い出が一気によみがえってきて、とても懐かしくなりました。 実習生として近くに住んでいた時、何度かAzahaemiに行く機会がありました。 お店の雰囲気や料理の美しさに感動しましたし、歴史のあるお店だと聞いてさらに驚きました。 最初は、メニューに写真がなくて少し戸惑いました（外国人なので笑）。 でも、なんとなくわかるメニューからいくつか選んでみたら、想像以上に美味しかったです！ 特に印象に残ったのは、パイナップルソフトクリーム！心が癒される味でした。 もっと通って、もっとアイスを食べられなかったのが一番の心残りです。 スタッフの皆さんもとても優しくて、リラックスして食事を楽しめました。 最後の日には、店主さんが美味しいお酒をプレゼントしてくれて、本当に嬉しくて感謝の気持ちでいっぱいです。 Azahaemiのますますのご発展をお祈りしています。またいつか戻ってきたいです。 とても懐かしいです…。 ハインちゃん & アンちゃん 西表島 2023年9月

One day, I randomly looked back at Azahaemi on Google Maps, and all the memories came flooding back. I miss that place so much. We had the chance to visit Azahaemi and dine there several times when I was an intern living nearby. We were truly impressed by the restaurant's decor and the food – and even more surprised to learn that it has such a long history! At first, we were a bit confused because the menu had no pictures (we’re foreigners, haha), so we just picked a few dishes we could understand. OMG – they were beyond delicious! Our absolute favorite was the pineapple soft serve – it truly soothed my soul. My biggest regret is not coming here more often to enjoy more of that amazing ice cream. The staff were very friendly and made us feel so comfortable. On our last day, the owner kindly gifted us a delicious bottle of liquor – we were so happy and deeply grateful. We wish Azahaemi all the best and hope to return one day. Missing you dearly... Hanh & An Iriomote island,...

Excellent food, good drinks, friendly employees! Make sure to make a reservation!

Only complaint is the food is made fresh, so you have to be patient while it's all prepared!

We walked in without a reservation, but was lucky enough to be seated, enjoyed a variety of food, but needed to use Google translate on the menu. Everything took a bit to get cooked, but everything was...