Smoke House 225 — Restaurant in Yomitan

Wow, what a gem of a place! The food is top notch and the prices are VERY reasonable. Many locals who knew each other frequented the place and the staff was nice and efficient. We have yet to find a place like this in Tokyo, and it made us nostalgic for some nice restaurants we used to visit in New York/Baltimore/Washington, D.C. before we had kids (who by the way really enjoyed the food here!) Good smoked meats are hard to come by in Tokyo and that's why I smoke my own. Speaking of nostalgia, there was an old Macintosh Plus chassis opened up on the bar!

Wednesday's Cat Belgian White Ale: very smooth and refreshing.

Homemade ginger ale: pleasantly sweet with a nice balance of ginger and other spices; so good we got a second one. I want to know what the chef puts in the syrup as it is far tastier than good ones I have had.

Squid ink risotto croquettes: were AMAZING - we aren't risotto fans typically (and have had fried fritter versions) but that was special enough to convert us. Only maybe now we will be more bold to try risotto even more often, only to be disappointed?

Smoked black pork ribs: served in a domed platter with smoke were DELICIOUS - slightly sweet, savory, as a very pleasant smoke aroma.

Sausage and bacon platter: SUPERB - squid ink sausage, pizza sausage (yup, it was convincingly pizza-tasty), and the onion sausage (it was like eating and smelling a yummy onion, except it's meat...). The sausages were handcrafted and quite dense - no strange textured (fatty) filler at all. Skin had some snap to them, not tough but easy to chew through. The thick bacon had great flavor and aroma - had a meaty texture like pork chop. Every American who loves bacon knows how disappointing Japanese bacon almost always is, but other than being fried to a crisp, this had all the right essence :)

The Hokkaido potatoes and onion dish was AWESOME - Hokkaido potatoes are great on their own, but the chef got the onions to taste so good with such a simple treatment that it was worth eating them despite the high risk of gastrointestinal distress later (onions don't like me).

Fried octopus: this was the only thing that wasn't to our tastes - rather chewy, like frying the Japanese parboiled octopus? Good flavor, but we are more fans of tender, melt-in-your-mouth octopus like those grilled up in Greece and Portugal.

There are many well-rated restaurants in this area that we probably should check out during our vacation here, but we would go back here without hesitation. Hats off to the chef for what he is trying to do here -...

We arrived very early because I read that parking can be difficult. I'm happy we did! We got a good spot and were seated right away (we made a reservation).

We ordered various dishes to share between my husband and me. We started with the smoked oysters, which were very delicious. Then we had raw oysters. They were huge and very flavorful. We really enjoyed the fried corn. The smoked meats platter was 100% worth getting. My favorite was the bacon because of the unique smoke on it. We wrapped up our meal with the venison steak, which was cooked to perfection and melted in my mouth. The small scoop of smoked potato salad was great.

I wanted to keep eating. Everything served was high quality, perfectly executed, and memorable. The staff were all friendly and thankfully tried their best to communicate. The chef graciously finished off our experience with some swordfish sashimi, which was heavenly! Thank you for your hospitality. I highly recommend...

Ok the only reason I am finally reviewing this amazing restaurant is because we have to finally leave Okinawa and I want others to know how much we have enjoyed keeping this place to our selves.

Amazing food: Smoked oysters Home made sausage- types you would never guess would taste the way they do. Octopus or squid ink but have the Okinawa pork in with it. Hokkaido venison Fresh salads

They have nightly specials and sometimes we try them but our list above off the regular menu has not disappointed In all the years we have been here.

The atmosphere is almost a speak easy type vibe, the kindest people you will meet work this tiny restaurant and ensure that all menu options are explained and that everything is to your liking.

Take care 225...