Key’s Cafe

Updated Review! Check out our video review above!

Interior of Key’s Cafe

Bijou coffee shops are hugely popular right now, with Starbucks and Climax Coffee leading the fray (at least here on Okinawa). However, there are a few dark horses dotted around well worth your time. One such place is Key’s Cafe in Chatan. Location wise, it’s fairly prominent; Right on Highway 58, opposite Camp Foster, it sits nestled between Chiyoda Bridal and American Import Mart. It’s a small, white building with a blue roof. It has a little parking area and another Building, also white, called Bright Factory, sits on its grounds. More on this later. It has a mute, relaxed feel, is ultra clean and inviting. It’s set up more for work and study, with a long table and low chairs in the middle providing plug sockets for electrical devices, and tables with benches and chairs interspersed throughout the rest of the area. There’s toilet facilities, and the free wifi makes it a tempting lure for students after a quiet place to cram.

The menu had a big overhaul recently, which has made much improvement to the food offerings. As well as hot sandwiches and pasta dishes, they now offer stews, gratin, breakfast style plates, and pancakes. The hot sandwiches are great for on the go, come out piping hot and taste great (I especially like the bacon cheese roll), but if you plan to stay a while, the eggs Benedict is a good choice; fresh, decent portion size, and packed with flavour. I also really like the beef stew, hearty and delicious. Sweet tooth? There’s also a range of daily cakes and pastries on offer. The chocolate tart is heavenly! It’s a coffee shop, so the drink menu is unsurprisingly extensive. As well as quite a few varieties of coffee, you can also enjoy tea, fruit juices, soda, and smoothies. The smoothies are a fairly new addition for the summer, and you’ll find other seasonal goodies on offer throughout the year (the sakura chocolate latte was a particularly memorable offering!).

I’m a bit of a matcha lover, so almost always opt for the iced matcha latte. In my opinion, the best on island. It’s amazing! I mentioned Bright Factory earlier. This is a fairly new addition, and is owned by the same folks who own Keys Cafe. It’s a mini car maintenance area, with services such as oil changes, general repair, tyres, and diagnostics available. There’s also a car wash on site too. The idea behind it is pretty genius. Basically, whilst your car is being given the once over, you can take a short hop over to Keys and enjoy a leisurely drink or food (or both) while you wait. Let’s be honest, getting your car repaired or serviced is infinitely tedious, and there’s nothing that makes time go (seemingly) slower than sitting in a bare garage waiting room, with only an outdated magazine and vending machine coffee (yuck) for company. By the time you’ve enjoyed a respite from the heat and day to day life in general, your car is ready to go and you have enough quality caffeine in your system to get through the rest of the day. Perfect! Accepts: Dollar, yen, and credit card