Taketora

When it comes to noodle dishes in Okinawa, 2 comes to mind: Okinawa soba and Ramen. Which one is more popular you say? Well, that would differ depending on who you ask but without a doubt, the popularity of ramen on the island is undeniable based on the sheer number of ramen shops alone. Competing with the other 100+ different Ramen places on island, Taketora is located at Awase near the south entrance to the Okinawa Athletics Park. The inside is what I would call “traditional” or as others would more appropriately call it “worn down”. The place is mostly counter seats with a few tables here and a tiny seating capacity of I would say no more than about 20. I saw a few seats duct taped to keep the cushion from coming out and a lot of chipping on the other interior furniture. So why write about such a place? Oh yeah, their delicious glorious food!

Let me just start by saying that in my honest opinion, this is the best ramen I have ever had in Okinawa. For the food, you use a vending machine to order from a selection of about 5 different types of Ramen (honestly 5 options is all you will need in good ramen restaurants). I ordered the pork broth based chashu ramen which is just the same as the regular pork broth ramen except with extra pork slices. The ramen comes with standard noodles, half boiled egg, spring onions, and thick juicy succulent pork belly slices. I don’t know exactly how they cooked the pork belly but my best guess is they grilled it. It’s only meant as a topping but they slice is so generously thick that you could eat the pork alone with rice. For the Ramen itself, you have the options to have them put less oil in the broth or have your noodles served softer or harder than normal. The gyoza was also alright but nothing could out-shine the chashu. Although we did not order it, they also had a fish broth style ramen which is worth mentioning because you don’t usually see that in other restaurants.

As far as ramen goes, you can’t go wrong with Taketora. I know there is a lot of choices for ramen on island but this one is a must. The ramen will cost you about 800-1000 yen and the gyoza will cost you about 300 yen. Recommend to go at lunch time because they give away either 1 bowl of rice or a second serving of noodles which they call “Kaedama”. Easiest way to find it is exit from legion gate Camp Foster and keep going straight following the road until you see a San-A on your left. Taketora Awase is about 2 buildings next to that San-A. The exterior is brightly lit with red lanterns and similar sign décor that you can’t miss it. There are a total of 4 branches in Okinawa each located in Awase, Ginowan, Yonabaru, and Naha.

$ or Creditcards: Yen only (no credit cards)