I think there are quite a few people who've been at a loss for lunch on Irabu Island.
You've crossed the Irabu Bridge from Miyako Island, all well and good, but then it's "huh, where are the shops?" This is already a classic rite of passage, and almost everyone visiting Irabu Island for the first time has the same experience. Glance at the map after entering the island and there are just a few scattered restaurant icons, and once you enter a settlement the roads are hard to follow. "Think of it as an extension of Miyako Island and you'd be greatly mistaken" — that's my honest feeling from visiting many times.
But conversely, if you know, there's nothing to fear. The lunch options are properly in place, and the genres and price ranges are wide. From Miyako beef eaten on an ocean-view terrace, to seafood bowls connected directly to the fishing port, to Miyako soba loved by the islanders for generations, there are more options than you can eat in a day.
In this article, from dishes particular about local ingredients to café lunches you can enjoy with a spectacle, I'll sum up 10 recommended Irabu Island lunches and introduce them in ranking form. The answer to "where shall I eat today" should be decided after reading this.
- Exploring Irabu Island's Lunch Scene
- Top 10 Recommended Lunches on Irabu Island
- No. 10 PRIMONTE SARAHAMA | A Hideaway Italian
- No. 9 Irabu Soba Kame | Authentic Miyako Soba with Namari-Bushi Soup
- No. 8 Cafe & Yadocomo | A Calm Space to Spend Time Relaxed
- No. 7 Irabu Ohashi Umi-no-Eki Restaurant | While Gazing at the Spectacle and the Irabu Bridge
- No. 6 Shima-ryori Ryugu | Authentic Okinawan Cuisine, Local Produce for Local Consumption
- No. 5 soraniwa hotel & cafe | A Café Lunch with a Resort Feel
- No. 4 Nangoku Kitchen Painmi | Colourful Plate Lunches
- No. 3 Restaurant Irie (Hotel South Island) | Reassuring Stability with a Sea View
- No. 2 Obanmai Shokudo | Seafood Bowls Connected Directly to Sarahama Fishing Port
- No. 1 Blue Turtle | Toguchi-no-Hama × Spectacular Terrace Seats
- Enjoy Seasonal Flavours! An Irabu Island Seasonal-Lunch Feature
- Family, Couple, Solo Trip… An Irabu Island Lunch Guide by Scene
- Points for Enjoying Lunch on Irabu Island
- The Joy After Lunch! Irabu Island's Dessert & Café Spots
- Summary: Irabu Island Lunch — Where's Good in the End?
Exploring Irabu Island's Lunch Scene
Irabu Island's Appealing Lunch Spots
The Irabu Bridge opened in 2015. Before that it was a remote island you could only reach by boat, so the number of restaurants is small compared with Miyako's main island. But in recent years, with the opening of resort hotels and the increase in tourists, stylish cafés and distinctive diners have gradually been increasing.
What's distinctive is the closeness to local ingredients. Bonito and tuna landed at Sarahama Port line up at diners that very day. Island vegetables grown by farmers go onto restaurant plates. Gapao rice using Shimojishima-caught tuna is a dish you basically can't eat on the mainland.
As areas, keeping the two zones of Toguchi-no-Hama–Irabu Bridge area and the Sarahama Fishing Port area in mind makes it easy to move around.
The World of Dishes Making Use of Local Ingredients
At the core of Irabu Island's food culture is "katsuo" (bonito). Sarahama is a port town known for landing bonito, and bonito is so tied to island life that there's even a traditional event called "obanmai" where bonito is served free. The "namari-bushi" made from fresh bonito is used in the soup of Irabu soba, creating a flavour you can't produce in other regions. The moment after eating when you understand "ah, so this is the taste of Irabu's soba" is carved into your travel memory.
Miyako beef is an indispensable ingredient too, and the Miyako-Island brand beef is used in various local restaurants. The range of dishes is wide too — beef curry, hamburg, steak. Smoothies using tropical fruits like mango, island banana and acerola are, at any shop, delicious on a different level from the mainland. The smoothie may be where you can feel the power of the island's ingredients most intuitively.
Top 10 Recommended Lunches on Irabu Island
No. 10 PRIMONTE SARAHAMA | A Hideaway Italian
For people like this: anniversaries, dates, a special-day lunch
A full-fledged Italian restaurant rare for Irabu Island. With proper menu items like pasta and course meals, it's a shop you'll want to use for a special-day lunch or dinner. It has a hideaway-like atmosphere, with an out-of-the-ordinary feel that sets it apart from other diners. Because it's popular, I recommend confirming a reservation in advance.
No. 9 Irabu Soba Kame | Authentic Miyako Soba with Namari-Bushi Soup
For people like this: love Miyako soba, want to tackle a local favourite
There's a local rating that "it's still too early to talk about Irabu Island without eating this all-out bowl." The "Kame soba," combining the smooth firmness of house-made noodles with a particular soup using namari-bushi, has a satisfying make-up packed with ingredients — soft-bone soki, three-layer pork, shredded egg, kamaboko and yushi tofu.
The catch is that it's deep within a settlement you can't reach in one go the first time (please accept this as part of the charm of a remote island too). A queue can form on weekends, so I recommend going with time to spare.
No. 8 Cafe & Yadocomo | A Calm Space to Spend Time Relaxed
For people like this: with children, want a relaxed café
A locally rooted café where you can enjoy drinks and light meals in a calm atmosphere. It resonates with people who prefer an air closer to the island's everyday than tourist-spot liveliness. With a variety of drinks and light meals on offer, it has an atmosphere that's easy to enter even for a family with children.
The opening hours can vary, so it's safe to check before visiting.
No. 7 Irabu Ohashi Umi-no-Eki Restaurant | While Gazing at the Spectacle and the Irabu Bridge
For people like this: want to drop by during sightseeing, want to eat with the scenery
The greatest appeal is the high-ground location with the Irabu Bridge right in front, and many tourists drop by as a set with the sea and a drive. The lunch menu centres on soki soba, Miyako soba and the bonito-rice set meal, and the price range is reasonable. Rather than eating heartily, it suits the style of casually dropping in between sightseeing.
Since it's right after entering the island crossing the Irabu Bridge, it's one of the easiest spots to drop by in terms of access too.
No. 6 Shima-ryori Ryugu | Authentic Okinawan Cuisine, Local Produce for Local Consumption
For people like this: want to eat traditional Okinawan cuisine, want to feel the local atmosphere
A diner certified by Okinawa Prefecture as an "Okinawa ingredients shop," so thorough that the vegetables are home-grown and the seafood is caught locally that morning. It has tatami seating too, with a homely atmosphere. The local feel of not being over-touristed may, conversely, look fresh to a first-timer.
You can eat standard Okinawan dishes, starting with soki, with a solid taste.
Hours: 12:00–14:00 (ends when sold out), 18:00–23:00 (LO 21:30); closed Tuesdays
No. 5 soraniwa hotel & cafe | A Café Lunch with a Resort Feel
For people like this: want to relax quietly, want sweets too
A café attached to a private resort of only 5 rooms, which general guests can use from lunch too. It centres on a daily menu, with a sense-filled lineup like Irabu-Island-caught tuna gapao rice (¥1,100, about US$7) and Thai-style swimming-crab coconut curry (¥1,580, about US$11).
The sweets are plentiful too, and it's amazing that proper desserts are on offer, like island-tofu and mascarpone tiramisu and Tarama-Island brown-sugar crema catalana. Hours are 11:30–18:00 (LO 17:00); closed Wednesdays.
Address: 721-1 Irabu, Irabu, Miyakojima City, Okinawa
Phone: 0980-74-5520
No. 4 Nangoku Kitchen Painmi | Colourful Plate Lunches
For people like this: a girls' trip or couple, prioritise Instagram appeal
It's along the road and easy to access, with a good-sense casualness specialised in lunch. The plate lunch gathers colourful tropical-style dishes on one plate, fun to look at too. The make-up where you can eat plenty of vegetables despite the volume is the reason there are many female repeat visitors.
The seafood the owner catches by free diving and the island vegetables are at the base of the dishes, and the love for the ingredients comes across. There are terrace seats too, and the plate lunch eaten in the tropical breeze feels good.
No. 3 Restaurant Irie (Hotel South Island) | Reassuring Stability with a Sea View
For people like this: want the reassurance of a hotel lunch, want Miyako soba too
A restaurant adjoining Hotel South Island, where you can enjoy lunch at a sea-view seat. With a wide menu spread of seafood dishes, fried food and Miyako soba, it has a make-up easy for anyone to choose from. Being hotel-adjoined, the quality is stable, with an atmosphere even a first-timer can enter with peace of mind.
The set meals using local ingredients have plenty of volume, and the location where you can set out for island sightseeing right after finishing is convenient too.
Address: Sarahama, Irabu, Miyakojima City, Okinawa
No. 2 Obanmai Shokudo | Seafood Bowls Connected Directly to Sarahama Fishing Port
For people like this: want to eat fresh seafood heartily and cheaply
The shop name "obanmai" means "very delicious" in the Okinawan dialect, and the name is no lie. A fishery-cooperative-run diner adjacent to Sarahama Fishing Port, where the fresh fish landed that morning lines up on the table.
Seafood bowl, stamina seafood bowl, bonito bowl and sashimi set meal are the signature menu, and the prices are reasonable. It's a genuine diner where local fishermen come every day too. There's Miyako soba and set menus too, so it's plentiful beyond bowls. The hours are short, around 11 am–3 pm, so don't miss the timing.
Address: Irabu, Irabu, Miyakojima City, Okinawa (beside Sarahama Fishing Port)
Hours: around 11:00–15:00 (ends when sold out)
No. 1 Blue Turtle | Toguchi-no-Hama × Spectacular Terrace Seats
For people like this: want to lunch amid a spectacle, prioritise atmosphere
5 seconds on foot from Toguchi-no-Hama beach. I can assert that choosing it on this location alone is the right answer. The sea viewed from the terrace seats of the white, stylish building is really like a high-end resort's private beach, closer to a resort experience than a lunch.
The popular menu is Miyako beef hamburg curry (¥1,850, about US$12) and Miyako native-beef steak (from ¥4,800, about US$32). The smoothies have a fully tropical lineup, like pine-mango yoghurt and brown-sugar island banana. That you can enter in your swimsuit is appreciated too.
Lunch is 11:00–17:00, no reservations; dinner requires a reservation. The car park can fill up during the lunch hours, so I recommend acting early. The prices are a little high, but "thinking of it as the price including the sea scenery visible from the terrace, it's actually cheap" is the honest feeling of many reviews.
Address: 1352-16 Irabu, Irabu, Miyakojima City, Okinawa
Hours: 11:00–22:00 (LO 21:00); open year-round
Enjoy Seasonal Flavours! An Irabu Island Seasonal-Lunch Feature
To enjoy Irabu Island lunch to the fullest, being conscious of the seasons greatly widens your options.
Summer (July–September) is the season for bonito and tuna, and the diners in the port area are especially lively in this period. Menus using fresh seasonal fish are plentiful, like Obanmai Shokudo's stamina seafood bowl and soraniwa's tuna gapao rice. The mango smoothie is sweetest in summer too.
From autumn to winter (October–February) is the season you long for warm menus using Miyako beef. You can enjoy warm dishes on a relaxed terrace, like Blue Turtle's hamburg curry and soraniwa café's agu-pork stew. It's also a period with few tourists, so you can take it relatively easy even at popular shops.
Spring (March–May) has good weather and is the most comfortable season for terrace seats. April before Golden Week starts to get more crowded, so if visiting in this period, acting early is, after all, fortunate.
Family, Couple, Solo Trip… An Irabu Island Lunch Guide by Scene
For a couple or anniversary: Blue Turtle or PRIMONTE SARAHAMA. Both have high atmosphere and dish quality, with a special feel. Blue Turtle is the style of eating while gazing at the sea on an ocean-view terrace, and lunch on a fine day really is in a class of its own. PRIMONTE SARAHAMA is the style of enjoying Italian carefully in a hideaway space, a completely different experience. Which you choose changes the colour of your travel memory, so do work it into your itinerary.
For families or those with children: Cafe & Yadocomo and Restaurant Irie are easy to move around. Choosing shops with children's menus or with wide, relaxed seating is comfortable. Obanmai Shokudo is popular with families too with its plentiful seafood bowls. Irabu Ohashi Umi-no-Eki Restaurant has a location easy to pop into between sightseeing, with menus easy for children to eat too.
For a solo trip: Irabu Soba Kame and Irabu Ohashi Umi-no-Eki Restaurant are recommended. Diners with counter seats or a raised tatami area are easy to eat at alone without feeling awkward. soraniwa too — using it to have a relaxed solo lunch and then transition straight into dessert time feels very good. Bring one book and that alone makes for a rich time.
For a girls' trip or group: Nangoku Kitchen Painmi's colourful plate lunch has good Instagram appeal and you can enjoy it while taking photos. soraniwa's sweets are also a top choice for a girls'-trip café time. Blue Turtle suits a large-group lunch too, and everyone eating smoothies and hamburg while gazing at Toguchi-no-Hama is perfect for a group-trip memory.
Points for Enjoying Lunch on Irabu Island
The Need for Reservations and Crowding Patterns
What needs a reservation for lunch is basically high-end shops centred on evening operation or course-meal shops. PRIMONTE SARAHAMA, Shima-ryori Ryugu's courses, soraniwa's dinner and so on can be impossible to enter without a reservation in advance. The pattern of being told it's full even when you call right before is a common story on Irabu Island too, so if you can book at the trip-planning stage, it's better to act early.
Blue Turtle's lunchtime (11:00–17:00) takes no reservations, so if you want to be sure of a seat at a popular time, you have no choice but to arrive early. Summer weekends 11 am–1 pm are especially crowded, so moving with the intention of arriving around 10:30 gives you leeway. There are many reviews of waiting because the car park was full, so allow time including where to park.
Obanmai Shokudo and Irabu Soba Kame end when sold out, so go late and it can be "finished for the day." For seafood bowls you'll want to move before noon. As is true of remote islands across Okinawa generally, travelling with a "don't get angry even if it's closed" mentality actually makes it more fun.
The Best Timing for Lunch
When I asked a local, they said "if a shop opens at 11, go at 11:05." That's how much it's a world where earlier is justice. The 12–1:30 pm when tourists concentrate is the peak of crowding everywhere. Enter at 11 and finish eating, and you have leeway for the rest of your sightseeing.
Closing days also need checking, and island shops sometimes suddenly close not on a set day but on "irregular holidays" or "the owner's circumstances." Please remember that checking by phone before going is common sense for remote-island sightseeing.
Restaurants Recommended for Special Scenes
For special occasions like anniversaries or proposals, Blue Turtle's evening-onwards dinner (reservation required) or PRIMONTE SARAHAMA are the two pillars. Both, in addition to the out-of-the-ordinary feel of the remote island that is Irabu Island, have dish quality and atmosphere that produce a special feel.
Assuming a budget of ¥5,000 (about US$33) or more for dinner widens your options. You can have an experience one rank up from lunch.
The Joy After Lunch! Irabu Island's Dessert & Café Spots
Playing in the sea after lunch is great too, but the option of inserting a dessert time is also good.
At soraniwa hotel & cafe, you can transition straight into sweets and coffee after eating lunch. Island-tofu and mascarpone tiramisu and Tarama-Island brown-sugar crema catalana are dishes you can only eat here. Setting sweets and a drink together gives a ¥100 discount, so ordering both is good value. The sea and sky visible from the hotel's garden make the after-meal time even richer.
Blue Turtle's pine-mango yoghurt smoothie is also a top choice as an after-meal drink. The experience of drinking a smoothie while gazing at Toguchi-no-Hama is naturally something you'll want to post on social media, and this has become a classic scene posted thousands of times on Instagram. The way of spending it where you go straight out to Toguchi-no-Hama after lunch, walk the sand barefoot, then come back and eat dessert, personally feels the most luxurious.
Cafés where you can enjoy light meals and sweets are dotted around Shimojishima Airport too, just right for dropping by between drives. Irabu Island is a small island, so after lunch, driving right around takes only 30 minutes for a full loop. Finding spots you want to drop by as you drive — that kind of carefree driving is one way to enjoy Irabu Island.
Summary: Irabu Island Lunch — Where's Good in the End?
As a final answer when you're undecided, for your first meal you won't go wrong choosing either Blue Turtle or Irabu Soba Kame. The former is an experience that visually opens up the elation of "I've come to Irabu Island!", and the latter is an experience of meeting "a local taste you can only eat here." These two choices are at the two extremes of Irabu Island lunch.
If you want to eat seafood, Obanmai Shokudo without hesitation. For a stylish café lunch, soraniwa. For a special day, PRIMONTE SARAHAMA. The answer for each purpose is within this article.
If I add one more thing, it's good to go to Irabu Island's shops with a feeling of accepting "whimsy." The opening hours having changed, being closed sold out, "huh, it's shut today" — these happen normally on a remote island. At such times, driving around the island thinking "well, let's look for another shop" is also a travel-like experience in its own right. Unexpectedly, sometimes a shop you happened to enter that way was the most delicious.
Once you've crossed the Irabu Bridge, the time spent first thinking "where shall I eat today" is one of the real joys of travel too. The island's lunch can, with that one meal alone, become a scene in your travel memory. Do enjoy Miyako Island's sea and Irabu Island's food to the fullest. Irabu Island lunch is an experience that can become not a single frame within the trip but the trip itself.
Each shop's hours, closing days and menu may change. Always confirm directly with the shop before visiting.
