- An Ocean-View Lunch of Island-Vegetable Starters and Miyako-Beef Hamburg
- What Is Cafe & Yado COMO? An Inn-Café Healed by Nature
- Access and Basics: Opening Hours, Closing Days, How to Reserve
- A Lunch Course Starting with Island-Vegetable Starters and a Soup of the Day
- Recommended Mains: Miyako-Beef Hamburg and Vegetable Curry
- Sweets and Drinks: Savour Island-Ingredient Desserts
- Terrace Seats and the View: Savour Irabu Island Nature with All Five Senses
- Dinner and Stays: Reservation-Only Nights and an Inn of Just 3 Rooms
- Why I Recommend Cafe & Yado COMO
- Enjoy the Surrounding Sights as a Set Too: Irabu Bridge and Toguchi-no-Hama
- FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions
- Summary: The Standard Lunch on Irabu Island Is Settled Here
An Ocean-View Lunch of Island-Vegetable Starters and Miyako-Beef Hamburg
When someone asks me "where should I go for lunch on Irabu Island?", there's a place that comes to mind first of all.
Cafe & Yado COMO. Ask locals on Irabu Island to recommend an eatery and this is a café whose name comes up almost without fail. That it's loved not just for being popular with tourists but by the island people too might be its number-one feature.
Honestly, at first I braced a little at the word "café." Somewhere too stylish with small portions, or atmosphere-focused with ordinary taste — I wondered if it might be that kind of place. Lunch options on Irabu Island aren't many, so the damage when you miss is bigger than on the main island of Miyako, and being cautious can't be helped.
But actually eating there completely betrayed my expectations.
A starter platter of carefully prepared island vegetables, a Miyako-beef-and-prefecture-pork hamburg that overflows with juices the moment it enters your mouth, a cold soup whose aroma rises each time you put a fork in. Lunch unfolds like a course, and while eating I thought "ah, this is serious cooking." That you could eat such careful food on Irabu Island was my honest impression.
In this article, I'll firmly deliver the appeal of Cafe & Yado COMO, including the menu, the view and points to note when you actually go. For people looking for a recommended lunch on Irabu Island, I think it's worth a read.
What Is Cafe & Yado COMO? An Inn-Café Healed by Nature
First, I want to talk a little about this shop's background.
The owner-chef is someone who ran the French restaurant "Chez COMO" in Tsudanuma, Chiba, for many years. It closed in 2015 to much regret, and the following year, 2016, he opened a café and inn (yado) on Irabu Island, Miyako. A place where French technique met island ingredients — that, I think, is this shop's essence.
Incidentally, the name "COMO" — I thought it might come from Lake Como in Italy, but it's apparently the name of a cat. Somehow just that conveys the relaxed air of this shop.
The facility has a small inn (yado) of only 3 rooms attached, a place where café and inn are one. Go down the small path in front and there's a natural beach like a private one, where you can spend time at leisure in an environment of birdsong and the sound of waves. A completely different air flows here from the bustle of Miyako Island as a tourist destination.
Its fame rose all at once when the comedian Degawa Tetsuro stayed here on the TV programme "Can I Get a Charge, Please?", and it now has many fans. But actually going there, the impression of "a quiet, careful place" was far stronger than the media exposure. Rather than a place to come aiming for social-media looks, it feels like a place to come eat a proper meal slowly.
Access and Basics: Opening Hours, Closing Days, How to Reserve
Let me cover the basic information first.
- Cafe & Yado COMO
- Address: 758-7 Irabu, Irabu, Miyakojima City, Okinawa
- Phone: 0980-78-4980
- Lunch: 11:30–14:00
- Dinner: from 18:00 (fully by reservation)
- Closing days: Monday and Tuesday (temporary closures possible)
- Payment: cash only
- Car park: yes
▶"Please check the latest opening hours and closing days on [Cafe & Yado COMO]"
For access, it's about 20–25 minutes by rental car from Miyako Airport. Cross the Irabu Bridge, turn left, and proceed along the road towards Toguchi-no-Hama. Pass Nagayama Port and continue along the road, then turn left at the orange sign and head towards the sea. Put the address into your navigation and you can mostly arrive, but the sign is on the small side, so be careful not to miss it.
What's important is that "it's currently run by the chef alone." The official Instagram also says "as it's a one-person operation it takes time, please bear with us." So it's not suited to when you're in a hurry, or to visits by large groups. When going with many people, it's good manners to contact them by phone or email in advance, and indeed it seems the shop can't cope otherwise.
The phone often can't be answered during business, so email is more reliable for inquiries. You can contact them from the official site (cafecomo.net).
There are a fair number of temporary closures too, so checking the latest closure information on the official site or Instagram before your trip is absolutely recommended. After crossing all the way to Irabu Island, "it was closed today" is truly big damage. This isn't from my own experience, but I watched an acquaintance mess this up and lament that they "became a lunch refugee on the island."
As another point on opening hours, it's worth remembering lunch starts at 11:30. Many Irabu Island eateries start lunch around 11:30. When you sightsee from the morning and "get hungry early," a little waiting time can occur, but during it you can stroll Toguchi-no-Hama or gaze at the nearby sea. The area around COMO is rich in nature, and the saving grace is the location making even the wait meaningful.
A Lunch Course Starting with Island-Vegetable Starters and a Soup of the Day
The fun of COMO's lunch is that there's "a proper flow" from start to finish.
Order a main and a starter assortment using island vegetables and a soup always come with it. It's a completely different experience from eating a rice bowl at a food court, with the meal unfolding like a course.
The starters come out with different preparation for each one. Vinegar-pickled island scallion, vegetable pickles, carpaccio, garlic bread, cream cheese... small but each with a different flavour-work done to it. Eating, I frankly felt "a French-trained person is making this." It makes the most of the rustic quality of island vegetables while finishing them with proper technique.
The soup is daily-changing too, with things like a cold tomato soup floating island tofu, or a cold banana soup appearing. The expression "the acidity of the tomato thins out and only the umami remains" fits perfectly, and that what floats on top isn't cheese but island tofu is also typical of this shop. A taste that's simple yet has a clear outline.
Just this starter and soup make you realise "ah, this place isn't ordinary." The portion is modest, but after eating there's a proper sense of having eaten. That makes for just the right warm-up before eating the main.
Recommended Mains: Miyako-Beef Hamburg and Vegetable Curry
Miyako-Beef and Prefecture-Pork Hamburg
If you go to COMO, this can't be missed.
A dish of a hamburg combining Miyako beef and Okinawa-prefecture pork with a special sauce, and the moment you put a fork in, the juices ooze out. Looking at diners' reviews, words like "the juices overflowed the moment I put a fork in," "tender with a meaty feel," and "there's fat but it isn't heavy" appear repeatedly.
The point is combining not just beef but prefecture pork — the umami of the beef and the tenderness of the pork melt together, becoming a complex taste in one bite. The special sauce has richness and depth, drawing out the umami of the meat while not asserting itself too much. A plate that lets you realise "so this is what a sauce made by a French-trained chef is."
With the starter and soup included, that this much content fits in the ¥1,000–2,000 (about US$7–13) price range honestly surprises you too. Considered as a lunch, the value is considerably high.
Vegetable Curry Rice
A popular item with many voices saying "next time I go I want to eat the curry." A healthy dish with plenty of fresh island vegetables in a spiced roux, where the balance of the vegetables' sweetness and the spices is said to be exquisite. This too comes with starter and soup.
I often hear voices strongly recommending this one to curry lovers. That people keep agonising over which to choose — Miyako-beef hamburg or curry — every time also speaks to this shop's depth.
Other Lunch Items
- Omurice: firm, old-fashioned-style egg with a combination of ketchup and cream sauce. The ketchup rice is lightly seasoned, a light finish that isn't heavy and that you can keep eating. With starter and soup, a reasonable ¥990 (about US$7)
- Taco rice: an Okinawan standard combining spiced meat, cheese and vegetables. Popular with families and young tourists
- Pork-shoulder tomato-sauce stew: a Western-style dish simmered slowly, typical of a French-trained chef. With starter and soup
Sweets and Drinks: Savour Island-Ingredient Desserts
Skipping the sweets here after your meal is, honestly, a waste.
The mango pudding (island-egg pudding) has a melt-in-the-mouth texture, so soft the expression "drinkable" comes up. Not too sweet, the taste of the ingredients comes through straight.
The island-banana tart has the three qualities of not too sweet, not heavy and not tiring, a finish where even after eating lunch you think "I can totally manage it." Island bananas are a smaller variety like mini bananas, with a completely different aroma from mainland bananas. A dish combining that with tart pastry is, I think, COMO's original taste.
It's possible to visit just for café time aiming for dessert too, enjoying it with coffee, tea or island-fruit juice. Eating lunch elsewhere and then dropping by just for dessert and a drink is also an option. The time enjoying after-meal coffee and pudding on the terrace while gazing at the sea becomes, I think, something special even among the afternoons spent on Irabu Island.
Terrace Seats and the View: Savour Irabu Island Nature with All Five Senses
The interior has large glass windows, and just sitting there greenery and the sea come into view. Go out to the terrace seats and an even more open space spreads out.
The island nature thick with greenery, and the emerald-green sea beyond it. Quiet, with a pleasant wind. Being in a place close to the Irabu Bridge and Toguchi-no-Hama, it's also a location easy to combine with sightseeing before or after lunch.
The terrace seats on a fine day are special, and eating the island-vegetable starter and hamburg while feeling the sea breeze, the satisfaction of "I'm having a good meal here" naturally wells up. This, I think, is the view boosting the taste of the food.
Since one person runs the whole thing, the food can take a little time to come out, but that wait becomes time to go out to the terrace and gaze at the sea. Rather than a feeling of "being kept waiting," it's closer to a feeling of "being given time to spend slowly." Coming here, I feel I can understand a little the meaning of the phrase island time.
That there are few people around and it's quiet is also, I think, a big appeal of this shop. Miyako Island beaches and sights get quite lively in season. But COMO is a small café with an attached inn, so however popular, it doesn't get crowded beyond its capacity. That's exactly why you can eat slowly, spend time slowly and head home slowly. Even among Irabu Island cafés, I feel it's a place where you can especially enjoy that kind of time.
Dinner and Stays: Reservation-Only Nights and an Inn of Just 3 Rooms
The talk has centred on lunch, but COMO is attractive for dinner and stays too, so let me touch on it briefly.
Dinner is fully by reservation from 18:00, with a course meal unfolding. The starters include island scallion, carpaccio, garlic bread, island-vegetable pickles and cream cheese. To that, a Miyako-beef hamburg and a pork-and-chicken liver terrine line up, for a night eating slowly while drinking a shikuwasa sour. This, I think, is quite a luxurious experience.
The inn has only 3 rooms. There's no glamour like a big resort hotel, but it's clean, tasteful and comfortable. You wake to birdsong, and in the morning gaze at the sea over coffee on the terrace. At night there are few lights around, so you can sometimes see the Milky Way. The "luxury of doing nothing" is here.
One point to note: stay reservations are accepted via Rakuten Travel, Jalan net and the official site, and not by Instagram DM. Be careful not to mistake the reservation method.
Why I Recommend Cafe & Yado COMO
Organising the reasons I recommend COMO for lunch on Irabu Island, it comes to this.
First, the seriousness of the cooking is different. The dishes a French-trained chef makes using island ingredients are on another level from a food court or a tourist-spot diner. The careful preparation of the starters, the richness of the hamburg sauce, the way the umami is drawn out of the soup, the finish of the dessert. In all of it you feel technique and intent.
Next, the price is conscientious. There's a flow of starter, soup, main and dessert, fitting within about ¥1,000–2,000. This is quite good value, I think. Being able to serve lunch of this quality at this price on the island is, I think, only possible because of the owner-chef's stance.
And there's the human touch of food made by one chef. The food takes time to come out, large groups need to contact in advance, and only cash can be used. But that "slight inconvenience" matches the slow air this place has, making the experience of coming here something special.
Lastly, that there are many repeat customers. Voices of "I absolutely want to come again" and "next I want to eat the curry" appear repeatedly in reviews. A shop where someone who visited once will definitely come here again on their next Irabu Island trip is rare. That, I think, expresses COMO's ability most honestly.
For people who want to "eat a proper meal slowly" on Irabu Island, I think there's hardly a place beyond COMO.
Enjoy the Surrounding Sights as a Set Too: Irabu Bridge and Toguchi-no-Hama
Centring on COMO, building a day as a set with the surrounding sights is recommended.
Toguchi-no-Hama is about 10 minutes from COMO by car. A white-sand beach about 800 metres long and 50 metres wide, especially popular even within Irabu Island. The contrast of high transparency and white sand is beautiful, and it's suited to snorkelling too. Facilities like showers and toilets are in place, so the course of swimming before lunch and then coming to COMO feels good.
The Irabu Bridge is 3,540 metres long. The longest toll-free bridge in Japan, where you can take in the whole Miyako-blue sea from the bridge. The day-flow of crossing the Irabu Bridge to the island, sightseeing the island, and lunch at COMO is, I think, one of the "royal roads of Irabu Island."
17END and Shimojishima are about 20 minutes from COMO. 17END is a beach at the tip of Shimojishima, connected to Irabu Island by a bridge, a distinctive place where aeroplanes pass low overhead. Toured together with Shimojishima Airport, you can easily enjoy half a day. Personally I like the flow of touring 17END and Shimojishima in the morning and lunch at COMO at noon.
FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. Can I reserve for lunch?
Lunch can't be reserved. However, since it's currently a one-person operation, I strongly recommend contacting in advance by phone or email for large groups such as 4 or more. Dinner is fully by reservation.
Q2. What are the closing days and opening hours?
Monday and Tuesday are closing days, and lunch is 11:30–14:00. However, there are many temporary closures, so be sure to check the latest information on the official site or Instagram before visiting.
Q3. What are the payment methods?
Cash only. Cards and electronic money can't be used, so go after preparing cash.
Q4. What are the recommended items?
The Miyako-beef and prefecture-pork hamburg with special sauce is the signature item. The vegetable curry rice is popular too. Both come with starter and soup. After your meal, don't miss the mango pudding and island-banana tart.
Q5. Is it OK with children?
The terrace seats and café space can be used with children. Taco rice and omurice are popular with families too. However, since it's a one-person operation, having small children fuss while waiting a long time may be tough, so confirming the situation before visiting is reassuring.
Q6. Is there a car park?
There's a car park. However, the number of spaces isn't many. On weekends and in peak season, there are cases of using the café space for parking.
Q7. Where do I reserve a stay?
From Rakuten Travel, Jalan net, or the official site online reservation. Note that it isn't accepted by Instagram DM.
Summary: The Standard Lunch on Irabu Island Is Settled Here
Cafe & Yado COMO is a place several levels above the image of the word "café."
Serious cooking using island ingredients, made by a French-trained chef. Carefully prepared starters, a cold soup full of umami, a Miyako-beef-and-prefecture-pork hamburg overflowing with juices, and melt-in-the-mouth mango pudding after the meal. This can be enjoyed for between ¥1,000 and 2,000.
Since one person runs it, it takes time. Only cash works. Closed Monday and Tuesday, with temporary closures too. There are certainly several inconvenient elements. But including that "slight inconvenience," it's become the air of the place called COMO.
Irabu Island is sometimes said to have "nothing." There are no convenience stores, no big shopping malls. But within that "nothingness," a shop like this quietly exists. Without advertising flashily, people gather by word of mouth. That's COMO's strength, and also the underlying power of the place called Irabu Island.
If you're looking for a recommended lunch on Irabu Island, head here without hesitation. After fully enjoying the sea at Toguchi-no-Hama or 17END, the island-vegetable lunch eaten on the terrace while gazing at the sea becomes, I think, a special memory even within the trip.
Irabu Island nature, and the cooking one chef seriously faced. A place where both of these overlap is here at COMO. On your next Irabu Island trip, please do set this at the centre of lunch.
The opening hours, closing days and menu of each shop may change. Please be sure to check directly with the shop before visiting.
