Here’s a brief (Mini-)Food Report, covering a Japanese-style steak lunch I enjoyed in a restaurant at one of Naha’s major shopping malls.

Welcome to Wafū-tei.

OVERVIEW

Name? Wafū-tei, Naha Main Place Branch (和風亭 那覇メインプレイス店).

Speciality? Japanese cuisine, casual dining/”family restaurant” (ファミレス) style.

Where? On the ground floor of the Naha Main Place shopping centre, a few hundred metres from Omoromachi Station on the Yui Rail line. I’ve pinned the restaurant’s precise location on the following map.

Operating hours? 1100-2300 (last order 2200), according to a sign posted on the shop window. I’ve seen different times quoted in other sources (Tabelog, Google, etc.), but it’s probably best to go by their own sign.

English menu? Available.

Related links? Tabelog / Naha Main Place.

Date of visit? Tuesday, 08 May 2018.

Time of day and type of meal? Midday, lunch.

This won’t be a full-scale Food Report (hence the “Mini” qualifier in the post title), so let’s keep things short and sweet.

First, why here?

My sister and I had just spent a good chunk of the morning at Shikina-en – more about that fantastic royal garden in my previous post – and we’d swung by Naha Main Place for a bit of light shopping. Since it was already lunchtime, we decided to sit down for some midday sustenance in one of the retail centre’s restaurants, and Wafū-tei emerged victorious after a long round of browsing and discussion.

Right, so much for the preliminaries. Now then, here’s a shot of the store front…

…the specific menu pages we’d picked our meals out from (you can view more options here)…

…and the initial components of the table setting. A simple porcelain cup for the complimentary tea, a glass of cold water, and a packaged wet wipe (in place of the traditional oshibori).

Before long, the empty tabletop was transformed into a feast – for the eyes as well as the palate.

My choice was the steak set meal (ステーキ御膳, steak gozen), featuring tender slices of beef served with rice, soup, and other side dishes. I can’t quite remember whether I ordered the normal version (1,717 yen w/ tax) or the “jumbo” version (2,138 yen w/ tax), but I suspect this was just the normal portion.

I tucked into everything, save for the chawanmushi – the savoury egg custard served in the lovely covered bowl on the upper-right corner of the tray. From past experience, I was aware that there would probably be a shrimp buried at the bottom of that custard … which of course I didn’t want to risk consuming, on account of my (thankfully mild) crustacean allergy. I ended up offering the dish to my sister instead.

As for the steak – well, I’ve got no allergy to beef, mate. That plate’s all mine. (^_^)

The meat, as originally served…

…and after I’d tipped the contents of the sauce bowl all over the beef.

To be perfectly clear, we’re not dealing with proper pedigreed wagyū here. Not that I was expecting it – at least not at these prices and in this relatively casual setting. Just good-quality regular beef. But for what it was, I certainly think I got my money’s worth and then some.

And to round things off, here’s a picture my sister took of her own meal. A mini-rice bowl, tempura, and chilled noodle set (小丼天ざるランチ, kodon tenzaru lunch), all for 1,058 yen w/ tax.

Now for the big question: would I go back?

Gladly.

Cheerio.