Amami Oshima Island Cuisine at a Relaxing Izakaya

Located just four minutes away from Shinsen station, there is an Amami Oshima style izakaya tavern in the arrays of cafés and restaurants.

I would like to introduce you to “Tsuchihama Shoten”.

The specialties of the restaurant are the delicious Amami brown sugar shochu and the chicken broth Keihan (boiled rice with toppings soaked in soup and tea).

It is a very cozy restaurant, with just four seats by the counter and a few tables. This popular restaurant fills up quite fast. If you plan to visit in the evening, I suggest you make a reservation.

This time, I came during their lunch hour. Their lunch set menus are very reasonable!

As predicted, the restaurant was already quite filled up when I arrived.

Last time I had lunch here, I ordered their specialty Keihan. The rich dashi (stock) flavor was delicious.

Their Keihan consists of rice, topped with chicken pieces, egg, seasoned maitake mushrooms, all soaked in chicken broth.

I really enjoyed this dish last time and was planning to order the same today.

But then, something else caught my attention: the daily special, Goya Champuru set menu! Goya champuru is an Okinawan dish of fried goya, a local bitter tasting squash, and pork, among other things.

I ordered this right away and waited for about ten minutes.

And here it is!

Look at the beautiful green of the goya!

Sliced goya, tofu and pork. It’s a very healthy dish!

I am going to try it together with some rice.

Umm, the goya is very easy to eat. It’s been seasoned enough to take away the extra bitterness, but not too much so it still has the true natural flavor. Delicious!

And here is something I really love!

Dried shrimp, sesame and hot pepper furikake to sprinkle on the rice. It’s a little bit spicy but not too much. It tastes amazing with white rice!

Furikake is usually for sprinkling on rice, but this particular furikake is almost like a seasoning. It would also be great with all sorts of dishes.

The combination of the flavorful shrimp and slightly spicy hot pepper is irresistible!

Second servings of rice and miso soup are free. Woohoo!

The pleasant staff are all very attentive and come right away to serve you tea when your cup is empty.

Thank you for the relaxing time and delicious meal!

I highly recommend this little heartwarming restaurant.

writer：Tanna