One day, my boss came up to me and started talking to me in a smug way.

"I found a cafe with an amazing view in Nanjo City!"

It turns out it wasn't my boss who found it, but his wife, and it's certainly a place I'd never heard of before. Even after searching online, there weren't many reviews, so I couldn't find much information! That's why I decided to go and check it out in person.

<Table of Contents>
1. The name of the shop is "Pizza Cafe Mimosa no Ki"
2. Don't use Google Maps if you're going to "Pizza Cafe Mimosa no Ki".
3. We finally arrived at "Pizza Cafe Mimosa no Ki". The secret of their famous "Kotani Pizza"
4. "Pizza Cafe Mimosa no Ki" was a friendly place for everyone.

In Nanjo City, home to many scenic cafes familiar from guidebooks, such as "Hamabe no Chaya" and "Kurukuma," you'll find "Pizza Cafe Mimosa no Ki," which we'll introduce today.

While other well-known cafes are located relatively close to the sea, this one is situated a little further inland, on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean on the eastern side of Okinawa.

It opened on August 2nd, 2016, but even now, 8% of the customers are locals, and it seems that tourists rarely visit.

The car's navigation system I used this time didn't allow me to set a destination using a phone number! It seems to be a very local place. When I checked on Google Maps on my smartphone, I was able to set the destination without any problems!

I decided to go to Nanjo City first, and then use Google Maps navigation once I got there.

Oh, so it turns here (Is this some kind of hidden gem? How exciting!)

If a car comes from the opposite direction, it's game over! But we keep going uphill! (So exciting!)

We were excitedly saying, "The view is great!" when suddenly we started going downhill. We were going down the same amount we had climbed, and just as we were starting to feel uneasy, we finally spotted a shop sign!
"Wow! Google Maps wasn't wrong after all (though the route choice wasn't great)!"

I expected to get there from Naha in 30-40 minutes, but following Google Maps' navigation took me over an hour.

Upon later confirmation, it seems the correct route was to take Route 331 (two lanes) to Prefectural Road 137 (two lanes). If your car navigation system doesn't show it correctly, you might want to set the destination to "Okokuen," a nursing home near the shop.

There are lots of signs from around where you turn onto the side road of Route 137, and the shop is right there when you turn left just before Kotani-en. Follow these signs.

Despite being led astray by Google Maps, I finally arrived at the shop. There are about 15 parking spaces, but none of them have "wa" or "re" license plates.

The building and the scenery match perfectly, creating a great atmosphere! My expectations are high.
After passing through the garden path and going up the stairs, the shop entrance is on your right, and it's a raised seating area.

There was one customer ahead of me, waiting for a takeout pizza.
The restaurant has four tables that seat four people each, and ten counter seats on the terrace. The building is made of wood, and you can take off your shoes, so you naturally feel relaxed.

The menu mainly consists of pizza, but they also offer salads made with Okinawan vegetables and pasta in limited quantities.

But of course, we had to go for the pizza, as it's the name of the restaurant! We ordered two kinds: Kotani Pizza and Mixed Pizza.

Enjoy the view from the terrace while the pizza is being made. It's the ocean!

Above all, it's very quiet and peaceful. Really quiet. I understand why the previous customers were relaxing and drinking coffee while waiting for their pizza.

And here the Kotani Pizza and the mixed pizza are ready!
The small size is 23 cm in diameter, and the medium size is 30 cm in diameter. I ordered the small size for both this time, but they looked quite large. The plates are cute.

Freshly baked! The cheese stretches!

The round sausages are the hallmark of the mix.

Ordering two different kinds was the right decision! They taste completely different!

The mixed pizza has a classic "pizza" flavor with garlic and sausage, but Kotani Pizza has a strong vegetable presence! Not only are the vegetables crisp, but they're also juicy yet light. What's the difference?!

When I asked the store manager, Yamaniha, he said that the pork and pizza sauce used in Kotani Pizza are different.

The pork used in Kotani Pizza is salted pork prepared using a traditional Okinawan cooking method called Suchika.

"Su" means "salt" and "chika" means "to pickle," and this cooking method became popular in the past as a way to preserve food in times before refrigerators existed. A block of meat is rubbed with salt, left to rest in the refrigerator (or freezer) for about three days, and then boiled in a pot for about an hour to remove the salt, and soo-chika is ready.

Surprisingly, Sūchīkā is light and refreshing, and the sweetness of the pork goes well with the vegetables!

The pizza sauce is also made lighter by using less garlic, resulting in Kotani's pizza. Despite being loaded with cheese, it's light, and apparently some women can easily eat an entire pizza by themselves.

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This time we were seated on the second floor, but the first floor has tatami seating which can be used during busy times or when there are small children.

You can go directly from the tatami room down to the grassy garden, so you can rest assured that your children will be able to play if they get bored of eating.

I was full, so I packed the leftovers in a box to take home. The box cost ¥100.

All the staff were friendly and answered our questions carefully. It was also clear that they genuinely cared about their shop.

"Pizza Cafe Mimosa no Ki" is a promising cafe in Nanjo City, a highly competitive area for cafes.

A rare pair of Shisa statues see you off (they come with all the necessary accessories).

Pizza Cafe Mimosa no Ki Basic Information
122 Kotani, Sashiki, Nanjo City, Okinawa Prefecture Tel: 098-947-4727
Monday, Wednesday to Sunday, public holidays, and the day before public holidays: 11:00 AM to 19:00 PM (Last order for food: 18:00 PM, Last order for drinks: 18:00 PM)
Note: On the way back, we took the main road and arrived back in Naha in about 40 minutes, as expected.

Please make your hotel reservation here.

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