Nantoya
Okinawa prefecture

Okinawa World is a must-visit place because they have everything, including Halal food at Nantoya!

Okinawa’s famous touristic theme park.

Okinawa World (おきなわワールド) is a theme park at southern Okinawa. It takes only about 30 minutes from Naha Airport, so the park is chosen by so many tourists.

Okinawa World literally has everything. The park first opened because of their huge limestone cave called Gyokusendo (玉泉洞). It is said that the cave is one of the 3 greatest ones, nearly 5km long.

In the park, they also have some attractions where you can experience all Okinawa’s tradition: Okinawa Kimono, glassware making, painting, traditional house and so on. You will never get bored to see them if you want to know more about Okinawa’ tradition, which is different from mainland Japan.

Okinawa’s traditional house, at Okinawa World.

Halal Restaurant at Okinawa World.

Nantoya (なんと屋) is a restaurant also available at Naha Airport, but their name is known because they provide Muslim-friendly and Vegetarian options for customers! Their specialty is seafood bowls and Okinawa’s local cuisine.

The most famous Okinawa’s local dish, Goya Champuru (ゴーヤちゃんぷるー)

The restaurant is not Halal-certified but preparing meals meeting the necessary standard to be Muslim-friendly. They use Halal meat, ingredients and seasonings without alcohol.

This is a very great news for Muslims traveling to Okinawa, because food culture in Okinawa is Pork and Alcohol. No matter where you go, you will find products with pork or its oil, even sweets. Their famous local Donut called Sata Andaghi or biscuit called Chinsuko are made with lard.

It is very difficult to find food without lard.

Do we have to make reservation to ensure Halal food?

The great thing about Nantoya is that you do not have to make a reservation to have a Halal food. They have Halal food as a part of their regular menu choices, and it clearly mentions what is included in the food.

“It is extremely important to make all special dietary requests as a part of our menu choices, not serving only for Muslims or Vegetarians.”, Mr. Tanaka, a general manager of Okinawa World, told us.

“Because when we limit the customer, other customers will not choose our restaurant, which will result us in not being able to continue our service.”

It is important welcome all the customers.

How can they serve big group customers with dietary requests effectively?

Okinawa World also has a restaurant called Chura Jima (ちゅら島). This is a buffet restaurant only for group customers who made a prior reservation.

Still, Mr. Tanaka has told us that they also have the same concept for this restaurant; they put icon on the menu tag to show what is inside the meal, so that customers can choose freely without asking a staff in the restaurant.

“We have so many guests from around the world, especially from Taiwan. Because there are many Vegetarians and these people are usually traveling in a big group tour, we had to prepare so many types of meals. Now with this icon clearly showing what is included, we can serve customers much easier and effectively.”

Detail of the restaurant

Name: Nantoya (なんと屋)
Address: 1336 Aza Maekawa, Tama Gusku, Nanjo, Okinawa 901-0616 沖縄県南城市玉城字前川1336番地
Genre: Japanese / Okinawa local cuisine
Tel: 098-949-7421
Opening hours: 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
* Another branch available at Naha Airport.