CONTRIBUTED BY Fun Flying Four
Have you been to Minotagawa yet? You seriously need to… it’s a foodies delight!
Claire Bray-Collin already wrote about the delicious oHacorte Patisserie, (and I can personally vouch for the deliciousness of the tarts!) and Angie Brzycki mentioned a few restaurants in her post on the Minatogawa Area, but today I want to talk about another eatery: Rich Epi. This little gem has, quite possibly, one of the best curries I have had on island!
Located on Michigan Street of the Old Military Housing area, Rich Epi is opposite Casa Machilda, which is a darling wooden toy shop that is a perfect place to take the kids for a play before heading here for lunch!
The cafe is light and welcoming and the staff, while they only spoke a little English, were all friendly and went out of their way to help us understand the menu options– which are displayed on an iPad.
For lunch they only do a set (salad+main+drink=980 Yen) but you have four options for your main: chicken, meat (I think beef), a curry (which had meat in it but I am not sure if it was beef or pork) and, I believe, a fish option. On weekdays they also have a pasta option.
They do a kids set (780 yen) which contains fruit, curly fries, a small salad, a deep fried ravioli and rice with a tomato based mild curry; we got one to share between my girls (aged 2 & 5) and it was the perfect amount. They both devoured it, so it must have been good. I should also mention that while they welcomed children, I didn’t notice that they had any highchairs, but I also didn’t ask for one.
My husband ordered the chicken and I settled on the curry; they were both fantastic but we agreed the curry was lick-the-plate-clean good, even our oldest agreed!
We have yet to return to try out dinner but looking at their website it looks amazing; lots of pasta & seafood (and all reasonably priced) and they also serve adult drinks…I am thinking this might the location of our next date night!
Hours: Lunch: 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., Cafe Hours: 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., Dinner: 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., Last order: 9:00 p.m.
CLOSED Mondays and the 1st & 3rd Tuesday of ever month
Phone: 098-943-1713
Address: 2 Chome-12-7 Minatogawa, Urasoe-shi, Okinawa-ken 901-2134, Japan
Directions: From Kadena Gate 1
- Turn left on 58, heading south
- Continue on 58 for 9.7 km
- You will see a large glass building called Yamada Denki Techland Urasoe on your right, and that is where you should turn left.
- Drive about 250 meters and make another left turn.
- Casa Machilda will be on your left and Rich Epi will be on your right
Additional notes from a reader: Driving south, you’ll pass the entrance to Kinser on your right. Take a left at the third light after the Kinser intersection. There will be a Kanehide on the right (green sign with two orange birds on it). When you take the left at the light there’ll be a ramp with a painted white wall and that will take you down into the Minotogawa neighborhood.
Coordinates: 26.2633063, 127.71650369999998
Website: www.richepi.com