A royal Ryukyu dinner at Ryoutei Naha Tea House: September 23, 2010

Today was a very special day. My Ikebana Sensei invited us to a traditional Okinawa dinner at the only remaining tea house on Okinawa. We joined Yori, Kojo San and Keimi San once we got there. They serve traditional royal food from the Ryukyu kingdom and perform dances and songs while you eat. This tea house has been open since 1963 and is very famous. It was so beautiful and very peaceful and relaxing. It's amazing that just outside the beautiful building is a noisy city! It was like being transported to another time once we stepped inside.













Pig bowel soup and steak with bitter greens and corn. Thank goodness for the steak!

Seaweed in vinegar sauce, tofu in peanut sauce, shaved pigs ear in peanut sauce, and a variety of sashimi. The pigs ear was actually tasty!
Raw abalone in vinegar sauce with ginger.

Kojo San had told the restaurant that it was Max's birthday the day before and they gave him a gift. It had giant Okinawa donuts inside!

They gave Max a birthday cake....yummy.

Mika and our waitress. They liked each other and she gave Mika a small keychain at the end of the evening that she carried attached to her kimono. It was very nice.

This was the most interesting thing we've ever experienced since living on Okinawa. We'll never forget it. It was really wonderful and very special.