Wanting a quiet getaway in Okinawa, we decided to spend 2 nights in a resort up north after the initial night in downtown Naha, and on our first evening there, we ate at one of the restaurants inside our hotel. While Okinawa might not be the place to be as far as fine-dining is concerned, both restaurants at the Ritz Carlton Okinawa offered the rare luxury dining options in the region, which included a Japanese teppanyaki restaurant plus an Italian one, in addition to the lounge and all-day-dining restaurant, all within this cozy property.
And one we went was their Italian restaurant called Chura Nuhji, which meant “beautiful rainbow”, and prior to our trip, we contacted the hotel and made the dinner booking. The dining area was housed in a pavilion building surrounding by a pond, giving one a sense of serenity and the resort-type elegance as we walked in and were seated. We went for the Degustation Menu with 6 courses of dishes (each named after a certain region in Okinawa, in a random manner I reckon), plus the wine pairing option with a few glasses to go with the food.
The restaurant specializes in Italian cuisine done with an Okinawa twist, using as many local ingredients as they can, and we were curious how that would fare. We started with a refreshing carrot gazpacho as amuse-bouche, made using local produce with a generous splash of extra virgin olive oil on top in a small cup. Then it’s a neat course of cold appetizer with poached shrimps, a small piece of scallop topped with caviar, raw red snapper, plus asparagus, fava beans and a creamy espuma. Almost like a sashimi platter but with an Italian touch.
Next was a small piece of pork cheek, roasted, and served on a bed of tomato sauce, with finely-diced local shallots on top and garnished with baby basil. Okinawa is famous for its Agu Pork and it’s nice to see they used that in western dishes too. There’s a nice balance of mild smokiness and acidity to this dish and it’s colorfully presented. The pasta course was another well-plated dish, with the thin watercress tagliolini served with watercress pesto, bits of pine nuts and grated bottarga. Replacing the traditional basil with watercress for the pesto sauce gave it an intense green color and more of a leafy flavor than an aromatic one and the bits of roasted pine nuts gave the dish a crunchy bite and a hint of smoke.
There were two main courses – first was the seafood course with a piece of grouper fillet served with leek and nanohana (Chinese broccoli) both in season, plus a white wine cream sauce. The fish was perfectly seared and I like that unique aftertaste of the nanohana (rapeseed blossoms and stalk) with a slight kick of bitter flavor. The second main course was beef, with the piece of wagyu fillet coated in bread crumbs and herbs and served with the red wine sauce. On the side was Swiss chard, potatoes and carrot coulis, all produced locally, and worked well to the overall flavor of the dish. It’s something different than we were used to with the meat course having more focus on the vegetables instead, but it was delicious.
Dessert was classic Italian, with strawberry foam served with bits of macerated strawberries (soaked in mostocotto-kokuto syrup), lime mousse and cream semifreddo. Surprised they didn’t use Skikuwasa, a specialty Okinawa citrus fruit, instead of common lime, but it’s a simple yet well prepared dish with a lot of sweetness.
Went with their wine pairing with three different Italian wines. Always a safe bet starting with the Bellavista bubbly, and that was followed by a white from Friuli and red from Sardinia. Interesting choice of not-that-usual wine regions and we enjoyed the selection, except I thought the red was a tad bit too big for the main course. But overall, the dinner was
one (rare) highlight of our stay at the hotel this time.
When? February 25 2019
Where? Chura Nuhji, The Ritz-Carlton Okinawa, 1343-1 Kise, Nago, Okinawa, Japan
Menu Highlights? Naha – Grouper, Leek, Broccoli
Drinks?
Bellavista “Alma” Franciacorta Gran Cuvée Brut NV
2017 Livio Felluga Pinot Grigio Friuli Colli Orientali
2013 Agricola Punica “Barrua” Isola dei Nuraghi IGT, Sardinia
Web:
www.ritzcarlton.com/en/hotels/japan/okinawa/dining/chura-nuhji
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