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Yarabo, a soba restaurant on Taketomi Island, Okinawa.
My girlfriend presented a simple equation: Taketomi Island equals shrimp soba. She said it was the little island's must-visit restaurant, so we went to Yarabo without hesitation. It was so hot that I headed straight inside without even thinking of taking photographs.
The shrimp soba is served only until the shrimp sell out. Luckily, we arrived in time to try it.
Yarabo is a restaurant that brings island-raised kuruma prawns to a bowl of soba.
Opened in 1973, Yarabo has been serving diners for more than half a century and was renovated in 2025. Its main offerings are Yaeyama soba, soki soba, and kuruma-ebi soba made with prawns from Taketomi Island. Local ingredients give a clear identity to this long-established restaurant.
The prawn soba is particularly representative of the restaurant. Unlike pork-topped soba, it invites you to alternate between the prawn meat and the broth. The key is not the size or number of prawns but the cooking and balance. Notice whether the prawns retain their springy texture and how naturally their flavor connects with the noodles and broth, and you can appreciate the dish in more detail.
Yarabo's direction is clear: it brings island ingredients into a familiar dish rather than relying on elaborate techniques. Between stops around Taketomi, it is worth considering when you want to encounter the island not only through its scenery, but also at the table.
Price impression: Affordable.
View Yarabo on Google Maps ↗