Location: Ginowan, on the 81 (the street House of 66 Cents is on) between 58 and 330
Hours: Lunch 11:30-4, Tea 3-4p, Dinner 6-10p; closed Monday. English menu.
http://www.pao-okinawa.com/
Cafe & Cucina Pao is a cute Italian-inspired cafe, with big windows and lots of natural light. They make and sell their own pasta, bread, and homemade sauce. At lunch there is a great set menu that includes a pasta dish (choice of 4), an appetizer-of-the-day (choice of 2), choice of hot/cold tea/coffee, and dessert. Two of the sets (based on the pasta dish) are 980Y, the other two are >1200Y. We had the tomato-ham sauce and the "salt" sauce which was a savory combination of pork, mushrooms, greens, and garlic. The fresh pasta is delightful. The tomato sauce was too sweet for our taste (we prefer versions with more spice, acidity, meatiness, etc); the salt sauce was really yummy. The appetizers - chicken mousse and a mini-omelet - were intriguing, but not great. The bread was lovely and yeasty. The dessert was spectacular - a scoop of citrus sorbet, light and icy, on a piece of pressed pound cake, alongside an extraordinary profiterole (cream puff). Presentation was immaculate from start to finish, and the coffee was decent. Coffee is accompanied by a pitcher of cream and by 3 different kinds of sweetener - brown and white sugarcubes, and syrup.
It appears the owners are opening another branch called Casa Pana, located on the 330 around the corner from Pao. The place is still under construction. The card lists hours 11:30-4 and 6-10p closed Wed.
Hours: Lunch 11:30-4, Tea 3-4p, Dinner 6-10p; closed Monday. English menu.http://www.pao-okinawa.com/
Cafe & Cucina Pao is a cute Italian-inspired cafe, with big windows and lots of natural light. They make and sell their own pasta, bread, and homemade sauce. At lunch there is a great set menu that includes a pasta dish (choice of 4), an appetizer-of-the-day (choice of 2), choice of hot/cold tea/coffee, and dessert. Two of the sets (based on the pasta dish) are 980Y, the other two are >1200Y. We had the tomato-ham sauce and the "salt" sauce which was a savory combination of pork, mushrooms, greens, and garlic. The fresh pasta is delightful. The tomato sauce was too sweet for our taste (we prefer versions with more spice, acidity, meatiness, etc); the salt sauce was really yummy. The appetizers - chicken mousse and a mini-omelet - were intriguing, but not great. The bread was lovely and yeasty. The dessert was spectacular - a scoop of citrus sorbet, light and icy, on a piece of pressed pound cake, alongside an extraordinary profiterole (cream puff). Presentation was immaculate from start to finish, and the coffee was decent. Coffee is accompanied by a pitcher of cream and by 3 different kinds of sweetener - brown and white sugarcubes, and syrup.
It appears the owners are opening another branch called Casa Pana, located on the 330 around the corner from Pao. The place is still under construction. The card lists hours 11:30-4 and 6-10p closed Wed.
