Habuya Okinawan Dining

🇯🇵 JAPAN (Okinawa)
📍 14215 Red Hill Avenue, Tustin, Orange County
🅿️ Ample parking in plaza
🥤 Beer, plum wine, sho chu, awamori

If it happens to be your first time opening the door to Habuya, tucked into a corner of a Tustin plaza anchored by a Stater Bros., you will immediately chastise yourself for not becoming a regular much sooner. Open since late 2010, the small Okinawan izakaya is obviously popular with a regular following, the restaurant is normally full and can require a wait even on a weeknight when you have not made reservations ahead of time.

No matter how long it turns out to be, it will be worth waiting for this special cuisine. Once you sit down your senses are bombarded, first with color on every surface. This is followed by the swooning Okinawan voices and three-stringed lute known as a sanshin that really defines that island's music. Soon your nose and tongue will join in this bombardment as the kitchen's small plates start arriving quickly after an order goes in.

Like any good izakaya, Habuya excels in their alcoholic beverage offerings, with ice cold Okinawan Orion draft beer ($8.50, below) served in even icier mugs, as well as Japanese sho chu and Okinawan awamori. This last offering is unique to Okinawa, made from long grain rice distillation and ancient trade patterns that connected Okinawan and Thai drinking cultures.

Even before anything hits your table, smiles across your face will be unavoidable. It is an absolute joy just to be here, and the friendly staff only make it better. They seem to be doing one hundred things at all times but also treat each customer as if they were a longtime regular that was there from the very beginning.

Most plates are small but the appetizer section has the smallest dishes, so order an array of them to get as many flavors on the table as possible. A plate of tsukemori ($7.80, above) works to get the taste buds active and the flavorful homemade pickles can be popped in between courses when necessary throughout the meal.

On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, an order of jimami ($6.50, below) is smooth and slightly sweet. This Okinawan specialty is a tofu made from peanuts and on its own just has a hint of sweetness from those groundnuts. A side of sweetened soy sauce comes with it though to satisfy the sweet tooth and bolster the natural flavors.

$7.80 Ika geso (fried calamari).

$6.80 Mimiga nira (pig ear with chives in spicy sauce).

$7.80 Beni imo (fried Okinawan purple yam).

$7.50 Sausage & shishito.

A bowl of Okinawan soba should be a part of any meal here, and they will bring small bowls to share if you come as a group. The soki soba ($15, above) is a terrific way to try both the Okinawan-style wheat soba and the beautiful stewed pork rib that can be ordered a few different ways. The rib itself is tender and fatty and lives in a rich broth that has taken on a lot of its flavors, and the soba itself (suba in Okinawan) might resemble a cross between udon and egg noodles.

While often a divisive vegetable, a dish with bitter melon is also a necessary part of an Okinawan meal. If you have had bad experiences in the past, give it one more shot as the Okinawan preparation is usually a bit more mild because it is combined with meaty flavors. The goya chanpuru ($8.80, below) is a sauté of bitter melon, spam, egg, and tofu, and gets topped with dried bonito flakes. None of the dishes shown here, even those without a paragraph to describe them, were disappointing. This restaurant is highly recommended.

$8.80 Nasu miso (eggplant and pork).

$8.50 Saba (fried blue mackerel).

$16 Hamachi carpaccio.

$16 Yuzu sea salt ramen.

🇯🇵🇯🇵🇯🇵

I COULD USE YOUR HELP

Eat the World Los Angeles is and always has been free. It is a hobby born of passion and never solicits money or free food from restaurants. No advertisements block the content or pop over what you read. If this website has helped you explore your city and its wonderful cultures a little better please tell your friends about us and if you have the means to contribute, please consider doing so. Eat the World Los Angeles is a labor of love, but also takes a lot of money and time everyday to keep running.
Thank you!

VENMO: @JAREDCOHEE

CASH APP: $JaredCohee

PAYPAL: (no account necessary, use link)