That's TASTY (or Oishii desu!)

Since we've now been here for 7 years and 3 months (WOW time flies when you're on the other side of the world) I have discovered many a splendid place to satisfy my love for food. The spot pictured above is MARCO POLO Cafe and Bakery and it is like Santa's workshop - if all the gifts he gave were baked goods. This place is like heaven on a biscuit! They continually bring out fresh warm loaves of various breads: raisin bread, garlic bread, honey balsamic bread, mayo filled bread (WHAT???). The Okinawans seem to seriously love their mayonnaise. They put it on sushi (yep you heard that right), they bake it into bread, they slather it on their faces (oh wait that's me not them). Oh and the pizza - definitely not American style pizza, but sometimes that is a good thing (like this time)! The crust is a delicious pillowy bread, a light slathering of red sauce and cheese and then whatever toppings they happen to have on hand - like corn. YES, I said corn. It seems to be the Okinawan veggie of choice for pizza. Hey don't knock it until you've tried it. It actually seems to work. I can just picture the puzzled expression of the guy on the other end of the phone when I go back to the US and call Pizza Hut and ask for "extra corn."

Besides the savory treats, Marco Polo also has some amazing cakes, cookies, and other yummy little semi-sugary delights. Japanese desserts tend not to be very sweet. A typical Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip cookie would cause majority of Okinawans to cringe as they tend to use about half the sugar that we Americans use to make their desserts. It is a little odd at first and took me a while to get into, but now I can appreciate a chocolate cake that tastes more like chocolate than sugar (don't get me wrong - I will NEVER turn down a super sweet German Chocolate cake BUT it's nice to change it up every now and then). The Okinawan donuts are a prime example of this. To ME the donuts here taste like dough balls with a pinch of sugar fried in fish oil (yummy right?) but to my husband (and my Rottweiler) they are to die for. Oh dear GOD, I just read him that sentence and he went downstairs and got an Okinawan doughnut (yes, he keeps these on hand in case of emergency).

Special Note: This café/bakery takes Yen and American Dollars. 098-921-1820.

Hours: Open 7 days a week. Monday – Friday they are open from 8 a.m. until 9p.m. Breakfast is served from 8a.m. until 11:30 a.m. and they will take the last pizza order at 7p.m.

Location: Awase area

Directions: Go out Kadena Gate 2, go straight and cross 330. You are on 20. You will cross 329 and start looking for the Mac House Jeans store, on the right, and then Marco Polo is right past the jeans store on the right as well. If you get to 85 you have gone to far. The restaurant is less than 5 kilometers from Kadena Gate 2. There is parking directly in the front of the restaurant and they also have a huge parking lot behind the restaurant. To get to the parking lot, pass the restaurant and take the small driveway that runs alongside the restaurant – don’t go to the signal, you’ll have gone to far.