SAM'S SAILOR INNKokusaidori

Nautical themed restaurant complete with cabin windows and waitresses dressed as sailors. The food was great too! Teppanyaki chefs did some interesting moves with their cooking tools to entertain the guests. Reasonably priced!

Visited December 2023

I don’t eat meat often, and when I do I want quality. I wanted to experience teppanyaki in Japan. The whole dinner was a disappointment. The portions and cut were too big, the meat was not tasty at all. For the same price, we had succulent Wagyu Ishigaki beef in the Ishigaki harbour. This place is ...a tourist trap. There are many wonderful restaurants in Naha, even in Kokusai Dori. Don’t go to Sam’s.

Visited August 2019

Imagine a Japanese copy of an American version of a Japanese hibachi steak restaurant, set in a 1970's dive bar, with kitschzy sailor uniforms for the staff. This was either going to be a disaster or a great nostalgic throw back. At one end of Kokusai street, you go into a basement restaurant, set ...in a dark wooded ships tavern theme. Most choices are meal based, where you get several similar courses and then select the main protein. We went with 2 live lobsters with deluxe steak, a half Tahiti lobster and steak courses, with an extra shrimp and scallops to be shared amongst 4 of us. You get 2 cold appetizers which were a couple slices of smoked duck breast, with mustard, and a couple of small pieces of sweet potatoe covered in sesame seeds, served on small scallop shells. Both were ok, and pretty harmless. Then we had a prawn cocktail displayed on top of a large brandy glass, which had a bright blue liquid and dried ice smoke. You get the 1970s theme? Again quite harmless where you got typical frozen prawns served with a classic US red cocktail sauce. A salad with a choice of 4 dressings and a light curry soup, served from a giant cauldron. Ok now to the main courses. Hibachi grilled onions and sweet green peppers, with some thick cut fries. All over seasoned, with too much butter. A bit of juggling with the salt and pepper grinders. We then had some of scallops and prawns, these were probably the best thing about the meal, but were slightly over cooked. The Tahiti lobster was grilled in the kitchen, but the cheese overwhelms the taste of the lobster. The 1lb live lobsters were fresh, but again overcooked, over seasoned and so much butter. When a restaurant in Japan does not boast the origin of the beef you know your in trouble. Im guessing some kind of US beef with very little marbling, so was no way USDA prime. Though tender, it had very little taste, and you guessed over seasoned, and over buttered. Finally some "volcanoe" garlic rice , which was hibachi fried rice, with some alcohol that was burnt off. Then some bean sprouts and baby choy sum. The portions were large, but the cooking execution was poorand lazy. The chef juggled now and then, but it felt like he didnt want to put on a show. For JPY25k it wasnt cheap, and for that price you can get better execution, with better quality beef, maybe even Ishagaki. We all had to shower back in the hotel to clean off the layer of butter coating our faces. Yep a real tourist rip off.

Visited April 2019

Came here after reading some review. Probably good for some gimmicks like 1. You are boarding a ship. 2. Getting to wear a sailor top 3. Getting teppanyaki served by chef 4. Boss(?) dropping in to take a Foto and saying something in Hokien(Chinese Dialect) Cons: 1.you need to put up with stuffiness... as not extremely well ventilated. 2. Slightly pricy and food so so. 3. Excessive food so unless you eat American size meal. Go for smallest order.

Visited February 2019

Quickly seated, waiter came right over, took drinks order and drinks csme fast . We ordered some seafood and scallops then steak, soup a beers and one spritzer. The service was fast and the food tasty. Nice salad and beer was cold. Bit pricey. around 80 Bucks.

Visited June 2018