Kohisama

Rating: OK
Meal: Lunch
Price: 950 yen
Payment: Cash only
Dishes: Locomoco
English Menu:No

No English, but big pictures

I was really rooting for Kohisama Coffee as it's so clearly a labor of love for the owners.  However the dish I had just wasn't very good, so I can't give it much more than an Ok.  I'm beginning to think I need a new cuisine label of "Islander" for these kinds of places.  They have some faux Hawaiian dishes along with Okinawan influence, but aren't strongly one or the other.  Generally you *know* when you're in a hard core Okinawan restaurant, but these places are sort of wishy washy and are going for more of an islander vibe filtered through Japanese hippy sensibilities.  That being said, they are usually cute mom and pop shops with lots of local character.  You can tell someone is probably sinking their life savings into a labor of love, so I feel bad when the food is just kind of meh...but there you go.

I spied this place in my last ditch wanderings about Shioiri for lunch spots.  I wasn't sure if they were open but they were just shut up to keep the heat in.  They use one of those kerosene heaters that you can smell the minute you go inside, but after a while you stop smelling it too strongly.  With just two people working in a very confined space it took a bit longer than expected for my dish, the Locomoco.  This is a hamburger patty on rice with an egg on top and some lettuce on the side.  It can range from very simple to very complex.  This was definitely simple, very little spicing to the meat and the sauce didn't help give the dish any character.  Oh well, at least the meat seemed to be of good quality.  The two frozen pieces of pineapple were fresh...a nice touch if you like pineapple.

I also splurged for "Okinawan" coffee (not included in the price above).  This was quite a disappointment, having the flavor of yesterday's cafeteria coffee.  Not recommended really.