Habuya Okinawan

14215 Red Hill Ave
Tustin, CA 92780
(714) 832-3323

General:

I never had Okinawan food elsewhere.  So, I didn't really have a yardstick to compare.  However, I'll give you my take and perspective on what they proudly serve as Okinawan cuisine in the menu selections.

If I could sum their Okinawan selections in two ingredients, they are fatty pork and bitter melon .  
It seems that Okinawan, at least this restaurant owners, are obsessed about these two ingredients which I don't mind as I like them both.  The obsession is shown as they run fresh water unto the bitter melon for a long time, supposedly to reduce the undesired bitterness. 

The ubiquitous pork is everywhere in their Okinawan selections, mainly in 2 forms:  ribs and 3-layer bacon (similar to Chinese dishes).  Except for the salt-grilled pork belly, most of the pork cuisines are stewed in soy sauce based.  This intrigues me.  I am familiar with both mainland Japanese and Min Nan Chinese Fujianese (Fukkien/Hokkien) cuisines. A lot of pork preparation in Fujianese cuisine is soy sauce stew.  From my observation, the Okinawan food here is like Fujianese food but prepared with Japanese soy sauce. 

Having said this, the Okinawan offerings are all delicious.  I'd advise you to stay with their Okinawan selection and refrain from ordering "main stream" Japanese selections which are mostly just okay.  If you come here expecting satisfaction from traditional Japanese cuisine, you would get a better satisfaction elsewhere. 
 
Note: the place is quite small and reservation is recommended.

Details:  

Their two main bitter melon dishes are the bitter melon salad and bitter melon omelet.  Bitter melon salad is spring mix salad with sesame dressing served with fried bitter melon (4 stars).  The omelet is lightly fried bitter melon rolled into egg omelet (3.5 stars). In addition to these two, they also serve bitter melon stir fried with bean sprouts and beaten eggs.  I chuckled when I first saw it as you could call it *gasp* Fujianese home cooking (3.5 stars).

 
Their specialty Soki Soba is very similar to Fujianese peddler ribs noodle soup.  The noodle is thick noodle similar to what is commonly used in Fujian noodle soup (it has a quality between linguini and fettuccine when it is cooked on the soft side).  The soup is closer to Fujian soy-based (soy sauce usage here is VERY light) noodle soup than what you'd expect from a Japanese soup. 4.5 stars.

Pork belly and daikon stew: this stew is really what would happen if a Fujianese cooked it with a Japanese soy sauce.  Sake-fortified fragrant soy sauce. Sweet and salty. Daikon gives a nice earthiness contrast. Unfortunately, pork is a tad hard. 4- stars.

They also have what they call Sukichi.  This is a deceptively simple dish of salt-grilled sliced pork belly, finished with a squeeze of lemon.  However, it is very delicious and makes an excellent pairing with the Soki Soba. 4 stars.

Another interesting offering is Okinawan tofu dish.  It is raw tofu served with assortment of fermented seafood toppings.  Again, you'd find something similar in Fujian. 4+ stars.

Some examples of "mainstream" Japanese offerings:

Uni pasta: al dente soki soba,  cream, strong nori overtone.  Yet, uni is not only scarce to find but is also overpowered by cream and nori. Nothing special. 3+ stars.

Grilled Akanishi clam: crunchy texture, grill char, topped with mayo mustard sauce. Better served at Sushi houses. 3.5 stars.

Soki Soba

Bitter Melon Salad

Anakashi Clam

Uni Pasta

Sukichi