Fertile
(Picture by Diana Middleton)
My mom's good at noticing details. Immediately when we sat down in Fertile cafe, just off Gate 2 Street, she honed in on the chairs. These look like they might be school chairs, or chairs from a church, she noticed. Sure enough there were little shelf things built into the backs that could fit a schoolbook, or perhaps a hymnal.
Fertile is full of quirky, charming details like these; from the delicate light fixtures (a chandelier draped with pink beads here, a lamp of frosted glass there--each is different); to the gorgeous dessert forks; to the precious vintage children's book in the restroom. As my mom put it, "Your eyes just flit from one beautiful thing to the next."
This was my first time at Fertile, which I heard about from Diana, former Oki Hai writer. But almost from the moment I entered, I found myself rooting for it--the service being the kind in which your needs are anticipated and expectations exceeded. For example, just as I sat down and was about to set my purse on the floor, Etsuko, Fertile's owner and our waitress, thought to push up an extra chair for me to place it on. Later, as my mom and I waited for our meal, she handed us two fat Japanese fashion magazines to peruse. How fun! Also, this is one of the first restaurants I've been to in Japan where your water glass is refilled without having to ask.
While the menu we ordered from was in Japanese, Etsuko carefully explained each of the sets to us in English. There was a spaghetti with fresh tomato sauce. A cream sauce pasta with mushrooms. Herb chicken. Sauteed pork. And I think a clam chowder kind of dish and a curry. Each set came with a deconstructed salad (the day we went, white radish in black sesame sauce, purple cabbage, and julienned carrots), a soup (pureed carrots and beans with a kick of pepper), a dessert (chocolate chip banana cake with fresh whipped cream), and tea or coffee.
It took awhile to decide, but we ended up selecting the mushroom pasta and the pork chop. They were both very good. My pasta dish was really rich and creamy and my mom's pork delicious as well. We were good and full by the end of our meal, but fortunately were able to burn off a calorie or two strolling over to the fabulous interior goods boutique across the street for some window shopping. It's owned by the proprietors of Fertile and if you care to, you can find some of the pretty wares from the restaurant for sale over at the shop. I'll have a followup article available for that next week.
I've gone to a lot of cafes here on the island, but this is one I'd certainly recommend and hope to visit once again. Although the sets are a bit pricier than some, (ours were about 1300 yen), the food, service, and ambiance not to mention the proximity to their delightful boutique, made it money well spent. Great place to keep in mind for a girls day out!
HOURS AND INFORMATION:
Open 11:30 Last order 7:00 Closed 8:00 CLOSED Wednesdays
098-939-6500
DIRECTIONS:
Go straight out Kadena gate 2. Make a left at the 4th light (the corner where Top Embroidery sits). Follow this road past Mike's Tex Mex on the left. You'll pass one stoplight. At the first intersection past that first light you want to make a right (before you turn, there is a building with an orange awning on the right and an "Anew" store on the left). You'll see a sign that s says "Boutique Paris" on the left. Turn left here. Fertile is on the right and their gated parking lot is on the left. Their parking spaces are spots 5, 6, and 7
*** Diana Middleton has this to say about Fertile!***
Fertile is a small, Japanese-owned restaurant with a very homey feeling
to it. Some friends and I went together and they pulled some tables
together so we could sit as a group. Although I didn't take pictures of
the food, everything looked great. A few of us ordered the pork set
which came highly recommended. I was not disappointed. The piece of
pork chop was delicious! Along with the meal, which I believe was about
1300 yen, came a soup, a salad, a roll, a drink, and a dessert. Others
on the table ordered the pasta set and the fish set. Everyone was very
pleased with their order.
























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