Blue Seal: Okinawan Ice Cream
History
Unlike many island tourist traps, Blue Seal is quite an old company. Starting in 1948 when an American milk company opened inside a US Military base to provide the soldiers with fresh milk products. In 1963, the first stall was opened, and the rest is history. These days, there are over 40 branches all around Okinawa and a few in other regions of Japan, serving up their iconic ice cream. Because of their origins, the flavor is uniquely American. If you’ve lived in Asia, you’ll know it’s a taste that’s hard to find. All of the locations have an old-school diner aesthetic, calling back to the origins of the company.
Blue Seal Miyako Island Branch
Our first stop was the Miyako Island main branch on our very first night in Okinawa. Miyako is a super nice, small island far off the west coast of Okinawa. This was our first impression of Okinawa, and it really helped us settle in. The great vibes of Blue Seal instantly jumped out, with a line of cute hammock chairs near the window, and lots of nice decorations. I was surprised to see such a quaint little shop, but as it turns out this was one of the most mild Blue Seal locations we visited.
The Okinawan salt cookies is their number 1 flavor, and is kind of like advanced vanilla. It’s simple, with a subtle hint of salt and a nice crunch from the cookies. It goes great with basically everything on the menu, so it’s easy to see why it’s number 1. We also got Blue Wave, Ramune soda flavor with pineapple chunks. I love Ramune, but to me it tasted a bit more like cotton candy. Honestly, Blue Wave was one of our least favorite flavors, which is probably the most controversial part of this blog. Regardless, it was a great start, and we could already tell we would need to come back for more.
Blue Seal Miyako Island Painagama Branch
The next day we were out and about in the sun, and quickly worked up an appetite for some refreshing ice cream. As the sun set, we arrived at the Miyako Painagama Branch, and we immediately realized it was quite different. Inside there was no seating, but rather the store was covered floor to ceiling in massive ice cream statues. Decoration like this tends to be cheesy, but this was super charming and almost felt like an amusement park. This location ended up being one of our favorite stores in Okinawa.
Here, we got the Vanilla and Cookies, as well as the San Francisco Mint Chocolate. The vanilla and cookies was good, but nothing special. It tastes exactly like you’d expect, a classic American flavor with a nice creamy texture. The San Francisco Mint Chocolate was a lot more intense, tasting exactly like an Andes Mint. Chocolate mint is a pretty controversial flavor in Asia, especially in Korea, where we live, so we were happy to get a taste of home.
Blue Seal Depot Island
Back on the main island, the American Village is THE place to be if you’re a tourist. This is likely the number one visited location in Okinawa, and it’s easy to see why. It feels like a popping pier in a trendy west coast city, full of niche shops and great food. This location has three Blue Seals within a 5-minute radius, so you know you’re in the right spot. Our first location we tried is the Depot Island branch, located on the second floor of the main shopping area. The interior was decorated like a movie theatre, and probably had our favorite seating arrangement, with plenty of outdoor seating and a huge circular bench with diner stools.
This time, we decide to spice it up and get a signature dish from Blue Seal: banana split. This is a super rare style of ice cream in Asia. I’ve only ever seen it at another retro cafe in Macau. I’m not even a huge banana split person, but I couldn’t help but feel nostalgic sitting under the marquee light sign. It was perfect, with a lot of whipped cream and a light amount of syrup, which is crucial. It also had a bit of frosted flakes, adding a nice sweet crunch. You can choose three flavors, so we got the cane sugar (or brown sugar, we’re unsure of the translation), strawberry cheesecake, and pineapple coconut.
Honestly, these flavors were very mild. I thought the banana split was covering up the strawberry taste, but in reality it hardly tasted of strawberry or cheesecake at all. The cane sugar tastes exactly like cane sugar, nothing else. The pineapple coconut was the best, with a lean towards the pineapple side and the coconut didn’t taste fake which is great.
Blue Seal Depot Island Seaside
The next day we were back at it, stopping at the second American Village location. This one has an awesome patio outside, overlooking the boardwalk and the ocean. The interior is definitely the weakest here, but that’s okay because we loved enjoying a view with the sea. At this point, we realized we weren’t going to get to all the flavors, so we decided to double up. Yemisi got mango tango and shiiquasa sherbet. Shiiquasa (also spelled shikuwasa) is a staple Okinawan flavor. It is a citrus kind of like calamansi, so it has a lemon-lime tanginess, and is super good to pair with fruity ice cream flavors.
The mango tango worked really well with the shiiquasa, it really tasted like a creamsicle, which is very nostalgic for us. I got chocolate cookie swirl, and strawberry cheesecake again. I confirmed that the strawberry cheesecake was really lacking in flavor, and the chocolate cookie swirl really pulled ahead. It is kind of like rocky road, but without nuts. I’m a huge fan of rocky road, it’s the only chocolate flavor I can really get behind, so this was a huge plus for me.
Blue Seal Chatan
On our last night in Chatan, we decided to skip the American Village and went to the much larger Chatan main branch. This is the largest Blue Seal we encountered, with tons of tables and lots of booths. This is also the closest branch to the military base, so we saw a lot of military people there. Honestly, they probably assumed we were in the military as well, which is a benefit to us because they’re very used to helping foreigners order.
I got pistachio almond and beni imo, Yemisi got a scoop of macadamia nut with the iconic soft serve swirl on top. The almond pistachio was pretty interesting, it was almost savory and I loved the almond chunks. Beni iimo is another Okinawan flavor, it is a purple sweet potato from the island. Honestly, it tastes very similar to their ube flavor, which makes sense since they’re both purple tubers. I loved them both so much, but I think I’d pick the beni iimo. Yemisi is a huge macadamia nut fan, so she loved hers. I kind of thought it tasted like Play-Doh, so it’s not for me. The soft serve swirl is iconic, with half sea salt and half beni iimo. In my opinion, this is the best soft serve I’ve had in Asia. It tastes super American, and I have missed this flavor for years. I couldn’t tell you which side I liked more, I could eat it by the truckload.
Right as we were leaving, we spotted Blue Seal candy. I had no idea they made candy, but we decided to give it a shot. This pack had vanilla, mango, and shiiquasa flavor. They are essentially high-quality suckers. The flavors don’t taste artificial, and the shiiquasa was especially tangy. It wasn’t life changing, but it’s a nice little treat to take home.
Kerama Island Stall
Just because there isn’t a branch nearby doesn’t mean you need to go without ice cream. Plenty of stores resell hand-scooped and soft-serve ice cream. Since it’s so close to the source, it’s always fresh, even if it’s not from a real Blue Seal store. During our day trip to the Kerama Islands, we came across a small stall selling Blue Seal. After a few hours of swimming we were destroyed by the brutal sun, and it was like a beam of light from heaven.
Yemisi got ube, and I got Okinawa tea warabi mochi. Like I mentioned earlier, the ube was pretty standard, with a nice sweet and slightly bready taste. I ended up liking the warabi mochi the most. It was very creamy, with a taste like bubble tea. The little chewy bits of mochi took it over the edge. Eating amazing ice cream on the shores of the bluest water I’ve ever seen might be a core memory forever.
Blue Seal Airport Branch
The last real store we visited is actually in the international departures terminal of the airport. If you’ve already gone through security and want one last taste of Okinawa before you leave, this is where you need to go. Just get there early, there’s always a huge line of passengers looking for one last hit before they board. Yemisi decided to finish it off with a scoop of Okinawan salt cookie with beni iimo soft serve, and I got a full cone of swirl. We’ve already discussed all of these flavors, so there’s not much to add. This helped cap off Okinawa as one of our favorite destinations, and we will really miss getting ice cream every day. It’s good we don’t live in Okinawa, we would get very sick eating ice cream.
Final Thoughts
Blue Seal is more than worth the hype. The quality of the ice cream is significantly better than other chains like Baskin-Robbins, and the flavors are very unique. I always love to see companies that lean into regional flavors, and Blue Seal really doesn’t disappoint. We noticed that many branches had only some of the flavors, so we were always surprised and excited to find new flavors wherever we went. Even better, the shops are always well decorated with an amazing diner vibe, and the good price lets us know it’s a real product, not just a tourist gimmick. If you’re in Okinawa, Blue Seal isn’t just a good idea. It’s a requirement, a rite of passage, a mandate. You must get Blue Seal. You WILL get Blue Seal.
