Despite the name, Kon’s Burger on Okinawa specializes in the banh mi, a popular Vietnamese sandwich. (Frank Andrews/Stars and Stripes)

Kon's Burger is a tiny café that serves Vietnamese-style sandwiches, fresh juice, tea and coffee near Okinawa's capital city.

Despite the name, the cafe specializes in the banh mi, a popular Vietnamese sandwich, and not beefy burgers. The classic banh mi is a crusty French baguette filled with a combination of meats, veggies and topped with sauce.

Kon's Burger offers five banh mi sandwiches: vegetarian, egg, pork, beef, or the special banh mi that is a combination, all stuffed with a mix of bright green coriander leaves, pickled onion and crunchy cucumber strips, topped with a sweet orange sauce.

The sandwich’s perfect, crusty submarine-like rolls are freshly baked every morning, according to the shop’s Instagram. Each month, Kon’s Burger offers a special sandwich; January’s flavor was shrimp avocado and beginning next Tuesday, February's special is Xiu mai banh mi, which is meatballs stewed in tomato sauce, according to the owner Instagram.

The banh mi are served hot and range from 450 yen (about $3.45) to 750 yen. The café also offers five freshly made iced drinks: Vietnam coffee, Vietnam au lait, lemongrass orange tea, yakuzen tea and ginger ale tea (350 yen each). You can also get the yakuzen tea and coffee served hot.

I stopped in on a Saturday evening and ordered two banh mi sandwiches: the special banh mi and the hamburg banh mi with a chilled lemongrass orange tea. My order arrived within seven minutes and the first thing that caught my attention was the fresh aroma of the Vietnamese-style veggies and mouthwatering meats.

Kon's Burger is a tiny café that serves Vietnamese-style sandwiches, fresh juice, tea and coffee near Okinawa's capital city. (Frank Andrews/Stars and Stripes)

Kon's Burger is a tiny café that serves Vietnamese-style sandwiches, fresh juice, tea and coffee near Okinawa's capital city. (Frank Andrews/Stars and Stripes)

Each bite began with a delightful crunch from the warm bread accompanied by a fresh taste from the herby veggie mix and well-seasoned meat filling. The lemongrass tea was lightly sweetened and refreshing.

While there are three tables inside the cafe, an employee said most customers order their sandwiches to go.

Kon’s Burger, run by Chef Cong from Vietnam, according to the café’s Instagram bio, sometimes offers specialty dishes, including fresh shrimp spring rolls, fried spring rolls and yakiniku salad.

The café has a small section with a few Vietnamese grocery items such as instant noodle packets, rice vermicelli and nam ngu fish sauce. There is no dedicated parking, but I found plenty of street parking near the storefront.

Kon’s Burger has two restaurants -- the storefront, where I ate, and their food truck. Both menus are the same, yet the food truck servers only large sizes and does not serve the restaurant's specials. Both are open until the food sells out, so it may be best to call ahead if you plan to eat there later in the day. Check out Kon Burger’s calendar on their Instagram to see when they’re open.

A female staff member spoke just enough English to help me place my order and the menu is written in both Japanese and English.

Stars and Stripes reporter Keishi Koja contributed to this report.

KON’S BURGER

Restaurant Location: 2-36-13 Nishizaki, Itoman City, Okinawa 901-0305

Restaurant Hours: Open Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. until items are sold out. Closed Mondays and holidays.

Food Truck Location: JA Toyosaki nanairo batake, 3-86 Toyosaki, Tomishiro City

Food Truck Hours: Opens at 11:30 a.m. and closes when it’s sold out, or until 5:00pm.

Prices: Banh mi start at 450 yen.

Dress: Casual

Information: Phone: 080-649-45545; Online: instagram.com/konsburger