I’ve been avoiding this place for years. And I’m sorry I did.

I’m one of those people who firmly believes no good food ever came from a restaurant with a gaudy outside décor designed to attract customers. With so much money spent on advertising, the food served in a place shaped like a big hat or a giant duck is probably an afterthought.

I should have learned my lesson when I reviewed the fare at the building that’s shaped like a giant beer barrel in Okinawa City. The food at the Tonneau Bistro & Bar was great.

And so was the recent luncheon fare at Naha’s Harbor Diner. After years of spurning the restaurant built atop a 20-foot concrete banyan tree on Highway 58, opposite the Army’s Military Port, I decided it was worth a try. It turned out to be a rewarding experience. My friend and I sat with a spectacular view of Naha Harbor outside the window and feasted on dishes that used farm-fresh vegetables and fresh fish delicately spiced with locally grown spices and herbs.

The only thing that would have made it better would have been a sunset view.

I’m telling you, my salmon and spinach with cream pasta (1,180 yen) was so good that the conversation stopped for a moment as I drifted off into a state of gastronomic ecstasy. And my partner’s plate of sautéed goya, paprika and bacon over eggs (880 yen) was just as good.

Other items on the lunch menu include Okinawa-style pasta with sea grapes (860 yen) and pasta with cod roe (1,080 yen). The dinner menu has a wider selection, with offerings such as marinated salmon with fennel (880 yen), seafood salad fish and seaweed (1,300 yen) and swimming crab/tomato pasta (1,050 yen).

And for an appetizer, there are deep-fried squid legs for 700 yen.

All-you-can-eat soup, salad, soft drinks and dessert come with each meal. The salad fixings are all locally grown. I’d suggest trying the basil dressing on your salad and an iced glass of lemongrass tea.

"I am happily surprised," my lunchmate said as she speared another piece of sautéed goya on her fork. "Usually in a place with an outlandish theme like this, the food is not good. But the food here is very good. I really like this place; I think I lost out on something by driving by all these years and never checking it out."

Harbor Diner

Location: Naha, Okinawa

Hours: 11:30 a.m. to midnight

Specialties: Fresh seafood and locally grown vegetables and herbs. Spectacular view of Naha Harbor.

English menu: Yes

Dress: Casual

Clientele: American and Okinawan mixed; families

Prices: All of the prices were lower than expected. Lunch offerings ranged from 850 yen to 1,400 yen. Dinner fare ranged from 780 yen to 1,800 yen for the restaurant’s specialties, although a big spender can plop down 7,500 yen for tenderloin Wagyu beef (you might know it as Kobe-style beef, which are pampered cattle raised on beer). Beer costs 370 to 600 yen and ranges from the local Orion to Bintang (an Indonesian brand) and Guinness. Awamori is 470 yen and a bottle of wine costs 2,000 yen.

Directions: Route 58 in Naha at the Banyan Town shopping center near the entrance to Onoyama Park. Climb to the top via a spiral staircase or take the elevator located in the tree trunk at the rear.

Web site:www.banyantown.com/english.html

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