Singapore - Nirai Kanai

Okinawa is about a mid way between Taiwan and Japan and Okinawan cuisine displays the influences from the 2 countries. Light touches with pockets of heartiness seems to be the order of the day, and poring through the menu at Nirai Kanai and the Tanglin Shopping Centre, there is an excellent balance you can strike for yourself depending on whether you feel like stuffing yourself, or just ordering snacks to down your shochu or sake with.

I particularly liked the Peanut Tofu in Soya Sauce, which was fragrant but light and smooth to down. A twist to the usual sesame tofu I've had in other places, but different in a good way.




The other dish I liked to the bone was the deep fried pork knuckle. Ok, so it's not the healthiest option but it was YUMMY!!! I love the melting collagen behind the crispy skin and the lemon wedge lifted the greasiness from the wondrous knuckles!

The other dishes we had were less memorable - the dressing on the pig ears with bean sprout salad was a little too tart for me. And the rice balls were kinda like your Chinese flavoured rice but patted prettily into a Japanese onigiri.

The other not-so-good-looking dish but which would be excellent to down with a bowl of white rice would be the silk gourd stir fried with tofu and luncheon meat. Hearteh!!!
A no frills joint if you want to mingle with the Japanese work folk in Singapore.

177 River Valley Road
#B1-01/02 Liang Court Shopping Centre
6339 4811