My wife and I decided to pay a deserved return visit to, what shall we say, the most deliberately retro restaurant in Singapore (minus the usual lame tourist-trappy lameness). We were lured by information from a dear friend (who is now dearer for this exciting news) that Nirai Kanai has daily promotions and Thursdays featured 50% off all sashimi dishes!

The daily promotions are proudly displayed at the entrance (and on their tables). I cannot remember all of them, but the notable ones are Mondays (50% off awamori bottles), Tuesdays (50% off lady's alcohol drinks) and Thursdays (50% off sashimi).

For our present meal, we had goya champuru (stir fried bittergourd), sashimi moriawase of 3 kinds of fish (salmon, tuna and madai/seabream), okinawan pancake, mini stew pork ramen/soba and chimbim (rolled okinawan crepes).

Okinawan goya truly lived up to its name. If you had seen the vegetable in the raw, you might think it's a medieval torture implement. And furthermore, us young 'uns tend to shy away from the horrors of bittergourd, healthy as it may be. Even so, be daring and goya will blow your mind. It's crunchy, refreshing and delicious, fried in black beans and egg sauce. The bitterness came as an after-thought. Like a slap after a roughshod kiss; you'd smile anyway.

The sashimi was for my wife. After so many years of eating japanese food, I still can't find the taste buds for raw fish. According to her, the 9 slices of fish weren't the freshest in the world, but it was decent and came in value-for-money thick-as-idiot slices.

The okinawan pancake was normal. It is a thin chinese pancake about 25cm in diameter (the kind you wrap peking duck with), topped with sprinklings of seaweed and shaved bonito flakes. It was ok, tastewise, but nothing too special. Tastes better when you wrap it around some goya and stuff the leaking package into your mouth. Hush your dirty thoughts, it's just bittergourd.

The stew pork ramen/soba was utterly dominated by the slice of belly pork floating on it. Having eaten Santouka's toroniku twice the week before, I am now able to say, Nirai Kanai's belly pork is much better. Maybe it's the layers of gelatinuous fat. Maybe it's the delicate soy stew-base. Or maybe, it's just the awamori speaking.

To end the meal, we skipped the ubiquitous Sada-andagi (okinawan dounuts) and went for the more expensive Chimbim. At $8, it is quite pricey for 6 pancake rolls that reminded me us ot Bengawan Solo kuey-kuey. But, after one bite of the rolls dipped in generous whipped cream (do feel free to ask for more cream, we did!), we were convinced otherwise. We cannot pinpoint why we liked it so much, and before you point a finger at the awamori again, we weren't exactly roaring drunk either. Note that our appreciation of this dish is likely to be subjective and I can foresee disappointment in the faces of some would-be gourmands. So please, spend the extra moolah at your own risk.

The entire meal was prefaced, accompanied and concluded with a 180ml bottle of awamori. You can either point to any random selection, choose based on price or picture, or do the smart thing and ask the Japanese staff. This is not sake though, at 30+% alcohol, most adults would do well to stick to a sensible 180ml serving or you will be throwing up all the food afterwards. The standard way of drink awamori is to first sip it raw. Then drink another sip with water added. Then drink it with ice (or more water if you don't like it cold). However, don't let this stop you from drinking it anyway you want. It is your drink and your pleasure.

Unfortunately, I cannot remember the exact prices for each item, but the bill was about $75 for 2 pax. Seeing how it include alcohol and sashimi, I felt it was reasonable.

We found ourselves in Liang Court over the weekend as the boyfriend wanted to try out a Jap-style haircut experience at Barber Minami. We didn't have any place in mind to eat (but Tampopononono) but chanced upon Nirai Kanai and decided to check it out for two reasons: the kitschy rustic decor (as reviewer mautarin so aptly describes it below) and the draw of Okinawan cuisine.

We loved the rustic charm of the place - a breath of fresh air really from its shopping mall location. Also loved the cool Japanese music that they were playing - we found ourselves bopping to it like idiots.

I had the burger steak set ($18) which came complete with rice, seaweed soup, 2 side dishes and an Okinawan donut. The steak was served on a hot plate together with some potato wedges (?!) and towgay. An accompanying bowl of Japanese sauce complemented the burger which, on its own, was already tasty. I think I could have had two of the burger steaks to finish up my white rice. The clear seaweed soup had a lovely smoky taste to it. The donut, however, I didn't quite get. These deep fried balls of flour are not coated with sugar, but very heavy/thick and hearty in its texture.

The boyfriend had the Okinawan pork belly noodle which was great - the pork belly was so good that I even ate up all the pork fat (a usual nonono for me). The soup is clear and not miso based, and the noodles had a bit of a meepok noodle quality to it (quite unlike the usual ramen that gets served in most Jap restaurants here).

Looking forward to a revisit there, especially when we can try out their dinner menu (which is far more extensive than the lunch menu) and check out more Okinawan cuisine.

This is gonna be a short review coz i went there for a short lunch (haha). Trotted over to Liang Court during lunch time after lessons nearby. Everyone in the group decided to screw what the lecturer said (be back by 1.30pm) and went into Nirai to indulge in some japanese food.

The interior of the restaurant it quite dark because of the dark wood use. Furnishings are square tables and stools, like old style chinatown kopitiams. The waitstaff are japanese girls who really looked very cute. Damned my poor japanese. (i should have paid more attention during my japanese class in my uni days). Since this is an Okinawan place, i ordered the braised pork belly ramen ($12++) for lunch. Some other classmates ordered stuff like their set lunch which such as stir fried ginger, onion and pork. The ramen was good good, basically because of the braised belly. Its top notch. However there were 3 slices only.

Overall a nice little place to enjoy relatively cheap okinawan cuisine if you dun wanna pay En prices.

I remember walking out of the original outlet of Nirai Kanai located at Tanglin Shopping Centre after a poor semblance of dinner with a mediocre impression of the place and this newer place didn't do much to alleviate those impressions from where it ended then. In that previous occasion, the service left almost nothing to be desired. Nirai Kanai happens to be one of those locations that I hear raves about being the pioneer of Okinawan cuisine in this country. Maybe Okinawan cuisine doesn't really quite agree with me. Maybe it's just Mimigar.

Simply put, the food is rather unremarkable. Apart from the fatty braised pork which is actually done better at Mimigar, everything else felt overpriced and extra-ordinary. No, I did not mean extraordinary. I really couldn't see the rationale behind why a $15 plate of stir fried pig intestines consisted mostly of mushrooms. Or for that matter, how a small fried spring roll with dry fish stuffings and a little bit of cheese could cost $8. It's small on portions, and small on taste. This is one place I can cross out of my list for good.

pics and stuff

To be frank i was attracted to enter the restaurant mainly due to its decor. It is so kitschy rustic that I couldn't resist.

I immediately upped the marks when I was escorted into this cave of wood and concrete. It was beautifully rough at the edges and even smells like a warehouse (mind you, that might not be their intended effect, wth, it was great). Alongside the seat aisles were adorned old-skool Japanese posters and other knick knacks, that I was so tempted to pinch home.

And the second reason I came here is for the Awamori, an Okinawan interpretation of rice liquor. Other parts of Japan typically use rice and other enzymes to make delicious sake (which is more exquisite in my dictionary than normal grape wine), while other starchy tubers like potatoes and yam have been made into shochu. Awamori is kind of like rice shochu, but closer to hard-liquor sake. In Okinawa, you drink it with ice and water. In Nirai Kanai, you can do the same. Which I did with great relish!

Now the food must take centre stage, because it was both unusual (for those accustomed to normal Japanese cuisine) and delicious. We ordered Pig's ears (mimigar) in peanut sauce, stewed (and extremely good) pork belly, egg plant (nasu) in miso stew and unagi fried rice.

All but the unagi fried rice (which tasted strangely local) were nothing short of impressive. The crunchy pig's ears are an acquired taste and not for those with delicate tastes. The stewed pork is just out of this world. The nasu was flavoured with deep woody miso and not too salty. Most of the customers around us (mostly Japanese) ordered the okra or bittergourd, but it's not one of our favourite foods.

All taken with the tasty awamori, yum. For the awamori you can ask the patient and cheerful waiting staff for information and recommendations. I'm sure even the simplest one will taste wonderful.

If i recall correctly, the damage was about $75 for 2 person, but that was because I ordered a half-bottle of awamori; it would be significantly less if you are a teetotaler, but significantly less joy too, ya.