Nirai Kanai Okinawan Restaurant

The first time I visited Nirai Kanai was for lunch with friends from office and our interns. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Okinawan food was so different from the usual Japanese fare we were used to and tasted like a mix between Japanese and Chinese food. Kept saying that I wanted to take my parents here to try this so finally, I brought my parents here for dinner after work one day.

I think we over ordered. The waitress looked surprised when we placed our order and was even more surprised to see us finish everything. To me, the food was really good that night! But my parents felt that the food was a little salty and probably not the best for senior folks (I grudgingly agreed haha!).

One of my all-time favourite at Nirai Kanai. Onigiri! Super tasty rice balls with bits of seaweed and meat in them.

Eggplant with minced meat. This really tasted like Chinese food with braised eggplant and minced meat, except that the gravy tasted a lot like miso. 

Stir-fried bitter gourd with pork! One of the top few dishes in the ranking above. This also tasted like bitter gourd and egg which I would have at a Chinese food store and I loved it. The bitter gourd was crunchy and tasty and, surprisingly, not bitter at all. 

Noodles with dipping sauce and pork. It was all right but definitely not the best tsukemen I have tried before. Wouldn't order this again the next time I come by.

Seaweed tempura! 3rd place on the ranking above and I can totally see why. It was so yummy! So crispy. It was like eating a seaweed snack!

Okonomiyaki. Was also okay but I have also tasted better okonomiyaki elsewhere before so I will also pass on this the next time I come by.

Grilled Chicken Thigh with Yuzu. The chicken thigh was really tender and juicy, but the sauce was a little too salty. I assumed that was where the excess salt that my parents were talking about came from.  

The grilled squid was good but nothing fantastic.

This is a good place for dinner and drinks after work because it is quiet and you could sit around catching up for a long while without worrying about any queue outside. I would definitely come back again soon!

177 River Valley Road, #B1-01 Liang Court, 179030

11:30 am to 3 pm, 6 pm to 11 pm

6339 4811