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 (177 River Valley Road, #B1-01/02 Liang Court, Tel: 6339 4811) 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 was the place that I heard good things 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 was rather unremarkable. Apart from the fatty braised pork which was actually better done 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 could be one place I can cross out of my list for good.
For what its worth, it used to be much better when they only had one store at Tanglin. But food quality has been declining in the past 2 years. Initially we thought the original cook had moved over to the new outlet but it seems that she might have just gone back to Japan. -sigh-
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