j dinner

dinner at nirai kanai at the dinghy tanglin shopping centre on 3 nov, with yuki-chan, and whats-their-names-i-forgot. one of them kindly brought yuki's fins back from tioman. it fell overboard due to big wave or something and the dm later retrieved it.

it serves okinawan cuisine and their local liquor, awamori - somewhat like whisky but lighter. goes well with the light, tasty food made with very fresh ingredients. it can be mixed with water, lime, soda or even milk.

the place is very popular with the japanese community in singapore. best to make a reservation in advance, otherwise, you may have to sit at the counter which uses ridiculously high bar stools that are not friendly to vertically challenged folks.

due to some miscomm, whats-his-name didnt make a reservation so we ended up at the counter. yuki used her charms on the cute beach-boy-looking boss (complete with j-slippers) and we were subsequently ushered to a nice sit-down table.

they don't offer the usual j-fare that one finds in those commercialised sushi joints. so i left yuki to do all the ordering. my only t&c - no scary food. she suggested bitter gourd - but i didnt like bitter gourd. only afterwards did i find out that is their speciality! duh!

we ordered pork slices salad instead. lettuce was very fresh and crunchy and pork slices picked up the flavour of the salad dressing very well. i wanted to imitate the exaggerated exclamations of "OISHIIII", the way the hosts in japan hour always do but held back cos the two strangers at the same dinner table may get freaked out and think i'm mad.














yuki didnt bother with my t&c when she ordered pig's ears. i tried one strip and decided it is too gross to eat something's ears. the presentation of the dish was beautiful though. by slicing the ears into thin strips and mixed with innocent bean sprouts, the dish didnt remind anyone that those are really flappy ears.
















another attractive dish. j pizza or hirayachi (similar to okonomiyaki but thinner), which is like an omelette with some red and green pickles and dried fish shavings. i didnt really like the taste though.














the two strangers are regulars at tioman. they dived there a week ago and said the vis was mama mia! more than 20m. so now we know when is best time to dive tioman....