Mia Eats: Okinawan Diner Nirai-Kanai

 Hello, lovely readers! I realised that it's been eons since I've last done a non-sponsored food review post, which was actually the main push-factor that made me set up this blog back then. 

So now, let's do it again! 

-credits to Okinawan Diner Nirai-Kanai-

Located at level 1 of Great World City, it took us a few (wrong) turns before finding the restaurant, mostly because the mall is also undergoing some overhaul of their stores and trying to find your sense of direction when nearly every corner is hoarded up can be quite a challenge. 

Anyhow, we managed to find the restaurant without much fuss, and realised that they're full house on a Sunday night (around 7 plus, nearly 8pm). But table turnover also seems pretty quick, as we were seated after 15 minutes' wait, and the restaurant turned pretty empty while we were dining (around 830 ish pm). Haha, so if you want to skip the queue, you know what time to drop by. 

If you're curious, Nirai-Kanai refers to the God's world in the distance of the sea. And apparently, Okinawan cuisine is said to be healthy and good for beauty.... But I wanted to drop by and try them out only because I watched Senda Aisa's travel programme on Okinawa (her hometown). HAHAHA!

Anyhow, here's what we've tried out for the night. 

Okinawa Soup Noodle Set Meal - $16.50

The HB chose this set that comes with soup noodle with simmered pork belly, fried rice (not sure if it's mustard leaf or just garlic fried rice) and a cold tofu lookalike jelly dessert. 

I merely took a tiny taste test bite out of the soup noodles and fried rice, both of which were rather mildy flavoured, but still quite tasty if you're okay with mild flavours, in my opinion. Not a fan of the thick noodles though. The alkaline taste of the noodles, albeit not as full on as my much hated yellow noodles, was still too strong for me. It didn't help that the broth's flavour was on the mild side, hence it didn't do anything to cover the noodles' alkaline taste. HB is a fan of yellow noodles (don't ask me why anybody will like yellow noodles), so this dish was right up his alley. 

Stir fried Noodles with Kimuchi - $14.80

Yes, you got me. Whenever I see "kimchi" on the menu, I order. 

So simple. 

The noodles are wheat noodles, but extremely thin. So much so that it kind of resembles the mouthfeel of eating rice vermicelli (beehoon). Other than kimchi, there's also a generous portion of sliced cabbage and pork belly. I quite like the thin noodles, although the overall flavour of the dish was quite mild (not kimchi enough). There's a heaping amount of sliced cabbage too, but unfortunately they were left undercooked and crunchy instead of how I would love my cabbage, fully cooked down and soft. The amount of kimchi I found in the noodles were also quite little, hence the subtle kimchi taste. The pork belly slices were also very, very tough and with the porky smell, which the lack of kimchi taste has failed to mask over. 

So, it may sound a little weird. But I will be happier with the dish if there's no pork belly or crunchy cabbage added. I just need the noodles with kimchi! HEH!

Umi Budou (Green Caviar Seaweed) - $14

I was REALLY excited when I saw this on the menu. Well, because Senda Aisa introduced it on her show. 

But I was stumped when this tiny dish of "sea grapes" got served to our table. This friggin tiny dish of seaweed cost us $14++. The size of the dish is just slightly larger than the usual dipping sauce saucers. 

Taste wise, it's so underwhelming. It's really just the usual slight fishy-saltiness of seaweed, plus the slight popping sensation that is similar to eating tobikko (flying fish roe). 

I'll say, skip this please. Just try some out if you ever visit Okinawa. 

Chinpin (Brown Sugar Pancakes) - $9.80

A traditional Okinawan sweet snack, most people call this a pancake, but actually I would think it's more like a crepe instead. I was deciding between Sata Andagi (Okinawan Doughnuts) and this for dessert, and in the end chose this because I've never tried (nor heard of this) before. 

And I'm glad I did! Although Sata Andagi is also super yummy (not sure how Nirai-Kanai does theirs though), these are so.... moreish? 

The addictive chewiness of the crepe, paired with the delicious, rich sweetness of brown sugar and the "fun" of being able to unroll the pancake while eating it just made this the best after meal dessert, ever. It was served alongside a big heap of whipped cream, but you really don't need any of that. The taste of the pancake on its own should suffice to fix any sweet tooth cravings!

Okinawan Diner Nirai-Kanai is located at Great World City, #01-107/108 

For more information, visit their website HERE

Till then,

Mia Foo

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Japanese food delivered to your doorsteps with sushidelivery.sg [Sponsored]

 Craving for some Japanese food, but also feeling too lazy to head out to a Japanese restaurant? 

What if I tell you, you can get your craving fixed within an hour with just a few clicks of your mouse?

 

I kid you not, for that's really what it is with sushidelivery.sg! 

Just a few clicks of the mouse and there you have it, a scrumptious Japanese dinner coming up!

I know when it comes to Japanese food, especially for sashimi or sushi with raw fish, freshness is always an issue and some may feel that "delivery" and "freshness" doesn't complement each other that well. But at sushidelivery.sg, not only their fish are sourced daily from Osaka and Hokkaido, they're also flown to Singapore within 18 hours to ensure maximum freshness possible. 

In addition, all their cooked food are only prepared by their chefs upon receiving our orders and sent within the hour so there's no worries about getting delivered stale food that has been sitting around for hours.

 And while there's a good selection of fresh sashimi on sushidelivery.sg, I'm not really a fan of raw food (but I'm a huge fan of Japanese cuisine in general, so long they're cooked) so it's gonna be an order of bento, donburi and maki rolls! :)

Pork Cutlet (Tonkatsu) Set Bento - $12.90 (Usual $18.30)

At the current promotional price of $12.90, this is definitely a steal! The portion size of the tonkatsu is nothing short of generous and complemented by equally generous servings of fresh salad, chuka kurage (seasoned jellyfish) and takuan (picked daikon).

The tonkatsu was not only tender and flavourful, but still crispy on the outside when I tucked into it after taking a good 10-15 minutes taking my food pictures. >.<

Being a salad-fan, I have to say that their fresh salad didn't disappoint too, fresh and crisp with just the right amount of dressing to not make it too cloying.

Unagi Don - $15.90

No prize for guessing what the HB chose; the (his favourite) Unagi don.
 At just $15.90, he got quite a huge piece of the grilled unagi, along with an #eggpornworthy onsen egg.

 I'm personally not a fan of unagi, so it'll be unfair for me to comment on the taste of this. 

The HB surely enjoyed it though, especially when he could break the yolk and mix the onsen egg wholly into the rice that's already flavoured with the generous amount of unagi sauce slathered on the eel itself. 

Champion Floss Maki (8 pcs) - $15.90

Maki roll with chicken, avocado and cucumber, topped with nacho cheese sauce, tobikko (flying fish roe) and fried tempura batter bits.

Initially I wanted to get the Chicken Rainbow Maki because they look so IG-worthy but in the end I decided to go with the Champion Floss Maki as there's a worry that all the coloured toppings might not remain on top of the rainbow maki when delivered. HEH!

And I'm so glad I changed my mind because I love, love, love this, so much! The nacho cheese taste (which is so yums) hits you at the very first bite, followed by the saltiness of the tobikko and the savoury flavour of the seasoned chicken and crunch of the cucumber. And all in all, this myriad of flavour and mouth-feel is littered with the pleasant crunch of the crispy fried tempura batter bits. 

Well, it's a champion indeed. 

Just having 8 pieces is definitely not enough for a glutton foodie like yours truly.  T.T

Yam Net Sponge Roll (5 pcs) - $5.50

Although I'm not exactly a huge fan of (white) yam, I was no doubt intrigued by the name of this dish and wanted to try it even though I wasn't really sure of what exactly I'm going to get.  

 It turned out to be seasoned Japanese purple yam, wrapped in vermicelli net and fried till crispy! 

Purple yam, also known as Ube, is not to be confused with the purple sweet potatoes although they do taste really similar. I was also confused at my first bite and thought I was eating mashed purple sweet potatoes. 

But unlike the purple sweet potatoes, which tends to have a distinctive earthy (soil) taste that I do not appreciate, the Japanese purple yam do not have that unpleasant taste. As the yam is mashed, the creamy and smooth texture of the subtly sweet and fragrant puree complemented the crispy exterior of the fried vermicelli layer very well, and added a lot more dimension to the overall mouth-feel of this dish. Even though it's a deep-fried dish, it doesn't feel overly oily and cloying at all.

Other than the usual bento, donburi, sushi, sashimi and sides, sushidelivery.sg also has sushi/sashimi party sets to make life much easier for you when you're looking to host a mini party for your sushi-loving friends. It's also a plus point that they actually do not skimp on the "plating" aspect of their food in spite of them being delivery-based, which also add on to our "dining experience" in the comfort of our home. 

Two thumbs up for you, sushidelivery.sg! 

sushidelivery.sg is open from 10am - 11pm daily, offering free delivery for all orders above SGD $60.

For more details and orders, visit their website HERE

Till then,

Mia Foo

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Media Tasting: Barashi Tei

After a previous food tasting session at Barashi Tei last year, which was filled with tons of yummies, I was really glad to be invited for another food tasting session once again to try out some of their new items on the menu!

Deep Fried Softshell Crab - $12.80 

You can never go wrong with a big, fat softshell crab that's deep fried to perfection and served crisp and piping hot on a plate. The only bad thing about this is that you're actually on a diet but it's so hard to stop popping them into your mouth. 

Unagi Don - $18.80

I'm definitely not an unagi fan (I really dislike the meat's texture and exceptionally hates biting into the cartilage bits) but this was pretty okay! Although the distinctive "overly-tender" texture of the unagi can't be avoided, the marinate was definitely yummy and it made the overall dish less unappealing for me as a unagi-hater.

Ika Kabayaki (Grilled Squid) - $16.80

It's obvious even from the picture that this squid is humongous! Though not the most tender and juicy grilled squid you can find, I still find this a good pairing with perhaps, a pint of iced cold beer.

Chawanmushi - $4.80 / Ikura (Salmon Roe) Chawanmushi - $6.80

Barashi Tei has upped their chawanmushi game by topping them up with ikura! However, as I'm not a fan of these neon-orange salmon roe, I went for the standard plain ones instead, which was equally good! I love mixing in some tongarashi (Japanese chili powder) into my chawanmushi. Ground pepper does work too, but it's not really the same. 

 How about you?

Unagi Salmon Mentai Maki - $14.80

This was one of the two variations of salmon maki that were introduced to us that night. Even though I'm not that much of an unagi fan, this suit my palates a little better as it has a lighter, less complex taste to it. The slice of salmon and mentai topping pretty much overpowered the small slice of unagi wrapped in the middle as well, so I hardly noticed the distinctive unagi taste and texture within.

Spicy Salmon Maki - $14.80

The more jerlat (strong flavoured) salmon maki cousin of the Unagi Salmon Mentai, the Spicy Salmon Maki has a big fat ebi fry (fried breaded shrimp) wrapped in the middle of the rice roll and topped with seared salmon and spicy cream-roe sauce. 

The combination of the soft and tender seared salmon with crisp and crunchy fried breaded shrimp and a generous dollop of the spicy cream sauce gave the maki a more complex texture (and also a little bit harder to eat it all in one mouth). 

Sashimi Moriawase - $28 (for 12 pieces)

Must try for all sashimi lovers out there! I'm hardly a fan of raw fish, and especially avoid eating any while in Singapore as they can never be fresh enough to not give you the fishy taste (I can still taste them regardless how subtle). But the sashimi Barashi Tei serves were really fresh and I could manage keeping a few slices down (if I wanted to). I mean, I can eat them if you want me to. But honestly speaking I just do not truly appreciate sashimi so it's better that I leave it for the others who are true sashimi lovers, right?

Don't judge me.

And then, back to a few of the popular dishes we had in our previous media tasting...

Ishikari Nabe Set (Salmon Head Hotpot) _ $18.80

This time, we were served the salmon head instead, but the soup remains equally yummy and comforting!

Tamagoyaki - $5

And almost everyone went "JI DAN!" (Egg, in Mandarin) when this tiny plate of tamagoyaki was served. And a few of the bloggers actually bought takeouts of this back home. 

Undoubtedly one of the most popular dish I've ever seen at a media tasting event. 

Foie Gras Sushi - $15.80 (for 2 pieces)

One of the dishes of the night that also received tons of "oohs" at the table. This time, their popular foie gras has ditched the previous partner (sirloin steak) and found.... sushi rice! Although it may seem a little pricey at almost $16 for just two pieces of sushi, but Barashi Tei are actually pretty generous with the cut and if you're a die-hard fan of foie gras, this will definitely be worth your penny.

Barashi Tei is located at
266 Middle Road
Elias Building
Singapore 188991

Till then,
Mia Foo

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Food Tasting: Barashi-Tei

Yup, it's that time again. The time when I look at the numbers on the weighing scale and say, "who cares!" 

Located at a corner along Middle Road, Barashi-Tei is founded by Chef Wang Zhen Feng, with the 

Founder and Chef, Mr Wang Zhen Feng is proud to present Barashi-Tei, his new Japanese restaurant which serves only dishes made with freshest ingredients air-flown from Japan. 

Chef Wang picked up his culinary skills from a 60-year-old Japanese Master Check, who has more than 40 years of experience. 

If you're working around the area (they're right across the street from Peace Centre), you'll be glad to know that Barashi Tei also provides a wide variety of set meals that are extremely affordable.

The restaurant interior was kept minimalist and simple, and was pretty busy on a Friday night.

And now, let's move on to what's important. The food!

 Avocado Salmon Salad - $13.80

 Sashimi Salad - $13.80

Both salads come with a combination of fresh greens and cherry tomatoes, but the avocado salmon salad comes with sliced avocados and seared salmon while the sashimi counterpart comes with, well, sashimi (salmon, maguro, mekajiki etc)! 

Albeit fragrant and a little sweet, the salad dressing is quite salty, so it's best to add it in little by little and tasting your salad until you got the taste you want. 

Chirashi Don - $23

With yummy Japanese rice air flown directly from Japan, and generous slices of fresh sashimi (salmon, white tuna, mekajiki, maguro), tamago and topped with ikura, this is a must try for all those sashimi lovers out there.
Personally, I will not eat any sashimi (except for hokkigai) in Singapore due to the fishy taste in almost ALL the sashimi despite of how 'fresh' they supposedly are and they always lack the slightly chewy texture (meaning they're really not that fresh anymore) and tends to be mushier and well, just meh.
But the mekajiki I tried was so fresh! There's no fishy smell at all and the texture was springy yet not overly 'crunchy' and tasted really sweet.

Bara Chirashi Don - $13.80

This don is just like the Chirashi Don, but with the sashimi and tamago cut into smaller bite size and then toss in some cucumbers as well. For someone who doesn't really enjoy eating raw fish, I will prefer the Bara Chirashi over Chirashi as the 'rawness' is more managable.

Sake Jyu - $16.80

Maguro Nakaochi Don - $16.80

And if you only like salmon sashimi or only maguro sashimi, fret not! You can always go for Sake Jyu or Maguro Nakaochi Don instead. 

Aburi Bara Chirashi Don - $16.80

Can't take so much rawness in a bowl (like yours truly)? Then there's Aburi Bara Chirashi for you, with the sashimi seared (hence cooked on the outside and raw on the inside) and topped with avocados and ebikko. 

Spicy Salmon Maki - $12.80

Crispy ebi fry wrapped in yummy sushi rice and topped with fresh seared salmon and yummy spicy sauce!
Absolutely love the sauce, slightly spicy and savoury and complements the seared salmon really well.

Rice Paper Ebi Maki - $10.80

This reminds me of the vietnamese paper rolls, but so much tastier. (Sorry, the only experience I had with Vietnamese paper rolls is a bad one). The rice paper was really thin and soft, giving a barely there texture and the lettuce was crisp and fresh, which tones down the oiliness of the ebi fry.
I would have preferred to not have the tamago inside though, the sudden coldness and sweetness from the tamago was a little 'shocking' when you were happily chewing through the hot and savoury ebi fry.

Smoked Duck Kushi - $2.60

This is for all the smoked duck lovers out there, now you get them on skewers! How cool is that. Moreover, instead of the usual thin and relatively tough slices, the smoked duck kushi is cut into cubes, probably for a better bite. The meat is also much softer and more tender than the usual smoked duck slices you find in the market. 

Yaki Tamago - $5

Didn't know that the yaki tamago will be cold, hence was a little surprised when I bite into it and felt the chills instead. HAHAHA! Sensitive teeth, poor me. 

Not a fan of tamago at all because I would expect the egg to be savoury but I get 'tricked' every time (they're sweet). But if you love tamago for their sweet taste, this is the dish for you.

Kuruma Ebi - $7.80

(pan fried prawns with kuruma sauce)

Wasabi Ebi - $7.80

(deep fried prawns with wasabi sauce)

I love how the prawns are all shelled. Heh! The prawns are definitely fresh and not overcooked, retaining their springy texture and with a juicy sweet taste. 

Sauce wise, I will prefer the savoury kuruma sauce as I'm not a fan of wasabi. The wasabi sauce here doesn't come with the pungent-spicy kick though, more like the usual wasabi-mayo sauce. 

Both sauces are really rich and thick, and you might need to spread it evenly around all the prawns to avoid an overkill on your tastebuds.

Ika Teriyako - $13.80

Well, that's really a huge grilled squid, isn't it? I personally found the squid a little overdone, hence too chewy and a little tough. Or perhaps big squid just tends to have tougher flesh?

Sirloin Steak & Foie Gras - $19.80

Haha, Oyhz's favourite foie gras on steak. I don't eat both. Steak due to religion, and foie gras because... not an organ eater.
Oyhz seemed to enjoy this very much though.

You probably can't see it very well on pictures, but the insides of the steak was still pinkish!

 Gindara Nabe - $24

This just screams, "COMFORT FOOD!" The gindara (also known to Japanese as Black Cod) really suited the dish very well due to their 'fatty' smooth and rich texture that complement a soup really well. It really just swims down your throat.
The soup was both savoury and sweet while the gindara extremely fresh and springy. This is definitely the dish I will crave for on a cold and rainy day.

Pudding of the Day (Orange) - $3.80

The pudding is harder and more solid than the usual pudding I've had before and reminds me of sweeten condensed milk. A tad too sweet for me, but might be the dessert for you if you're a fan of rich and sweet puddings. 

Barashi-Tei is located at

266 Middle Road

Elias Building

Singapore 188991

Till then,

Mia Foo

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