Okinawan Diner NIRAI-KANAI

A trip to Great World City has given me an updated sight of what it looks like after their renovation. There were many food options now with one of the eateries from Liang Court, Okinawan Diner Nirai-Kanai being relocated here. If you have tried Okinawan Cuisine, you will realize that this food served were authentic and not the usual Japanese Food we found in the malls.

Okinawan Diner NIRAI-KANAI

Okinawan cuisine is known for its health and beauty benefits. The word "NIRAI-KANAI" refers to the god's world in the distance of the sea. The environment is casual and welcoming with approachable staff. We dined closer to the inner space of the restaurant and I was quite drawn to the kind of environment that we are in. It felt like dining in a wooden shack with wooden pillars and there are roller blinds that can be drawn down to segregate the dining section or in the event you want to have little privacy, these can be put to good use. On top of that, there are clothes hangers and hooks for you to hang your stuff while dining.

Dining area with roller blind

Menu Book

This was my first encounter with Green Caviar-Seaweed. The texture was interesting, just like popping bubbles in the mouth where the Japanese term it as "puchi-puchi", their expression of the burst of small air bubbles. Besides that, these popular appetizer is also called "Umibudo" which translates into "Sea grapes". Other than the texture and being salty from the Southern Sea, they were added with Ponzu Sauce, giving a citrus kick to it.

Green Caviar-Seaweed with Ponzu Sauce - $14

Pork Belly is classic! They are originally a form of Okinawan Royal Cuisine but now its well known and Pork Belly were well done! They were slow-cooked in 3 Okinawan favourite seasonings, Awamori (Okinawa distilled liquor), soy sauce and Okinawan Brown Sugar. The taste and texture had bought over me. It was not too fatty or sweet. In fact, I find that these pieces of Pork Belly were fork tender and sauces were use just in the rights amounts.

Simmered Pork Belly - $14.80 (4 pcs)

A simple yet flavourful dish to have with an alternative to your usual bowl of ramen. They were termed as Okinawa Soba and one of the famous cuisines in Japan. These soba are not made from buckwheat but eggs, just like Ramen. These egg noodles were simmered in pork broth and come in 3 sizes. Small $7.60++, Medium $9.80++ and Large $14.80++.

Soup Noodle with Simmered Pork Rib - $9.80 (Medium)

Last but not least we have the popular dessert of Okinawa, Chinbin with Whipped Cream. This traditional dessert is given to kids on May 4th or 5th of the Lunar Calendar. these traditional brown sugar crepe were served with cream to bring out the fragrance of the Okinawa brown sugar. On a side note, this dish resembles what my mum feed her kids with those days. except that ours were served in round pan-sized without them being rolled up or any brown sugar on it. It's more of the "original" taste without "toppings".

Okinawan Brown Sugar Pancake with Whipping Cream - $9.80

Fresh flower tea is a good match to the Okinawan cuisine and popular during hot summer days. It has benefits in aiding digestion. Not only that the scent of the flowers gives relaxing effects, a good way to recover fatigue if you are experiencing one.

Sanpin-Cha (Jasmine Tea)

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Okinawan Diner Nirai-Kanai
Location: Great World City, 11 Kim Seng Promenade#01-107/108 Singapore 237994
Website

Amazonia Bistro [Invited Tasting]

Looking at the number of Children Gyms, indoors playground and Activities Centre coming up close to us, I always envy how fortunate the kids are these days to have such facilities readily built for them and to look back in my time, we never got any chance to even step into one.

The trip to Amazonia had somehow rekindle the fun times of my childhood and the happy looks of cute little toddlers/children running around in the centre had never failed to brighten up my day.

Amazonia is conveniently located at Level 3 of Great world City, ajacent to V.Hive Furniture.

Amazonia Family Fun Centre

The idea of incorporating a Bistro to the Fun Centre was definitely a very good step forward for such activities centre in terms of the market requirements nowadays. Further more, the Jungle Themed bistro is a good place for parents to rest and relax under the shades while watching their children enjoying their fun time.

Jungle Theme Bistro 

The 400 square metres gym is equipped with an 8 meter high slide shown in the middle of the picture and completed with tunnels, suspension bridges, ball pit and even trampoline to excite children from ages 3 to 12 years.

Jungle Play Gym

Turn the session into an interactive one by joining your toddler in the Soft Play Section.

Soft Play

Parents can enjoy from a selection of pasta, sandwiches, local delights or even light snacks with their kids.

Menu

Beverage

Cooling and refreshing Apple Juice which tasted similar to one of the brands from the Supermarket but in a diluted form. A slice of apple is also included in the drink.

Apple Juice - $5

Appetizers

Starting our appetizer with the Chef Recommended Ceasar Avocado Salad which includes refreshing crunchy Romaine lettuce, sliced Avocado, olives, cherry tomato, hard boiled eggs, grated cheese, bacon bits, garlic croutons and grilled chicken breast in Ceasar Dressing. Such appetizer is light and hearty in preparing to welcome the main courses.

Ceasar Salad with Avocado - $13.80

Main Courses

Another recommendation from the Chef is none other than the popular food known in Asia, Nasi Goreng (Fried Rice). Color presentation of the food alluring besides the food items on plate.

Being truly Asian, you will get to see familiar items on the plate like mild spicy Nasi Goreng, fried chicken drumstick, chicken satay, sunny side up egg, keropok and Ah-Char. Satay was undeniably good in its tender meat and tasty marinate which made us could not resist, thus requesting for separate Satay helpings.

While the drumsticks were huge and dressed in its glistering "suit", its meat was quite tough and we had took some time to battle with it.

Chef Nasi Goreng - $12.70 (Serving Portion is for illustration)

2 Pieces of marinated tiger prawn was grilled in garlic sweet and spicy sauce. Together with the spicy kick of the Sambal Chilli, it was very tasty and definitely spelled out the characteristics of our local delicacy with banana leaf as base. On top of having the prawns, freshly cooked vegetables were served with steam rice too.

Spicy Garlic Tiger Prawns - $15.20

Could you resist such temptations?

Beautifully Grilled Prawns

Desserts

Here comes the sweet treat after finishing the mains. Chocolate Fondant topped with vanilla ice-cream is a perfect closure to the meal. The ice cream was adorn with mint leaves and the dessert was surrounded by button chocolates and chocolate fudge on the plate. Cake was moist and with rich semi sweet chocolate fondant in it. Yummy!

Chocolate Fondant with Ice Cream

Amazonia Bistro is not limited to the kids as they have also extended their invitation to nearby office working class for an Office Express Lunch from 12-3pm with games to destress themselves.

Personally, I enjoyed the most from the space ball room. Room was painted with their special glow in the dark artwork. illustrating a wonderful space environment with a resident alien watching over its territory.

Space Jam Room

Room was equipped with 8 hydraulic driven cannons and an electronic scoreboard that will reflect the scores instantly once you hit the target / enemy. Come on, let's shoot the enemy with the softballs!

Glow in the Dark

You can also get a party experience in Amazonia for your kid's birthday. They have 2 theme party rooms, one for the boy and the other for the girls holding up to as many as 40 children. Scheduled with interesting games and activities, Amazonia will leave a good memory on your child's special day.

Take a look at the Amazonia a racing car theme room all prepared for the boys.

Kids Theme Party Room - Guys

Whereas for little girls, they can enjoy themselves as princesses in the castle and get to dine on the beautiful pink carriages. Envy not?

Kids Theme Party Room for Girls

Do take note that there are designated party hours slots to follow, so book in advance to avoid disappointment.

Disposable Utensils

Last but not least, a 3D Glow Golf indoor 9 putting course suitable for children age 4 and above, also applicable for family fun .

3D Glow Golf Putters

Similar to the Space Jam, environment is dark with glowing artwork. You will get to see moving props in theme like Pirates, Sea Creatures and Dinosaur.

Dinosaur 

I'm pretty amazed by the props, fun and amount of space used in designing the entire entertainment centre.

Bright Octopus

With the bright and colorful ambiance, I simply could not resist to play a few rounds of golf. Having fun is of no age limit, so let your hair down and have fun!

Pirates

Lights up! After golfing, please remember to return your sticks here.

Grab your stick here!

Come this July, they will be marking their 5th Anniversary. With such successful concept in Singapore, Amazonia has spreaded it wings into Jarkata, Indonesia which has 4 times the space of current location in Singapore. Other than kids party and school group's learning journey, they are open to corporate group dynamics, events like team building, thus if you think that Amazonia is only for kids, its not so in this case!

Thanks OpenRice for the Invitation.


Rating: 3 / 5

Amazonia Bistro
Location: Great World City, 1 Kim Seng Promenade #03-08 Singapore 237994