Pork lovers have known for years that the Okinawan restaurant Nirai-Kanai at Tanglin Shopping Centre does a really excellent pork belly. Its peanut tofu is excellent too.

A branch opened at Liang Court earlier this year and you can get your fix before or after shopping at Meidi-Ya. So convenient, don't you think?

Better yet, the pork belly takes centrestage in one of the set lunch offerings ($18, main head picture). With the set, you get rice, pickles and a sticky yellow condiment. This is fried miso with minced pork and is wonderful with rice.

But the pork belly is the star on the tray. Quivering slices of it, stewed gently for six hours, maintain their shape well but fall apart at the gentlest prodding with a pair of chopsticks.

The fat is soft but not flabby, the meat infused with the umami goodness of the soy braising liquid.

More prissy eaters should go for the chanpuru set ($15). You can pick between bittergourd and okra, and the former is excellent.

Thinly sliced knobbly Japanese bittergourd is stir-fried with egg and cubes of, you guessed it, pork.

It sounds like a homecooked dish and it is - very comforting and vaguely healthy.

For dessert, the sweet potato ice cream ($6, right above) is a must-try. Every mouthful tastes like that intensely nutty and sweet centre of a purple sweet potato. Stuck on top are some purple sweet potato crisps for a delightful sweet-salty contrast.

Okinawan Diner Nirai-Kanai
B1-01/02 Liang Court
177 River Valley Road
Tel: 6339-4811.
Opening hours: 11.30am to 1am daily