Food Review: Maki-San at The Cathay Basement, Singapore 229233

I love how we are getting more and more choices in Singapore when it comes to F&B. There is a noticeable difference - in the past it is bento meals and sushi sets. But now you can even design your own sushi (and salad!) any way you want it! 

This is made possible by 2 guys from advertising who decided to start their own California Maki shop but with a twist - you get to decide what goes in the sushi roll.

Being from advertising background also means that the decor and packaging are all very pretty :)


It is located just at the end of the escalator that heads down to the basement of The Cathay, near Jitterbugs. The interior reminds of of a froyo shop - cheerful and bright, like a MOS burger but more open. On their walls are 6 different creation ideas which actually got ordered by some customers!

The concept is simple - get a piece of paper (sushi or salad), and tick away with your pens! They also have monthly special sauces just to jazz it up a little.

There are also 2 special sushi robots imported from Japan behind the counter to make your sushi perfect. First, the rice flattener for the maki rolls. The second helps to cut the roll into even slices. 

There are super a lot of ingredients at the counter - all looking very delicious and fresh! There's even  avocados. Instead of the usual salad ingredients, what's special with Maki-San is the inclusion of Japanese flavors like bonito flakes and other 'Asian' types of toppings like chicken floss!


Ok and here's how you customize your own salad and sushi! Read the instructions! 



The sushi rolls all come in a very nicely designed cardboard containers! Apparently they became collector items because people start to collect all 5 of them.


Once you have ordered, the staff will start to make the sushi while you take a seat. It will then come to you on a tray like this:

You are welcome to share your maki-roll on instagram or twitter with the hashtag! #makisan and #rollwithmakisan

I liked the miso soup in a cup with kelp and tofu, and the iced tea. Both quintessentially Japanese.


Next up, our sushis! I had 4 dining companions that night, so we had a total of 4 rolls and 1 salad. 

Here's mine -- it was tuna, salmon sashimi, crabstick, boiled egg and wasabi mayo, if I am not wrong. It was quite a safe choice, I reckon. Should have swapped my boiled egg for the Japanese omelette!


The sushis tasted good, and is a substantial amount for a meal. The seaweed is slightly soft instead of crunchy and do not break off easily, mainly because the seaweed's kept at room temperature, and its normal of maki seaweed to be so.

Here is the winning combination of the table as created by Nette-san. Common consensus that it was the best (except Z who thinks his is better). 

I've posted her recipe here. The Yuzu Sesame sauce was the tipping ingredient. Follow this if you want a guaranteed good roll. However the sushi was served with white rice instead of brown - special emphasis needs to be given if you want brown rice even if it is written, I reckon!



Here's another cross section of the winning roll.
A friend also ordered the tempura calamari with paprika seasoning sauce and Japanese mayo (not pictured). Heard it was a good snack! You can dabao this to the cinema upstairs...



Here's the sushi contender Z's maki cross section. He felt his was better. It was good, for sure, but not winning in my opinion. The prawns were delicious though.


Lastly, the oddest combination of that night goes to J. Everyone had the same odd expression as we tasted the brown rice + omelette + cranberry + sunflower seeds + avocado combination. So... you can get something weird if you want to. CRANBERRY and sushi, not friends. Haha! It was fun though and she was brave to try something different!

And here's the salad that was customized. Don't it look so delicious? The ingredients are very fresh!
Couple this with some yuzu sauce and you're good to go!






Great concept, fresh ingredients and convenient location. The owner mentioned that they don't profess to be healthy, but they try to be 'balanced' - you have fried food yes, but you also have some greens or rice with it! I recommend you try it out!




Maki-San
#B1-17/18 The Cathay, 2 Handy Road, Singapore 229233
+65 6737 8772
Daily 11:30am-9:30pm

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