If you ever crave for a sushi roll of Japanese culture with chicken bak-gua, avocado, enoki mushroom, with a dash of smoky cheddar cheese sauce, Maki-san could well be your next meal solution, for less than S$10.
The exterior of Maki-san’s 3rd outlet at 112 Katong.
Not to be confused with the normal sushi (vinegar rice with fish or vegetable on it), a maki-roll (or maki for short) is a specialised form of sushi that generally has contents wrapped up in a nori, a form of edible seaweed paper. Rice usually forms the inner layer, lining the nori, while other selected ingredients go on top of the rice layer before the whole creation gets rolled up into a concise cylindrical form. Basically, the presentation method dictates the name of the final product.
3 different wraps to choose from: Traditional Nori (Seaweed paper), Healthy soy paper, and Egg wrap crepe.
If you’re constantly pressed for time and adore takeaways, you would have heard of or even used Foodpanda. In all aspects, Foodpanda is a convenience service that processes and sends orders directly to partner restaurants, such as Maki-san, which in turn delivers to customers.
To order, you simply browse through the restaurant’s menu (via the Foodpanda website or the iOS or Android mobile app), select the items you want, enter an address, and pay when checking out! The best part is Foodpanda will send out an SMS confirmation with an estimated delivery time.
Foodpanda’s appearance at Maki-san.
In the spirit of DIY-ness and fun, I got to roll out 2 different kinds of maki at a Foodpanda x Maki-san event recently. We were introduced to a panda-face maki (Foodpanda is the official partner here) and tried really hard to best Maki-san’s Chef Hong creation at the panda maki challenge.
Maki-san’s Chef Hong demonstrates how to wrap a Panda maki.
I get to make my own Panda maki.
My Panda maki and me.
It’d better be fun if you have to make choices about your own food, and I was delighted I could pick what I want, whenever I want it rolled!. It’s like mixed veggie rice meets Subway, and by the time I was done ticking off the order form, I felt my day was already complete (bye, To-Do list!).
Keeping things affordable, Maki-san basic offerings start at $7.90, and include a wide range of “Essentials” to pick from (such as Asparagus, grilled eggplant, steamed prawn and more), and you get to choose your own sauce (Japanese caesar, sesame or chilli crab) to top things off.
Part two of our day with Maki-san involves getting all geared up and hand-making our own maki. If it wasn’t for the quality coaching by Chef Hong, I’m pretty sure my Superhardgel maki would have ended up looking like a open-face sandwich.
Order sheet at Maki-san.
This, that, and that…
Chicken bak kwa, roast beef, smoked salmon, Teriyaki chicken – special ingredients you can choose for your own custom maki roll!
The final touches to the maki roll before dishing out the house sauce!
Eager rollers at Maki-san
Proud of her maki bento!
Tada! A cross-section view of my own Superhardgel maki!
Of course, you can get your favourite ingredients tossed into a salad, but I didn’t try that. Most of the customers had too much fun just picking stuff that will go into a nicely-wrapped and no-mess affair.
Maki-san has its own iPhone/Android app, currently partners with Perx for its loyalty programme. Maki-san is also available for private events and group bookings, and guests might just be able to make their own customised maki like me.
Maki-san may be young, but it already has its own mobile app that you can place orders with.
Perx is currently one of the partners with Maki-san.
Do you want to know what ingredients went into my Superhardgel maki? Just drop your guess into the comments below! No prizes though, but all I can say is I had a real cheesy good time! A big thanks to Foodpanda for this exclusive chance to be a buddying maki roller!
Maki-san@Katong
112 East Coast Road
#B1-19 I12 Katong
Singapore 428802
Opening hours: Sun to Thu, 12 pm to 9 pm; Fri and Sat – 12 pm to 9:30 pm
