Maki-San (On Freedom of Choice)

Before "customization" came free will. While consumers may be aware that we probably do not possess as much freedom of choice as we would like to believe, the notion - or illusion - of having options is one that appeals to our intrinsic humanity, especially so if one does not believe in the deterministic argument. Alright, enough of the verbose vernacular - you probably get what I mean. Today's feature covers Maki San, a casual Japanese cafe/take-away stop that capitalises on the customisability of its salad/maki rolls as its unique selling point. 

The first thing a customer has to do is to indicate his food preferences on a form. For the sushi, there are two options - little san (1 wrap + 1 rice + 3 essentials + 1 sprinkle + 1 house sauce, $7.90) and mega san (1 wrap + 1 rice + 5 essentials + 1 special + 1 sprinkle + 1 house sauce, $9.90). While the sheer number of categories and smogasbord of choices might seem discombobulating at first, filling in the form turned out to be a surprisingly fun task. Having been peckish, I opted to have a Mega San and chose the following ingredients:

Wrap - Traditional nori (seaweed)
Rice - Healthy brown rice
Five essentials: Roasted mushroom, onion, avocado, steamed ebi and ebiko (prawn roe)
Special: Smoked sashimi
Sprinkles: Bonito (Japanese fish flakes)
House sauce - Monthly Special, which was a blend of sweet and sour (bearing testament to my predisposition to take risks and penchant for adventure)

Simple yet Elegant Presentation

Maki Roll

On the whole, the maki was not bad, though I felt that there were several points for improvement:
1) The maki was on the dry side, for it felt as though only a few drops of gravy had been applied. For gravy-lovers like me, do consider requesting for more gravy, though that would likely set one back by another $1).
2) The brown rice was a little too hard for my liking.
3) The layer of brown rice encapsulating the ingredients could be reduced, as it seemed as though bulk of the maki consisted of the rice. Personally, I prefer Isetan's rendition of makis as their rolls comprise a larger proportion of ingredients and go easy on the rice. Nevertheless, this might be merely a personal preference, as I acknowledge that others may be more accustomed to a carbo-centric diet than I. 

All in all, I will probably make a return trip to Maki San to try out their Japanese white rice as well as to sample the plethora of choices that I have yet to taste.