Consider the dashi. The backbone of Japanese cuisine is usually made from an amalgamation of three ingredients: kombu, shiitake and dried bonito flakes (or other dried fish like anchovies or sardines). It makes sense then, that katsuobushi wholesaler Marusaya has opened this 38-seat restaurant in Bukit Pasoh where dashi simmered with aged bonito is the star.
Mai's signature dashi finds its way into most of the dishes on the menu – from the Hokkaido pork cutlet with dashi sauce ($35) to dashi egg custard with your choice of white fish and salmon roe ($14), shrimp ($10) or sea urchin ($18). Alternatively, opt for the omakase Mai course ($128), a seven-course meal that includes appetisers, sashimi, dobin mushi, seared Wagyu with dashi sauce, seafood, meat and the crowning glory: the donabe, claypot rice cooked in dashi, of course.