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| - I am a fan and will be back!
Since, I moved here from California I've been to five sushi places. Mai Japanese Sushi Restaurant has been "BY FAR" the best. I've been eating sushi since I was a little girl so I admit I know my stuff. I've been to Japan and I've tried just about everything. Still to this day nothing will beat Sagami Sushi in Collingswood, New Jersey --- but that my friends, is for another story.
What brought me to Mai Sushi was a restaurant.com gift card from my good friend. She said it is her favorite place here in the Charlotte area and wanted to be sure that we got there at some point. After months of having this piece of paper I decided it was time to use it. Thank goodness for that!
Mai Sushi is tucked away in a shopping center right off of Rea Road. The restaurant is quiet, clean and not too overwhelmingly large. There is a sushi bar if you choose to sit and watch the sushi chef practice his culinary skills, and there are booths and tables galore if you'd rather focus on the company you came with.
We choose to sit in a quiet booth very close to the sushi bar so we could still take in all the action. We were waited on by an incredibly friendly waiter named Phat (pronounced Fat) who made the experience a truly special one. He let us take our time and explore the menu and also suggested his favorites. I always appreciate it when a waiter gives that extra personal touch to make you feel like you're family.
We decided to go all out since we had this extra 25-dollars rewarded to us, from our friend, over the holidays. My goal for this restaurant was to check out the sushi and if it was great make sure to come back and order the Chirashi the next time. Chirashi is an assortment of sashimi (just fish) perfectly cut and placed over a bed of slightly warm vinegared rice. That's what I'm getting next time. As for my most recent experience ...
Here's what we ordered:
Edamame: which are boiled soybeans in their pods and then lightly salted and served in a bowl. (they were delish and honestly if they weren't we would have known we were in deep trouble. It's very hard to mess up edamame)
Agedashi: YUMMY, YUMMY, YUMMY!!!! This is 4 pieces of lightly deep fried tofu in a lighter form of a tempura based batter. The tofu is stacked beautifully in a bowl and garnished with a clear brown mushroom sauce. THIS WAS SO GOOD ... I FORGOT TO TAKE A PICTURE OF IT! Mmmm the sauce is clear and delicate. It's the same color as a ponzu sauce but tastes totally different. It's was amazing!
We also both got miso soup which was perfectly salty and just the right temperature.
For dinner we choose to get mainly an assortment of the cleaner sushi rolls ... meaning the non-fancy ones. Here's the dinner order.
(2) Tuna rolls (I requested for them to be made in the traditional style with the nori/seaweed on the outside) ---- These were perfect. They tasted clean, the tuna was a deep burgundy color and it melted in your mouth.
(1) Yellowtale roll (I requested it to be made with scallions) --- The fish was very fresh and the perfect light pink to a light tan color. It tasted just right and sat perfectly in our bellies.
(1) Vegetable roll (this is made with the nori on the outside and has cucumber, lettuce, asparagus, avacado, carrot and sesame seeds on the inside as well as the rice) --- This was nice and fun for a change. It was made just as I would have visually imagined it from the description. And with that said, I probably won't get it again since it didn't give my mouth the refreshingly earthy punch I was expecting. Good ... but not exciting enough for me.
(1) Rainbow Roll (this is a California roll topped with various fish like salmon, tuna, yellowtail, cooked shrimp and a few others) --- This was really good and very filling. The presentation of it was pretty and it settled perfectly in my belly. Yum, yum, yum.
(1) Sake/Salmon Sashimi (this is three pieces of just the fish perfectly cut and placed over a bed of string carrot garnish) Mmmm ... this was good and tasted as fresh as fish can be in Charlotte, North Carolina. I saved this for last bite and I am happy I did. The salmon tasted clean, fresh and buttery. It was very easy to bite through and was a perfect last bite choice before moving onto dessert.
YES, WE GOT DESSSERT TOO! I know I said we were going all out so we shared a scoop of Green Tea Ice-Cream. YUM! I love the grittiness of green tea ice-cream. It has the perfect sweetness without distracting from the green tea flavor. LOVE IT!
To drink we sipped on hot tea throughout the meal. All in all, our experience was superb!
I only gave Mai "four out of five" stars because I haven't seen it's full potential yet. So it didn't wow me to a standing ovation. Hopefully, once I am back and order the Chirashi dinner I will be able to change my four stars to five.
This love affair at Mai Sushi is not over. We will be back! Thanks Phat for making the experience so wonderful
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