Food For Thought: Makiman

In the mood for sushi but not in the mood to head to Center City?  Makiman Sushi restaurant right on Oxford Avenue near Rising Sun Avenue is the perfect dining destination to satisfy your sushi cravings.  Open Monday through Saturday for lunch and dinner, this casual, cozy little Japanese eatery offers takeout in addition to sit-down meals.

The restaurant itself is very small, but it does have a warm and inviting atmosphere. Even if you’re not in the mood for sushi, Makiman offers a variety of cooked Japanes-style dishes. But I would highly recommend getting the sushi dishes.

The seafood at Makiman is fresh and delicious, prepared well and doesn’t leave a bad after taste in your mouth. The service was wonderful, timely and friendly.  Unlike other sushi bar, where there is often a long wait for food, at Makiman, my food was prepared and served in a very acceptable fashion.

Bringing a bit of Old City charm to the NEast, this lovely Japanese feast was worth going back to twice.  Far more affordable than Center City dinning, Makiman is well worth the very reasonable prices for the quality and quantity of food.  Some of my recommendations include the following:

  • Tuna Sashimi as an excellent starter
  • Nangi’s Naruto for a vegetarian style starter sushi
  • Rock Shrimp Tempura for those less likely to try raw fish

For a main course I recommend:

  • Sashimi Love Boat, which is a medley of raw seafood assortments
  • Makimono, which is a wonderful entrée that contains 12 out of 18 pieces of sushi that are cooked or do not contain raw seafood

If you’re hesitant to try sushi, but still want seafood, try the White Fish Salad.  Wasabi white tuna with cucumber, lettuce and other assorted greens make this a tasty and crunchy dish that is both filling and still adds a bit of a zing.

For dessert, I was pleased to see that Makiman offers the traditional green tea ice cream, but I was pleasantly surprised to see they also have ginger-flavored ice cream.  I enjoyed the small but sufficient ginger dish, but would caution people who are picky eaters to try a taste before ordering a whole bowl.

Overall, I enjoyed my time at Makiman sushi restaurant and would happily return.  If you are in the mood for great sushi at good prices, I highly recommend Makiman.

Food For Thought is a NEast restaurant review column written by Donna Ward that runs every other Thursday on NEastPhilly.com. See all of Donna’s reviews here. Read other NEastPhilly columns here.

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