Friday, June 18, 2010

Dinner at Mai

There's a somewhat under-the-radar Pan-Asian restaurant on Atlantic Avenue that goes by the name of Mai (497 Atlantic Ave., between Nevins St. & 3rd Avenue, 718-797-3880). It's simply decorated inside, but it's the peaceful garden that's the big draw, along with the fresh and not-your-usual-Pad-Thai dishes. We ordered take-out from there recently and thoroughly enjoyed our meal.

We started with a classic appetizer of Chicken Satay. The meat was tender, slightly juicy and just a bit charred and the peanut sauce was thick with pieces of peanut. It's one of my favorites.



For my entree, I chose to get the Bun Tao, a glass noodle dish with vegetarian duck, shitake mushroom and asian greens sauteed in a ginger sauce. It was delicious. I love veggie duck, and Mai does it the best. It's not greasy, more like baked and a bit crunchy, and there were plentiful slices of mushroom. The greens were crispy, not boiled to death and the sauce was sharp, astringent and light.



My boyfriend got an order of Mee Rojak, a Malaysian style egg noodle with steamed vegetables & tofu in peanut lime sauce. The sauce is more like a curry, and a bit spicy. The noodles were thick and a bit chewy, but in a good way, the veggies nicely cooked and there was a perfectly cooked egg on the side. Very tasty.



I really like Mai. The food is fresh, quality and different from the standard Thai/Pan-Asian places around. Definitely go when the weather is good to sit in the beautiful back garden!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

How many calories does this food have? You need to check that and also are the portion sizes big or small. Are the kitchens clean? Are the staff clean? We need to know these facts as well, because eating healthy is the new trend. We need to become more health conscience about what we eat. I would say eat out less and eat healthy home cooked meals instead.

Eat It Brooklyn said...

Yeah, I think that goes without saying if you're eating out anytime. it's usually healthier to make your own food, but it's such a nice treat to go out too. I usually mention portion sizes - if I don't, assume they're "regular" - neither huge nor teeny. Kitchen cleanliness...check the DOH website for the rating.