Ma’Kai: Restaurant, Lounge

Ma'Kai: Patio dining area and fire pit

Ma’Kai is located in the best part of Santa Monica; on Ocean Avenue, facing the beach, nestled among all the other upscale fusions beach restaurants (think BOA, Sushi Roku, etc.)

Though it claims to be a restaurant, Ma’Kai… also claims to be a lounge. AND when I first arrived (at 9:30 on a Saturday) I was definitely getting lounge vibes. There was a bouncer at the door, and I found myself thinking “There better not be a guest list, becuase I’m going to be mad I’m not on it.” There was no guest list, but they did card us at the door.

I wanted a definitive answer on the lounge vs. restaurant status, so I called the next day and asked. Apparently, Thursday through Sundays, after 9 pm, Ma’Kai is 21 and up (they still seat at the dinner tables and serve food). During the rest of the week it’s a regular restaurant, and open to all ages. Even babies… I assume.

The ambience was nice, but more towards the lounge end of the spectrum; people standing around holding drinks, those little tiny lounge tables, and a legit DJ, no joke. The patio had a really nice dining area, and some of the tables even had fire pits (not sure if they were for cooking or decoration…)

Now lets get to the food, because after all, if we wanted to know about cocktails and who was spinning, we would be reading… Kesha’s blog or something.

The food was good. Lots of appetizers and small plates, all in the asian (ish) direction. Avocado and mango salad, sea bass with ginger sauce, etc. They have spicy tuna on crispy rice (which seems to be popping up all over this city) and as someone who has eaten this pretty much anywhere it is served, I can say that Ma’Kai’s was definitely in the “Good” to “Great” range. The cucumber sunomono salad was also delicious, although intensely sour… in a good way. And of course, the Kobe beef strip steak with mushrooms was so good I almost forgot how jealous I was that our table didn’t have a fire pit. It was just… covered in delicious mushroom sauce.

Aside from Ma’Kai’s identity crisis that made me feel like I was eating in a club, I was impressed. Nice décor, great food, amazing location. The whole club/lounge fiasco probably wont bother most people, and if it does, it can probably be solved by arriving at normal human dinner time.

Ma’Kai Restaurant and Lounge
101 Broadway Avenue
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 434-1511

info@makailounge.com
www.makailounge.com

Tue-Wed: 12pm-10pm
Thu-Fri: 12pm-11pm
Sat-Sun: 10am-11pm