08/11/2026
Madai 真鯛 — Japanese Sea Bream from Ehime
In Japan, madai has marked weddings, New Year’s, and life’s biggest moments for centuries — its very name echoes “medetai,” the word for joy.
Ours comes from Ehime, Japan’s top madai region, raised in the clean, fast currents of the Uwa Sea.
Fresh out of the water, madai is firm — almost stiff. Its true elegance appears only through careful aging, when the flesh relaxes into that silky, delicate texture and its quiet sweetness comes forward. Then we go one step further with kobujime — the classic Edomae technique of curing the fish between sheets of kombu, drawing out moisture and layering in a deep, savory umami.
Honestly, even our chefs are surprised. Madai doesn’t announce itself the way maguro or salmon does — its beauty is quiet, subtle, refined. And yet it has become one of our most requested fish, the one our regulars return to again and again. That kind of palate deserves our best, so madai gets extra care every day.
