RA Sushi Bar Restaurant

Reviews 3

C

C Cobane

My wife and I decided to visit Ra Sushi for restaurant week in Baltimore. Having sampled restaurants all over the city in a variety of cuisine categories, we were excited at the prospect of FINALLY finding a proper sushi restaurant in this city. For the last year, finding a true quality sushi offering in Baltimore has been painfully disappointing. The $30 restaurant week menu was 4 courses from a pre fix menu; 1 glass of wine or sake, 1 appetizer, 2 rolls, and dessert. We made our reservations via Open Table for the restaurant and were seated promptly upon entry by the hostess. The décor is modern chic that coincides well with the trendy harbor east neighborhood the restaurant resides. We were fortunate enough to find parking on the side street meter just in front of the restaurant but otherwise parking is very limited. Expect a 5 minute walk in most occasions. Sushi is an art, truly. Anyone can throw some fish on rice but the many intricacies that go into to truly making a memorable sushi experience can be easily lost on the uninformed . To me, the craftsmanship that goes into making the roll, the flavor pairing of house specialties that accentuate the natural flavors of the fish, the execution and the quality of the ingredients all play prime roles in highlighting a sushi restaurants weaknesses or strengths. According to these metrics, this place is very strong. The food: For our appetizer my wife and I enjoyed the Yellowfin Tuna. Raw and floating in a sea of ginger soy sauce, topped with sprouts, this appetizer truly set the tone for the rest of our dining experience. The sweat/salty of the ginger soy, coupled with the crisp texture of the aromatic greens sent our tastebuds into hyperdrive. My wife then had the mango lobster roll… a true “lobster roll”, no less. There was no skimping on the main ingredient and I’ve had less lobster on true Maryland style lobster rolls than what appeared wrapped in this sushi roll. The mango and citrus pairings of the roll ingredients were fantastic. For me, the true highlights of the night came in the experience of the 2 main ‘house named’ specialty rolls; the Viva Las Vegas!! Roll and the ‘RA’ckin’ Roll. If you take nothing away from this review, take that you are missing out on the finest sushi rolls to grace my lips in decades and experiences crossing sushi on 3 continents. The Viva Las Vegas! Roll is a lightly tempura friend roll consisting of a mildly spicy crab mixture that is beyond this world. The ‘Ra’ckin Roll a slightly fried tempura roll with shrimp accompanied with a fresh dab of avocado and a house seafood sauce that truly set the dish apart. TRY THESE TWO ROLLS. Lastly, crème brule. Frequently imitated, rarely properly… this staple dessert item is often abysmally executed. Ours was superb, the candied sugar topping perfectly seared without overburning and the body of the dish not overly sweet. The Service: As equally important and as equally rare is quality service nowadays. Often undervalued at restaurants the world over, this aspect of the customer experience can often override the culinary experience as the lasting impression consumers take away from the evening. My wife and I were blessed to have a waiter here for our visit that equaled the skill of the sushi chefs in his craft; Tyree. Pleasant but no overbearing, Present without loitering, knowledgeable, and attentive he was one of the finest brand ambassadors of a restaurant I have seen. So much so, I let his manager know it (which is a large rarity for me). Do yourself a favor and eat here. Rarely does a restaurant earn a 5 star rating, actually EARN it. This place is the exception for all the reasons above. ALSO, this place has a daily happy hour to include insane food specials on sushi and alcohol throughout the work week from 3 – 7 pm. Go here, enjoy the hell out of it, and thank me!

A

A Private User

i like to think of myself as young and hip, but i have rarely been so disappointed with a dining experience. once upon a time, i worked in the food industry myself, as both a server and a hostess, and i can tell you right now, they failed miserably on both counts. when i arrived, i was standing at the hostess booth, waiting to be greeted but far from being greeted, i wasnt even acknowledged for what seemed like 10 minutes, even though i was the only person standing at the booth. the ladies just continued to chat and read their seating charts and walk around me to get to where they were going. it almost felt like it was a joke, like i was in some kind of experiement or movie or something. what seemed like an eternity later, one of the hostesses took my name down. she seemed frustrated that my whole party hadnt arrived, handed me my pager, and determinedly went back to ignoring me. i found my own place to wait, and while i waited, i got to take the whole place in. the place was rather snazzy, lots of guys and girls dressed up like we were at the club, servers looking like they just got off of the runway, 20 dollar martinis floating by. very obnoxiously, the dance music was blasting almost as loud as if it were a club. i get that this is the "cool Miami/LA" thing to do but geez, save it for when the sun is set. anyway, my party arrived and we decided to dine outside (this took place late last year when the weather was still manageable). for nothing short of 20 minutes, no one came to our table. now, on any other day, we would have left, but since i had friends to gossip with, we tried to be forgiving. finally, our server arrived. she was pleasant enough except that i would swear on my life that it was her first day. again, ive been a server, but there are just some things you dont forgive. she forgot things repeatedly, even when we asked her to write them down! when our appetizers came, it took at least 10 minutes to get plates and utensils to eat them. drinks were never full, orders were never right, and whole dishes were missing. and the food, well, that could have redeemed a lot, but i was so disappointed there too. extremely overpriced for what it was and frankly not all that tasty. in baltimore, we are lucky enough to have many good choices to eat at and this isnt one of them. im not fooled by colorful swirls on the plate--hey, presentation is important (im a hip, young, single lady, i should know), but im not spending an extra 5 bucks on a role for some fake grass and an umbrella. long story short: -if you are going for the food, there are much better choices -if you are going for the service, i hope you are going for bad service and to be treated like you dont look good enough to be in there -if you are going for the ambience, go to a club -if you are going to spend too much on dull food and "fancy" cocktails, this is for you -if you are going to find a date, well, be prepared to wear your best shoes and to toss those benjamins around, and let the pretentious wooing begin.

A

A Private User

I brought my boyfriend as a surprise to RA last night for his birthday. I had a tsunami punch and he had red saki sangria. The sangria was much stronger than the punch, as the punch tasted too much like pineapple juice and nothing else. My bf was very happy with the selection of sushi and I (a non-sushi gal) loved their half price appetizers for happy hour. Some of the sushi was half priced as well and I thought that was great since he could try some new things. He LOVED Viva Las Vegas and even tried the Beef Tataki roll and really liked it, even though he normally doest like raw beef. We split the pineapple cheese wontons and the lobster spring rolls. The lobster spring rolls had a great taste and mango sauce to dip them in, I also liked the wontons but much preferred the lobster. As he was opening his presents at the table, our waitress came over and we told her it was his 33rd birthday. After our meals were done, she kindly gave him complimentary tempura fried ice cream and it was a great finish to the meal. Unfortunately, he didnt have room for Vaccaros afterwards, but we stopped and got him something to bring home. The atmosphere of RA is very stylish and fun. We were there early and left about 7:30. The difference between when we got there and when we left was huge: at first it was nice with the music playing, but by 6:30 or so it was filled with loud people trying to talk over the music. It fills up fast and gets hard to hear. We had a great time at RA and will go back, but will make sure we can make it for Happy Hour since its such a great deal.