Yes. Yes we will.
(Credit: Brooke McDonald)
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Food: For lunch, Ra offers a variety of bento box specialties ($6.75-$7.75). The Subway-style punch card should encourage you to round up office lunch orders, since six boxes earns a seventh free. (So, yeah, you should probably ask Carl in accounting, too. Even if he does have B.O. Interacting with a smelly co-worker is a small price to pay for free sushi.)
Ra's sushi is topnotch. We were drawn (hook, line and sinker, if you will) to the rolls that paired fresh fish with equally fresh avocado. No joke, the tunacado roll ($10.50) melts in the mouth. (Tuna. Avocado. Tunacado. Sadly, that took us awhile.) The crazy monkey roll ($10) puts an exotic spin on the mundane Philly roll by matching salmon and mango with avocado and cream cheese. Sure, it sounds weird, but it comes highly recommended. Not as highly recommended, though, as the viva Las Vegas roll ($12.50), a tempura roll with each of its five rotund pieces filled with kani kama (imitation crab meat), topped with a spicy tuna and crab mix and ornamented with a slice of lotus root.
Fortunately, not every roll on Ra's menu is more than $10. Less adventurous rolls (tuna, California or Philadelphia, for example) range from $5.25 to $6.75. Since Ra is all about happy hour, the staff eagerly churns out many of those same rolls for $3 to $4.75 from 4 to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 8 to 11 p.m. on Sundays.
If you're at Ra, but you don't like it raw, you'll be happy to know there are plenty of larger, cooked entree options. Assorted noodle dishes ($11.75-$14.25), chicken and beef teriyaki ($15-$15.25) and black pepper filet medallions ($22) round out the menu.
Booze: The only thing Ra pays more attention to than well-conceived, artistically-presented sushi rolls, is its expansive list of specialty drinks, many of which integrate sake in surprisingly tasty concoctions. The saketini ($8) blends Ketel One and Hakutsuru Sake to a cool, cucumbery consistency only out-cooled by the cucumber martini ($8) itself.
In addition to martinis, Ra mixes signature drinks like the tsunami punch (a 60-oz. tidal wave of sake and fruit juice), fruit-flavored sake bombs and the cherry-flavored Effen' around in the Ra (which supplies as much innuendo as vodka). You could spend all night sampling these high-octane specialties, and never even put a dent in Ra's offerings without getting completely belligerent. Trust us, we've tried. (Sorry, Ra!)
Beer is also available, but when Natty Boh costs three bucks you might as well spend a few more dollars and explore other possibilities.
Digs: Simply calling Harbor East home puts Ra on the frontline of what Baltimore will consider hip and trendy in the months to come. Dim lighting is offset by floating red orbs, while finishing touches attempt to feng shui the space with bamboo shafts of light and large, sweeping strokes that create Japanese characters across several walls. Overall, Ra succeeds in creating that sophisticated-but-willing-to-get-crazy ambiance it strives to achieve.
Vibe: As far as franchise restaurant owners go, Ra's originators are still relatively young. The youthful philosophy that pervades their chain is still their own, so the spot avoids the sort of affectation that would make it seem pandering. Enticing happy hour specials and contemporary play lists (by popular West Coast DJ Robert Oleysyck) work to create a scene that's upscale, yet manages to remain comfortable enough for the 20-somethings who don't drop three grand a month on rent.
