My New Favorite Sushi Spot in Baltimore: RA Sushi (Harbor East)
By Michael Mohammadi
A few weeks back I was invited to a “Sushi 101″ day at RA Sushi for a few of us food writers in the area. The event couldn’t have come at a better time since the week prior I was with a friend trying to find a new sushi spot. We had a hard time locating RA Sushi so decided to heat to Matsuri in Federal Hill which has never been a let down the 10 or so times I’ve been there.
This time around I planned ahead and programmed the address in my GPS (not really necessary but I was determined to find it) but it wasn’t really necessary since getting to RA Sushi was a breeze. Located on Lancaster St. near the corner of S. Central Ave (right on the water!), RA immediately gets points for location. Parking wasn’t too difficult on a weeknight, though I could see weekend parking being a bit trickier.
Entering RA Sushi I was taken aback by the level of energy in the bar and dining areas. On both of my visits so far the place was packed with people in their 20′s and 30′s (weekday happy hours) and everyone seemed to be having a great time. The restaurant is decked out in red, black and gray (which I got a great vibe from) with artsy glass lamps hanging from the ceiling and dance music playing loud enough to drowned out the sounds of your neighbors but quiet enough to hear your friends. When we arrived an were greeted with a variety of trendy cocktails, warm or cool sake, and a pretty decent beer/wine list for a sushi restaurant. I had an iced green tea which was fantastic and went great with the various appetizers that RA provided us.
Among the group were many familiar faces such as Dara Bunjon from Dara Does It, Celeste Corsaro from Baltimore Eats, Downtown Diane, and Jessica Lemmo from Adventures in Baltimore Restaurants. We had a great group dynamic which added to the fun we were about to have.
To spare the details of the sushi rolling class, I’ll just say we learned a lot about the history of sushi (did you know that putting fish between rice started out as a way of preserving fish for long periods of time?), the different types and forms of sushi (Nigiri, Maki, Chirashi, etc), and how to prepare and properly create two types of sushi rolls. My California roll turned out pretty well considering I forgot to wet the seaweed initially (a very important step I learned)! All in all the class was great fun and I would love the chance to do a more ‘advanced’ sushi seminar.
Having been quite impressed with RA Sushi for the ambiance, happy hour specials, quality of food and diversity in drinks, I decided to head back the next day with a few friends (Greg included) and try some more menu items. We arrived during their daily happy hour which is from 3-7 PM and features a variety of drink deals as well as half-off 
select sushi and appetizers. We enjoyed delicious lobster spring rolls, softshell crabs fried to perfection, and tuna seared to perfection while waiting for what seemed like 4 lbs of sushi to arrive.
And when it did we feasted like kings…Viva Las Vegas Rolls (my favorite pictured here), spicy tuna rolls, and California rolls galore. There are around 10 sushi options to choose from for their happy hour, and we tried about half of them. All were delicious with again, the clear winner being the Viva Las Vegas Roll (click here to learn about their new facebook contest!).
An the best part of it all? 5 of us ate a ton of food, with a few people having multiple sake’s and beers, and our bill came to $90 with tip! Just an incredible value for the quality of food your getting.
I believe I have eaten at every sushi place in town (minus XS) and I have to make the following statement:
RA Sushi is hands down my favorite Sushi restaurant in Baltimore and right now it’s my favorite Happy Hour in town, too! (have another great happy hour, leave it in the comments and I’ll be sure to check it out). There, I said it.
I highly recommend heading over to RA and experiencing it all for yourself, but be prepared for lots of music, energy and fun. This isn’t your typical Sushi bar!
RA Sushi
1390 Lancaster St
Baltimore, MD 21231
(410) 522-3200
http://www.rashushi.com
Looks like we should do a sushi throwdown. I place my money on Sushi Hana for best sushi (though that could be skewed because it was also the first place I ever had sushi). I’ll get around to writing the post when I have time!
That being said, RA does make some great sushi, and has some innovative rolls that are very delicious. The fried soft shell crab was the best soft shelled crab I’ve had ever, and Mike was right, the Viva las Vegas rolls were a flavor explosion.
The tenor of the two locations couldnt be more different as well. RA is way more upbeat, fast paced, enthusiastic, whereas Sushi Hana is slower, traditional, way more quiet.
Battle Sushi: American style vs Japanese stylem round 1… Fight! *ding!
Does RA to carryout?
[...] My New Favorite Sushi Spot in Baltimore: RA Sushi (Harbor East … [...]
[...] [...]
[...] ivan wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptRA Sushi is hands down my favorite Sushi restaurant in Baltimore and right now it’s my favorite Happy Hour in town, too! (have another great happy hour, leave it in the comments and I’ll be sure to check it out). There, I said it. … [...]
This place looks fantastic! Obviously I can’t say Sushi Hana is better/worse since I haven’t been to RA, but I can tell you my favorite place to get sushi is Joss in Annapolis. Lucky for you though they just opened a location on N. Charles in Bmore.
joss rocks, i hope the bmore one is as good as the original! ra is super fun, we went there one calm sunday afternoon to enjoy the waterfront views… and really enjoyed the beautiful presentation and super sushi. i havent experienced the happy hours but hear they are great.. will have to hang around the city one friday to check it out!
Joss Sushi on Charles Street has now surely taken the sushi crown. Not only is it the best sushi in Baltimore, but it’s some of the best I’ve ever had anywhere (I’m a fanatic).
They have a great sake menu, too.