By Susie Timm, Head Cheese
I have a confession. I had never tasted a bite of sushi until 2004. It’s been a mere 7 years of my sweet life since my first bite of raw fish, and I have never looked back.
I love all kinds of sushi from shrimp heads to roe to yellow tail. I also am known to enjoy some of the wackier sushi rolls on occasion and have rarely turned down anything that has been tempura battered.
For a land-locked desert, there are some tremendous places for fish in this state including my personal faves Hiro Sushi and Hana Japanese.
Seven years ago when I set out on my sushi journey, I did so at Ra Sushi at Kierland Commons. So you’ll completely understand when I say I felt like my sushi life had come full circle recently when Ra Sushi asked ME to come taste their new menu items. ME? The 7 year sushi eater?
I decided to take Ra up on their offer and I sampled the “goods” last week over a lunch I spent all by my lonesome.
I settled into the red leather bench and as I always do at Ra, reminded myself that I am not nearly as “hip” as most of the people dining around me.
I digress.
Eric the manager introduced himself and the menu items I was to sample.
I first tried the “Otoko Salad” that is mixed greens topped with grilled chicken, beef and tossed in a spicy yuzu dressing with green and red peppers and ramen noodles. It’s also got a plethora of rice wine vinaigrette in the mix that I found overpowered the rest of the dish. I liked the warm meat atop cold greens, but I’d lose the rice wine vinegar if I was cooking.
Next I tried a sample portion of four new sushi rolls:
* Pacific Roll: Albacore tuna, cilantro, jalapeno & cucumber
* “Ra”ckin’ Roll: Kani kama crab with cream cheese rolled in rice and seaweed then tempura battered and served on top of guacamole
* Vegetable Tempura: Tempura battered asparagus, sweet potato & Japanese eggplant
* Tropical Roll: Cucumber, mango, avocado, spicy shrimp
I enjoyed all four of the rolls. I even surprised myself by really loving (and wishing for more than 1 piece!) of the “Ra”ckin’ Roll. It was unique to taste guacamole with tempura, but I really liked the tasty texture and flavor of that roll the best.
I also tried the shishito peppers that were super spicy but I loved every bite and the lobster with garlic sugar snap peas.
For dessert I had traditional Japanese mochi which I can best describe if you’ve never had it as ice cream wrapped in fondant. (though it’s really a rice cake) It’s an acquired taste but one that I do enjoy.
They’ve also got a wide array of new cocktails from the Red Lotus to the Ginger Blossom with a liberal use of one of my favorite liquors–St. Germain.
Overall my sushi full circle lunch was a fun peek at new menu items and if you haven’t been to Ra lately, check out “Ra” ckin’ Roll–it won’t disappoint and will surprise!
