Matsuri
If Charm City's food critics agree on anything, it would be their plaudits for the freshness and quality of the rolls at this Federal Hill establishment, open since 1992 and named the city's best Japanese restaurant by Zagat. Diners start with seaweed salad, miso soup, nuta tuna salad with tuna sashimi with miso dressing, or the nuta tako salad of octopus sashimi with miso dressing. Sushi combos include the maki, the vegetable roll, the crispy spicy rool, grilled rolls, tempura rolls, vegetable tempura rolls and hand rolls and everyone's favorite, the crab roll. If guests want to pretend that they are in Japan or Hawaii, they should order a bento box dinner, with appetizer, rolls and chicken teriyaki or shrimp and vegetable tempura on an attractive laquered tray.
Matsuri
1105 S. Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21230
(410) 752-8561
Ra Sushi
Across the water in Harbor East, pumping music, happy hour prices and a powerful red-and-black color scheme brings in the twenty-somethings to Ra Sushi, part of a chain based in Arizona. Guests can order nigiri or maki sushi, hand roll or sashimi with ingredients, including albacore, yellowtail, halibut, fresh water eel, octopus, flying fish, spicy lobster and the pricy sea urchin. The "Tunacado" consists of seared ahi tuna dusted with Japanese rice cracker bits and black sesame seeds, served with fresh avocado and ponzu dipping sauce. "Hot Mess" consists of crispy rice balls topped with spicy king crab mix, baked with jalapeño and cilantro. The dinner menu includes apple teriyaki salmon and sushi and sashimi assortments. Less traditional combinations prevail here, including mango lobster roll and a king crab roll served with an Asian pesto sauce.
Ra Sushi
1390 Lancaster Street
Baltimore, MD 21231-3300
(410) 522-3200
Sushi Bar Geisha
Six blocks north of the Inner Harbor, the subterranean Sushi Bar Geisha finds a happy medium between Matsuri's classicly Japanese take on sushi and Ra Sushi's trendy party version. Brazilian bossa nova plays in a dark-paneled room as the waitstaff bring nigiri and sashimi preparations of tuna, yellowtail and salmon. Special rolls include the Hawaiian sunset, combining salmon, avocado and pineapple, and the Baltimore Sun, with flounder, avocado, crab meat and salmon rolls with cucumber. A friendly chef, trained in Japan, may be inclined to send a free roll guests way if they sit at the bar and chat. The restaurant provides vegetarian and vegan options, including mushroom rolls.
Sushi Bar Geisha
201 N. Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 2120
(410) 685-2099
About The Author
Rogue Parrish has written two travel books and edited at the "The Baltimore Sun," "The Washington Post" and the Alaska Newspapers company. She began writing professionally in 1975. Parrish holds a summa cum laude Bachelor of Science degree in journalism from the University of Maryland.
