Ra Sushi Bar Restaurant in Pembroke Pines, Florida

My niece Gisele told us about Ra Sushi Bar Restaurant.
She works as a server at this new Sushi eatery in Pembroke Pines, Florida.
Ra is a chain Sushi restaurant from San Diego California and it is getting rave reviews as it makes its way to the east coast.
Locations in Dan Diego, Phoenix, and Houston have all received excellent reviews.
Ra in Pembroke Pines, Florida is well on its way to earning the same degree of recognition locally.
Open barely two months, the place is already popular in the evenings and weekends. It has a Sushi bar and a huge dining area inside and a large seating area outside with very nice outdoor furniture.
We were there last week for lunch with my family and we were delighted by the quality of the raw fish.

We started with cocktails: a RA Pleasure and a Moanin' Mango.
I have to admit that my drink selection was based more on the name of the drink than the ingredients. (Yes I had the Moanin' one) The Ra Pleasure was made with Vodka, melon, black raspberry, sake and fruit juices on ice. The Moanin' Mango was made up of a blend of Dutch vodka and Japanese sake, mixed with Monin spicy Mango syrup and a splash of 7-up and soda.
After one Moanin' Mango, I switched to the more delicious Ra Pleasure.
My sister and her husband had a glass of Beringer White Zinfandel and a Bud Light respectively.

Here are some of the dishes we shared:

Shrimp Gyoza - Steamed Asian shrimp potstickers served with snow peas ans a spicy Ponzu sauce. (Very Good)

Blue Claw Crab Cakes - Served with a ginger mayo and daikon sprout sundmono. (Very Good)

Mango Ceviche - Lobster, scallop, shrimp and mango salsa ceviche served over fresh endive and avocado finished with limes, cherry tomatoes and sauteed pine nuts and crushed cashew nuts.
(Fair. While the quality of the fish was very good, the new fangled mango salsa detracted from the delicious lime taste of conventional ceviche. Please give us purists the real thing. CEVICHE)

Kiwi Scallop Sashimi - Sliced Scallops and Kiwi atop a mango sauce with sauteed pine and cashew nuts, drizzled with kiwi, wasabi and mango sauce. (Good but the scallops were sliced too thin to contribute to the flavor of each designed morsel)

Coconut Shrimp Tempura - Served with a pineapple dipping sauce. (My sister and her husband shared this appetizer and it was reportedly very good)

Tunacado - Seared Ahi tuna dusted with Japanese rice crackers and black sesame seeds, served over fresh avocado with a creamy ponzu dipping sauce. (Very Good - My niece ordered this and I had a taste)

Crispy Soft Shell Crab - Dredged in seasoned Panko flour served with a ponzu garlic dipping sauce. (Poor - The sauce was good but the Panko flour coating was burned and therefore the crabs were not very tasty)

Chili Ponzu Yellow tail - Thinly sliced yellow tail with radish, sauteed pine and cashew nuts and Kochjan chili Ponzu. (Excellent)

Sashimi Assortment - Tuna, TORO, Yellow tail, Octopus and Whitefish (Excellent - we substituted the Salmon with TORO - the delicious fatty underbelly of the tuna. The Octopus was good but it is really not very good raw since it tends to be rubbery and tough when uncooked.)

Chicken Yakisoba - Stir fried Asian vegetables tossed with Yakisoba Noodles. ( My sister said that this was very good)

Yazu Halibut - Seared Halibut braised in a creamy Yuzu broth served with spicy crispy rice, fresh shitake mushrooms and spinach. (My brother-in-law Fernando had this and he said it was very good)

Crunchy Shrimp Tempura - Lightly battered shrimp served with Tempura dipping sauce. ( My niece had this and she said it was very good)

Seared Ahi Tuna - Miso marinated Ahi Tuna served rare with sauteed cherry tomatoes, shitake mushrooms and asparagus, served on a bed of Wasabi mashed potatoes and finished with Shiso butter. ( Very Good, but Ken and I ordered on of these each, and it was a very large portion. By this time we were becoming full so it was less well received. We should have shared one order.

Coconut Creme Brulee - My niece was the only one left with room for desert and she said it was excellent.

The service was very pleasant and prompt; the restaurant was very clean, airy and well appointed, although it was a little dark to read the menu; and the food over all was very good and the raw fish was excellent.
We give Ra Sushi Bar Restaurant......................................3.75-Forks