Orange County Register

I’m an unabashed Japanese food snob who typically avoids many of the trendy “rock ‘n’ roll sushi”-style places that pop up here. My idea of good sushi is the kind served up at places like Koi in Seal Beach, Murasaki in Santa Ana, and Ayame in Irvine.

So you can imagine my reaction when the Scottsdale-based chain RA Sushi opened at the District in Tustin last fall, and the publicity folks bombarded me with press releases to come try their “Signature Sushi” offerings like the “Viva Las Vegas Roll” and cocktails named “Me Luv U Long Time” and “Screaming Ninja.”

Uh, thanks - but no thanks, I said. My “sushi scout” friends confirmed my fears when they checked RA out.

But this week, I actually made it to RA, enticed by an invitation to a “Sake 101″ event for the press. I went as an unofficial “quality enforcer,” curious about what information RA would offer about this other misunderstood and misrepresented part of Japanese culture.

Though I’m not an expert, I probably have more knowledge of and experience with sake than the average Southern Californian. My dad, who is from Nagoya, is a true Japanese food and drink aficionado who regularly gets premium sake shipped here as gifts from our friends and family in Japan. So I’ve been fortunate to learn from Dad and taste different sakes over the years, and on one of my many trips to Japan, I visited a sake distillery.

I’m happy to report that the RA staff passed my purist test for sake information. The managers were well schooled on Japanese food and drink. The food presented, while not the best I can recommend, was decent, too.

John Han, RA Tustin’s general manager, actually won me over from the start by pulling a little joke on us.

He welcomed the group of 10 gathered at a table on the lovely patio, then poured hot sake (!) for each of us. I cringed, and Gluttonista comrade Kat looked at me with laughing eyes, because she’s heard me repeatedly warn friends: “Don’t drink sake hot; if it’s served hot, that means it’s bad quality, heated to mask the taste.”

Just as I was thinking my concerns about RA were justified, Han proposed we toast “to never drinking hot sake again” and echoed my admonishment about bad heated sake.

Yes! I was pleasantly surprised and relieved. The rest of the event flowed as smoothly as the quality sakes and information Han and Regional Manager Matt Baumeyer served up.

They accurately explained:

• That sake is brewed like beer, with rice steam-cooked, then mixed with yeast and fermented, filtered and blended.
• How the complicated milling of rice kernels (in Japan they call it “polishing”) contributes to the quality of sake. (The more of the rice milled away, the higher the grade; premium Daiginjyo sake means 50% of the rice has been polished away, while most average sakes have 30% milled away.)
• How, like wine, there are varying levels of dryness and sweetness in sake, and like wine, sake is best served chilled - and consumed soon after opening - to enjoy the flavors and characteristics.

Of the 4 good sakes they served, I most enjoyed “Pure” by Kizakura ($9 for 300ml bottle), a smooth, crisp, slightly fruity filtered sake, and the very dry, full but clean-tasting Hananomai Katana ($8.50 for 180 ml bottle).

While the bar serves up some distasteful sake cocktails, RA’s regular sake list itself is quite good, with labels like Otokoyama, a reliably nice dry sake from Hokkaido in northern Japan ($54 for 720ml bottle), and several other offerings by Kizakura, a brand I wasn’t familiar with until this tasting. I’ll have to try the Kizakura Daiginjyo sometime.

Most of the food served with each sake was tasty, but as a sushi purist, I wasn’t that impressed with the fusion efforts. The “Tunacado,” seared ahi sashimi served with delicate rice cracker sprinkles, avocado and creamy ponzu sauce ($10.50 for a plate), was lovely. But I had no desire to try the “pineapple cheese wonton” ($7) on the same first-course plate.

And I enjoyed the pieces of spicy lobster roll (lobster, jalapeno, avocado and cucumber wrapped in soy paper, $9) and Zonie roll (spicy salmon, cucumber, cilantro and jalapeno topped with avocado, $9) served on the second course plate. But the Viva Las Vegas Roll ($12.25), a RA specialty and crowd favorite, was obnoxious in its presentation and ingredients (in the foreground below: a roll with fake crab and cream cheese in the middle, tempura fried and topped with spicy tuna, crab mix, unagi sauce and spinach flakes):

I actually took a bite to give it try, and almost spit it out.

Regional manager Matt saw me grimace, I think. He quickly (and very generously) had the waitress bring the table a plate of the Chili Ponzu Yellowtail sashimi ($12.50), featuring buttery slices of fish with a nice dipping sauce that was a distracting red color (like awful sweet & sour sauce) but tasted lightly sweet and spicy - just right:

While I probably won’t frequent Ra myself, I can soundly recommend this Tustin restaurant as a reasonably priced, quality place for Japanese-food novices to try different tastes. Trust John Han and ask for his recommendations.

RA Tustin

2401 Park Ave., Tustin (In the District shopping-dining megaplex)

714-566-1700

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