Razorback's Raw Bar & Grill is something of a rarity. It turns out food that tastes as good as or better than the menu describes it. It also looks as stylish as the photos in some glossy culinary magazine and isn't overpriced.
Yup, you'll think you died and went to hog heaven at this Canton eatery, and not just for those reasons. Pigs are everywhere at Razorback's, where ribs are the house specialty and the house lager, brewed by Clipper City, is called the Razorback Hogwash. For the porcine-impaired, a razorback is a wild hog, depicted in a cartoon mural here lounging with a martini on a hammock surrounded by fish bones.
A trio of partners opened Razorback's in late October: Tony Campagna, owner of the Charred Rib in Timonium; Frank Tepetillo, who operates a wholesale fish company in Dundalk; and chef Sean Cavanaugh.
There is nothing fancy about this restaurant, although its arched, lemon-colored walls, brick columns and exposed-wood ceiling are attractive enough. Likewise, service is casual, delivered by a friendly, helpful staff. What's fancy is the food, which tastes sophisticated even when it's a down-home plate of ribs or just a spruced-up oyster sandwich.
We tried the South in Your Mouth babybacks, a whole rack of ribs bathed in a Kentucky bourbon barbecue sauce that tasted less like a swig of Jack Daniel's and more like sweet molasses. The ribs were tender and lean, given a smoky turn on the grill, and nestled next to a pile of skinny skin-on fries and a cup of homemade slaw.
There are other rib versions, with traditional, Caribbean and Asian sauces. Eclectic influences turn up elsewhere on the menu, too. The lemon chive mojo, for instance, gives a cedar-planked salmon a citrusy Cuban flavor. The succulently moist fish is served with a mixture of cumin-scented black beans and rice, a pool of rich butternut squash puree and a tumbleweed of pure-white daikon stripped into vegetable threads.
Those threads are somewhat of a trademark here. A simple house salad for $3.95 is topped with a beehive of beet and carrot threads, a few roasted plum tomatoes and a choice of homemade dressings, like roasted garlic and basil.
The genius of Razorback's is in the details: The show-stopping colossal shrimp used for the fabulous appetizer of pancetta-wrapped mango barbecue shrimp. The sea salt on the fries, and in our tabletop salt grinder. The refined tartar sauce for an updated BLT with plump, breaded fried oysters.
Even the Mexican sushi, tortilla rolls of chicken and cheese that our waitress suggested we try, were elevated past standard bar fare. They tasted spicy and luscious -- garnished with dollops of sour cream and fresh salsa, and frizzled strips of crunchy fried tortillas.
Desserts are given the same attention. We especially liked the potent mint flavor of a peppermint cream pie on a chocolate crust, and the way chunks of banana melted into a moist chocolate bread pudding, served warm in a goblet like an ice cream sundae.
The only thing we tried that wasn't gussied up was a plate from the raw bar. The chef knew best there, too. It's hard to improve on the briny, fresh taste of plump oysters and clams at their peak.
Razorback's Raw Bar and Grill
2903 O'Donnell St.
410-675-1880
Hours: Open daily for lunch and dinner
Credit cards: All major cards
Prices: Appetizers, $5.95-$9.95; entrees, $7.95-$18.95
Food: ***1/2
Service: ***
Atmosphere: **1/2
Ratings system: Outstanding: ****; Good ***; Fair or uneven **; Poor *
Pub Date: 03/04/99