KELP Sushi Joint

OMG YUM. my new favorite sushi place in Tampa! A few of the girls recommended this place for lunch from my office. So I gave in and ordered delivery. I ordered a Florida roll and Mexican roll for the lunch special. And both rolls were delicious! Super fresh and delivery came quick ! I would definitely order again :) yum yum

First time here for lunch and fantastic! Lunch special options great and the Sashimi Platter the best I have ever had!!! Only downside is parking but definitely a repeat!

Fresh sushi (I love their ikura), local ingredients (when possible), and unique culinary fusions keep me coming back!

Update — new menu items, delivery was instantaneous, perfect sushi
Update — delivery order on November 17^th was perfect (Florida roll, Mexican roll, soup and salad, add salmon). Very good deal.
This is a sushi restaurant in South Tampa that has recently undergone a huge upgrade. They seem to offer faster delivery than they once did, with much more options to choose from.
It’s good having a sushi place that knows what it is doing, and one that can deliver to me all the way on Davis Island. The sushi could be tweaked but what they give you is perfect.

Lovely little sushi bar. Maybe 6 tables and a small sushi bar. Not many people eating inside but the place had a revolving door for take outs! The sashimi platter was delicious. Will definitely be back.

The food is always fresh, delicious and delivered with a smile!
Keep up the good cooking

The food is absolutely amazing! Service is great, the prices are very reasonable, and they have a really awesome lunch special! I eat here multiple times a month! Also they deliver!!!

Kelp has become my go to sushi place for dine in, take out and delivery. They are always very helpful with my special requests. The food is always fresh and delicious. A++

I was in South Tampa and this sushi place was recommended to me. It was busy for lunch but worth the extra wait. They have a nice menu with a variety of rolls and apps. I will be making Kelp a stop the next time I’m in South Tampa.

This is an excellent sushi joint in the South Tampa area. So far I’ve been there 2 times and enjoyed it very much. My favorite roll is the ocean roll, it is also the most expensive roll on the menu at $ 19. It has crab, spicy tuna, tempura shrimp and sesame seeds roll, topped with torched lobster, avocado and spicy eel sauce. YUM! You wont be disappointed. The different flavors just come together so nicely. I’ve also had the baked salmon roll which was pile high with salmon. I was hesitant about ordering a tempura roll because in the past they’ve been overly oil however, that was not the case here.
I also highly recommend the seaweed salad. This was my first time trying seaweed salad and I thought it was pretty delicious.

Great place for Sushi in South Tampa.
I haven’t had all of the rolls but what I’ve had is really good. Also, their Calamari Salad is the best.
The structure is modern and I like the music too.

I started eating here when they first opened. I was really surprised how good it was. My favorites were the calamari salad and the bronze pebble.
AND THEN God knows what happened but a few months ago the food started tasting like crap. The calamari salad is now okay and the bronze pebble now has no flavor.
ON TOP OF THAT the delivery drivers have no sense of direction. My building has a huge sign on it and is only 12 minutes from the restaurant. Why does it take over an hour to find me?
BUT THATS NOT IT, I got charged three times for one order, which I’m sure was the computers fault. But then the cashier could care less when I called about the problem and could not spell westshore. How dumb are you? After I talked to a manager who said she will talk to the general manager, they still didn’t do anything about. After two days, I went into the restaurant and I finally got my money back. Why wasn’t it a priority? You’re holding my money!
MY POINT IS that I will NEVER eat here again. It is the last time I’ll eat somewhere besides koto or soho sushi. They need to get there shit together and I’m not going sit and shift in it until they figure it out.

I’ve been once and was pretty disappointed with the sushi… It just wasn’t that great, especially for the price. The flavors were a little off… I’m not sure exactly how to describe it. The place was completely empty. I only went because I had a coupon and prob won’t be back.

so, KELP just keeps getting better. In the the last year and a half not only did they add an adorable outside area where you are seated under globe string lights but more importantly the menu got a major upgrade.
1) Theres more vegetarian rolls on the menu than any other sushi place Ive ever been to. EVER. & they’re really really good! like REALLY great!
2) They now have BOWLS, for kids and adults
3) The previous omg they give you brown rice without an upcharge got even better!
Here are the options: Brown rice — no extra charge, Rice PAPER– no extra charge, Cucumber wrap ($ 2), Soy paper ($ 1.50), make your roll Tempura style ($ 1)
4) alcohol & FRIED ICE CREAM.
** Stil have the amazing lunch Special!!! **

Sushi was Not worth the price! Few problems with this place during this visit:
1) overpriced everything
2) our rolls came out and looked like trash. I could have rolled the sushi better. scratch that a 5 year old would have done better or cared more about what the sushi looked like
3) my spicy tuna cucumber roll had pieces of bacon in it, which was not listed on the menu ingredients. Horrible flavors together. I love bacon but not with my spicy tuna and I can’t imagine someone who can’t eat meat would react.
4) my earth roll… Looks good on the menu and was the only roll that looked any thing like a specialty roll — tasted like trash. I love my rolls with volcano toppings and usually eat all the toppings… This time I left them on the plate. And not to mention $ 16 for that crap.
Not coming back. If you want good sushi do yourself and wallet a favor and go to Soho or Zen sushi

Oh Kelp!
I am a reformed Kelp addict, unfortunately due to them changing their menu :(. Three months ago this would be a five star recommendation but now everything is just a little to ‘interesting’ versus being the best sushi you’ve ever had. The venue itself is super cute and akin to spots in NYC or LA. I could definitely see this being a nice choice for a low key date night. Staff is very friendly and hip. I love that they use quality sustainable ingrediates. It’s on the pricey side, two rolls and a green tea (and FYI skip the green tea… tasted like algae) was $ 30, but they do have a lunch special which gives you a lot of bang for your buck.

Kelp sushi is definitely different than your average sushi restaurant. More of a fast paced dining experience, with a huge takeout and delivery buisiness. They have a wonderful lunch special everyday consisting of a choice of two rolls from a limited menu (think spicy tuna, tampa roll, etc) and it comes with ginger salad AND miso soup for 12 bucks. It’s definitely a hell of a deal, considering how expensive sushi can be. When I went I got to try one of the new chef specials, new style nigiri. Tuna and white fish lightly seared on rice, with a ginger/​garlic mix, tataki sauce, and green onion on top. Melt in your mouth amazing! So much flavor. I highly recommend kelp for the great food, service, and it’s definitely appreciated that they use only sustainable seafood.

I felt like doing some food exploring today so I «dragged» a friend with me to Kelp for lunch. We had never been there before but had heard good things. And if you read my reviews you know that I love to try new places.
We had no problems finding it. It is in a plaza on Bay to Bay. It is the same plaza that Feet First (running store), Pilot Bank, Massage Studio, Starbucks, Soleil Tanning, and Taco Fusion are all in.
When we arrived we were able to park right up front. They have some spots reserved just for Kelp customers. We were also pretty happy to see the outdoor seating because it was a gorgeous day out. A couple actually had their puppy with them at their table outside :) Note that there is also indoor seating. It’s a small place and I’m not sure how busy they get but between the indoor and outdoor seating, you should be good.
Their lunch options are great. For $ 12 you get 2 full rolls, a miso soup and a ginger salad. I went with that option. My friend got 2 rolls (see my pictures) and she really enjoyed them both. And their lunch, all the way until 4pm!
Service was very nice. Everyone was very friendly. They were attentive and the service was nice and fast.
Basically, I’ll be back for more :)

I wish I could rate this place higher:
— watermelon drink: only $ 1.35, freshly blended with a bit of ice. Perfect!
— edamame salad: fresh ingredients, but next to no seasoning which made it taste blend. Server lady asked how it was and was very receptive to the feedback, but the other person said to be the manager was not. Disappointing.
— purple cloud: interesting combo of salmon and chicken tempura. Loved red and green onions. Perfect!
— fire tornado: the topping was way too saucy and the whole thing ended up swimming in the sauce. It was out of balance and too rich. Again, server lady was appreciative of feedback but the manager was not, which is a shame.
They are a new local business and we appreciated the clean, modern décor, but I’m not sure if I’d readily want to go back. I hope they improve and do well.

Kelp Sushi Joint was ok, but there are better sushi options in Tampa.
We were lured here because the restaurant offers BYOB (bring your own bottle) and they do not charge a corkage fee. Wine glasses and cork screws are provided by Kelp.
While I enjoyed the modern décor and appreciated the purse hooks underneath the tables for the ladies I just wasn’t a fan of the menu. Most of the rolls were pretty simple (California, Spicy Tuna, Mexican). If I was a timid eater trying out sushi for the first time these rolls may have appealed to me, but in my opinion the rolls were boring. The rolls that were more intricate contained cooked fish, imitation «krab» or fried chicken. None of these ingredients appeal to me.
The sashimi and nigiri options are almost non-​existent which raises a huge red flag. My husband could not believe there were no sashimi platters on the menu. When he asked the waitress if the chef could prepare one for us they agreed, but the platter he created only contained tuna, salmon, and rainbow trout. Not much of a variety!
While everything tasted fine, nothing «wowed» us. We will probably not return, but this is a good spot for people that like very simple or cooked sushi rolls.