Samurai Blue Sushi & Sake Bar

Just an ok Sushi place. Was there for lunch and nothing memorable.

I think if you provide a menu to somebody at certain time, make sure the menu is according to the time. They provided a menu where it shows a Bento box of a Shrimp Tempura at $ 11.50. By the time I got the check turns out the Shrimp Tempura was 19.00, and the food wasn’t even worth it. When I asked for and explanation the waitress and the hostess told me the Bento Box menu is a lunch menu. First and last time I go there.

The sushi is fantastic! I highly recommend the crispy spicy tuna roll. Perfect blend of flavors, with a touch of sweetness from the pan-​fried rice cake.
However, the service is consistently poor. Make sure you have over an hour for lunch, because it will take an obscenely long time to be greeted, to be served, to be billed, and to have your check and card returned to you. One particular server is a middle-​aged thin man who has a really sassy attitude. They should drop him if they haven’t by now.

The presentation of the food is beautiful and it tastes delicious. I can be a little too crowded and the tables are a little too close for my comfort but if you don’t go on the weekend, it shouldn’t be too bad.

We’ve been coming here for years, and this place is a very cool spot. The service is always good, the sushi is Great!

One of my favorite sushi places in town. Samurai Blue ha been around for several years and has never fallen short of hitting the mark both in flavor and in service. They have a variety of fresh selections as well as carefully thought out specials. It’s right in Centro de Ybor, upstairs across from the Muvico.

I loved the décor and the sushi was just as great! I believe I had the Tuna Summer of Love Roll and it was DELICIOUS. I really can’t wait to go back to Tampa, just to eat here. Some of the best sushi I’ve ever had. So fresh and good! It’s in a great part of town too, bars and other shops nearby. It was yummy and I’m craving it as I write this review. So sad that it’s so far way =(

I recently was in the area and thought based on the reviews I give it a try.
I was very pleased with the squid salad it was a very generous portion and very tasty. I had a miso soup which was also very tasteful. As far as my sushi selection goes I had the Tampa roll which was great as well but not the best I have had compared to a few other places but it wasn’t bad.
The ambience is very impressive I really liked the architecture of the building and interior of the restaurant. I did have a harder time finding it since I didn’t realize it was up the stairs on the 2^nd floor but it’s definitely worth a visit if you are in ybor city. The waitress was super friendly

Pretty good food and drinks. The lemon sakatini was great! Service was a bit slow, but friendly for a Wednesday night. Wanted something with scallop and the waitress was able to get a scallop hand roll made even though it wasn’t on the menu.

My fiancé and I love this place as our new sushi go-​to spot! We order 2 – 4 appetizers and then several different rolls so we can try everything.
For the apps, our favorites are: the crab rangoon (crunchy outside, creamy inside), the dumplings (melt in your mouth with a delicious dipping sauce), the hamachi (crispy, tender and delicious) and the tuni poke (spicy and good quality, dark red tuna).
For the sushi rolls– we love the lobster roll and the lasagna roll! They are pretty big and filling but the flavors and textures are great.
The prices are also extremely reasonable and the service is always great. The waiters/​waitresses are knowledgable of the menu and are great at recommending items to try.
My only complaint is that it can get pretty loud in there. Every time we have been there, there has been a large party that is seated right in the middle of the restaurant. They take up so much space and have always been loud and obnoxious and basically commandeer the whole restaurant. Personally, I don’t think the restaurant is set up appropriately to hold large parties because they interfere with the comfort and enjoyment of the other guests. There is not a seat that isn’t affected by them because they are always seated right in the middle.
However, as annoying as they are, they’re not bad enough to keep us away because the food is just too damn good!

Samurai Blue definitely my favorite sushi spot in the Tampa area. There aren’t many places in the area where I order nigiri or sashimi in the Tampa area but the quality fish is excellent. They also have amazing specialty rolls that are very creative.

Was a little hard to find but well worth the search. There was several large parties but the wait for the bar was short.
The sushi was very good. The edamame was fresh and crunchy and I definitely recommend the Osaka haku.
Service was fast and courteous. Would recommend this gem for anyone in the area.

This place has a great location! The food is very good and the price is right.
We ordered 5 rolls and the crab rangoons. We ate about half of what we ordered, but wanted a mix of items to try so we took the rest to go. Every roll was delicious. The hamachi roll was unique and savory, the Hawaiian roll wasn’t too sweet. Every bite was good. I love crab rangoons and they are great here as well.
There are 2 large bars — 1 sushi bar and 1 drink bar, lots of table seating and booths. I’m a booth person, so I’m glad they have a lot of them bc they fill up quickly. The staff was very friendly here.

— Short Synopsis —
The special rolls on the sushi menu are amazing! The Tempura Fried Cheesecake and the Blue Moon Crab Roll are my favorite food items. Food presentation is also nice. The décor and location also adds a nice vibe to the place.
— Summary —
If you are coming here, the entrance looks more like a side or back door to somewhere and is located on the 2^nd floor of the plaza. I actually walked past it thinking the main entrance was somewhere else.
Once I sat down and had a chance to look around, I noticed the extremely high ceiling and the open interior design. It made for a spacious dining experience and I do enjoy the brick layout of this area.
For appetizers/​starters, I have had the seaweed salad and crab rangoons. I enjoyed the seaweed salad they had. It even came in a martini glass. You had to worry about the ingredients falling out though, so we put it on a plate for easier sharing. I also got the crab rangoons and thought those were delicious! The crunch of the wonton skin and taste of the crab filling make a nice combination.
For rolls, we ordered a few special rolls (kamikaze, tempura, combustion, and blue moon) and they were all amazing. My favorite was the Blue Moon Roll. It was just something about the mixture of taste and texture that made it impossible to just eat one cut. I would definitely recommend that roll at least. The others were good, but kamikaze was probably my least favorite among them.
My group was getting full after the rolls, but we ordered the tempura cheesecake that comes with vanilla ice cream and fruit. I am glad we did. As cheesecake is mainly just one smooth texture, the fried, crispy tempura skin provided a nice opposing texture to the cheesecake. The fruit and vanilla just added more delicious flavors to the amazing (sweet) taste bud party.
Sushi usually is a bit pricey, but Samurai Blue is definitely worth it and I look forward taking friends and family to here!

It is pretty expensive, and sometimes there is a long wait, but this is my favorite sushi restaurant in the Bay Area. The sushi is always fresh & delicious, with a beautiful presentation. We always order Crab Rangoon, can’t start our meal there without them.
The atmosphere is extravagant, with extremely high ceilings, and beautiful décor. It’s in a great location with nearby shopping, theatre, and a bunch of nightlife activities.
I highly recommend this place for a birthday, anniversary, or other celebration.

After living in Hawaii for 6 years, my standard for sushi has been raised drastically. Samurai Blue was not only able to meet my unreasonably high sushi standard, but even exceeded it.
The menu is creative, and the flavors they’re putting together, blend excellently together. I’ve been here several times, and tried several different items off of their menu, and have yet to try something I didn’t like. The chefs do an excellent job of putting together flavorful dishes with perfect presentation.
Because this is a popular place, it can get busy. Be prepared to wait during peak periods. But, trust me the wait is worth it! This is one of the best, if not the best sushi restaurant in the Bay Area!
Even though I try something new every time I come here, I always order the crab rangoon. They are awesome!

Why only three stars? Because service was TERRIBLE! I’m not normally a «Waah! Service was bad!» reviewer but it was just… terrible. I don’t know how long it’s been since I had service that bad. We barely saw our waitress, so we couldn’t even flag her down – and they weren’t particularly busy on this Thursday night. I don’t know, maybe she’s terrified of children (we brought a 6 year old) but we waited and WAITED… and then we waited some more. The worst was the over 20 minutes we had to wait between finishing eating and being able to order dessert. And the 15 after dessert to get our check. I don’t mind waiting for food, but this was inexcusable.
If service hadn’t been so bad, I probably would have rated this place 5 stars. The atmosphere is super Ybor funky and inviting. Like I said, we brought a 6 year old and it was comfortable with him at 7:30, but was getting into hairy territory when we finally left about 9:30…did I mention all the waiting? I adored the high ceilings, exposed brick, and huge sushi bar – even if the tables were crammed in. Get a booth!
We had the spontaneous combustion roll, as Unilocal is going wild over it, and it was fabulous – but smaller than we expected. We also shared the Tampa (one of the best I’ve had with freshness) and the Love roll, also awesome. Rounded out the meal with a yummy lychee-​tini and awesome tempura cheesecake. There were absolutely no complaints about the food. But the service. Just… no. I’m all for leisurely (and was with friends) but this was just painful waiting – with a child.

Three words: spontaneous combustion roll!

I was really impressed with the look of this restaurant with its exposed pipes and high wooden ceiling. Luckily we got a booth by the wall (which I would request again if going back) rather than a table in the middle as the restaurant was really busy and the tables were packed in tight.
We started out with crab rangoon which is a favorite of mine in any restaurant. It came with a delicious sweet chilli dip and while the wontons were crispy and full of cream cheese, there was little sign of crab but I find that’s often the case with this appetizer wherever you go. Nonetheless it sure was tasty.
Following that we had a bunch of different sushi plates to share, the favorite being the soft shell crab rolls. My friends had the crispy spicy tuna which looked delicious too as well as a large plate of good looking chicken fried rice. Every piece tasted great so I really don’t think you can go wrong but I was disappointed that they were out of Uni (sea Urchin).
Good selection of beer and wine and quite good service. Coupled with the great sushi all round and great venue/​location means this was the best meal we had on our short vacation to Tampa.

We ordered several different rolls, the crab ranggon to start and there was a fried rice mixed in with all the sushi.
the soft shell crab roll was my absolute favorite! i’m not a big sushi person and i though this was amazing. the shrimp tempura did not disappoint as well. Ther est of my party loved their more adventurous sushi rolls and the crab rangoon was ok, not much crab to it.