Soobak

Love all the food here, everything is delicious & most of the dishes are just like mom used to make but with a flare of fusion! Can’t go wrong with anything you choose if you love Korean/​Japanese food!
UPDATE!
They announced they are closing to relocate, they need a bigger place. Hate to see them leave Davis Islands! Can’t wait to hear about their new location. I’ll be thinking about their wonderful food until then.

I love Soobak! They have quite literally ruined me for any other sushi restaurant. The only reason I give them 4 stars instead of 5 is that there have been several occasions when my family and I try to go there during their normal business hours and they are unexpectedly closed. If this happened only once or twice I could write it off, but they are typically pretty active on their Facebook page and when they have it listed that they are open – I expect to drive there and see an open establishment. From now on I will call ahead to make sure they are indeed open in order to avoid the disappointment I was faced with tonight.
That being said, the food is incredible! Their Volcano Roll is something that I find myself going through withdrawals over. The staff is always very polite and helpful and generally fun to talk to. It is a very tiny establishment – not a lot of seating and nothing really fancy. I’m not one for aesthetics anyway; the food is worth the drive and the money (which is still very reasonable). Normally if I had a hard time reaching a business by phone and their Facebook page said they were open and I had to find out the hard way that they are closed, I would be very turned off and probably not come back. But let this be a testament to the awesomeness of their food. I am disappointed, even saddened, when they are closed, but I will always try again and again and again because those Volcano Rolls with tiny scallops on top are worth it.
Please Soobak, try a little harder to keep us informed (via FB preferably) when you have to unexpectedly close. And please keep making awesome sushi!

This is my favorite Sushi Spot in Tampa Bay. I suggest the spicy tuna salad, Davis Island roll, Daikon Roll and Super Volcano Roll. If you are looking for a romantic night out there are no tables inside but you can get your take out and head out to the end of the island for al fresco dining. There are a few little tables outside that are nice to eat at in the cooler months. They have a few beers available and a selection for froyo for an after dinner sweet.

Hype!!! Update your time. They no longer opt at 4pm. Also, not sure what the hype is all about. Seriously.

Have yet to find a better sushi place in Tampa or even FL! They have an excellent selection. Prices are reasonable, location is intimate. They also serve beer and wine. Be careful they close for a week at a time around major holidays. Completely worth their odd hours.

This is the only place I have found in Tampa that has my beloved spicy tuna and eel don bowls! After eating at Rolls N Bowls (now closed) and Bento in Gainesville, I have always been on the search for these bowls. Although missing chirashi and shiitake mushrooms, this place is the closest in mimicking the flavors I crave. Other menu items I’ve tried, honey garlic bowls, bento boxes, sushi rolls, have all been delicious as well. Staff is very friendly. Only downside are the varying hours of operation. You need to call and make sure they are open as their schedules change frequently.

Why don’t more places like this exist? Excellent food that is always delicious and for a great price. Not only can you not beat the value for product but you have a great quick serve atmosphere to boot. go here now!

Good stuff!
Its a lil place with friendly people. Family owned and operated. Fresh ingredients and prepared with care!

Tiny little spot on Davis Island good for a quick bite of sushi. Don’t expect anything fancy or a nice sit down dinner.
The sushi varies in quality between good to ok for reasons I can’t explain. I think they have the potential to do something better that what they are doing over there but I will keep an eye on them & get a bite of sushi whenever in the area for now.

This narrow, yet cute Korean sushi and yogurt café is named after the Korean word for watermelon. Watermelon season in Korea conjures a specific hot season where people wear bright colors. So, the overall theme is a perfect setting for the Florida climate and cheerful color scheme.
When I say narrow, I mean narrow. Like Manhattan East Village narrow containing only a few tables. There is plenty of seating outdoors for those who like the heat and direct sunlight. The staff is efficient and super sweet, and the location on Davis Island is totally adorable.
Think of Soobak as more of a college-​priced take-​out place, and you won’t be as disappointed. Just don’t expect anything mind-​blowing. For those of you that are familiar with Bento Café chain, Soobak is very similar.
The sushi and tacos are decently priced, yet leave more to be desired. The flavors are anti-​robust and the meat offerings are not the best quality. I tasted at least one of every dish, hoping to find something that met my expectations; tacos, sushi, donburi, tuna salad, yogurt— Yet, I felt really bad after driving all the way from Bradenton to eat here on the advice of someone that supposedly knows Korean food and sushi. But, I learned my lesson about that.

Cute little place, stopped by while doing my daughter’s 12 loads of laundry before she came back to Chicago from UT. Good toppings, good fro yo coices

UPDATE (4÷20÷14): We decided to try Soobak again for the first time in 4 months. Still a little pricey, but such an improvement from winter. Staff was helpful and even helped me bring take out to my car. When we got home, all of our orders were fresh and delicious. Avocado salad, Una Don, Kara Kara and other rolls were deish, Maybe they got rid of the bad staff? We are regular fans again! 4 stars for us.
UPDATE (1÷18÷14): I changed this post from 5 to 3 stars. Is it me or did they get a little more pricey? The prices are the same as sit down places. Also, I think they hired staff so some of the food quality isn’t as good as they used to be. ²⁄₅ times we were not happy with our order. One time the lettuce in my salad was old and pink so I threw it out, another time my role fell apart, another time they put a just cooked role with my raw roles and by the time I got home my roles were slimy and not edible, another time the eel in our una don tasted bad. Another instance, the staff was rude when we tried to use our points card which from what I understand, they no longer have. Soobak, we used to love you and get take out from you twice a week, pls reexamine!
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After living in Honolulu, where Japanese food is second to Japan, and being from NY, we are definitely food snobs when it comes to Asian and Japanese food. We give Soobak 5 stars for a quality «fast-​food Japanese/​Asian fusion rolls joint». Asian-​fusion rolls like this has been non-​existent for us living in Tampa (and we’ve tried MANY places from expensive fine dining to dinky strip malls). There are places like these in Hawaii and Soobak is just as good.
We always get the Una Don, and some rolls. They use good Japanese mayo, and good masago. The avocado salad is also well worth the $ 5. Portion sizes are always very good and they are one of the few places in Tampa that make spicy tuna correctly. Most places taste like they use a combo of old tuna, cheap mayo and sriracha sauce — a big «ICK», but not Soobak. Their ingredients are always fresh and you can tell they paid attention to each dish and ingredient. And because they are always busy, you know they have good turnover for their sushi grade fish.
Mind you, it’s a small trendy take-​out place with 4 to 6 tables in front, so don’t expect a big fancy restaurant. One drawback is we wish they were open ²⁴⁄₇! We haven’t been disappointed so far and look forward to being Soobak regulars and trying more on their menu.

I like that they had a sampler of the different sakes they have. I’m not a big drinker, but if you are. they give you a lot of each! I feel like they gave about 1.5−2 shots per sake. Sushi was great and the restaurant setting was nice too! Its a bit pricey but if you only eat here once in a while then its ok to splurge!

I can’t say enough nice things about this little gem. Its on Davis Island so I go there after the dogpark to fill an fresh tasty sushi! Its something right out of Japan they have tons of these little places there.
The sushi is well done, fresh ingrediants, and the service is above par!
I will go again and again

Why 4 stars? Because it was some of the better sushi in Tampa.
— — —
Although I think I’ve long ago found the winner, I continue my journey to find Tampa (and America’s) best sushi. Soobak was very good, and possibly the 2^nd best in Tampa, but not quite the best. That being said, it was great and I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in checking the place off.
To reverse the order of the norm, let’s start off with dessert. The fried ice cream was out of this world. I wanted to try the FroYo badly, but I could not resist the fried ice cream after seeing some pictures and quick tips about it. I made a good choice there.
As for the sushi, we had the Mango Tango, Signature, Dragon and Awesome rolls. That is how the order that they were laid out on our plates and coincidentally, that was the ranking from our least to most favorite. All of them were good, but I would rank them 3 stars, 4 stars, 4 stars and 5 stars in that order.
I will go back to Soobak, it was very solid.

I went to Soobak with Dena P. and some other friends and I was impressed with how good the food there was. All the sushi rolls were delicious, including the eel handroll I tried. All sushi rolls were under $ 10 and offered at good prices. The galbi bento box has plenty of rice and the ginger salad was excellent — trust me it will be hard to find LA galbi (the one you see in the USA) for less than $ 10 anywhere (even for lunch). The pieces of galbi were savory, sweet, bone-​licking goodness.
We sampled the frozen yogurt and it was surprisingly delicious (I’m not a huge fan of frozen yogurt because it normally hurts my sensitive teeth) — the taro was flavorful and went down easy. The place is small, but they have a big enough table for lunch with a few friends. Location-​wise it’s close to Downtown and South Tampa — easily accessible from a bridge in the middle of the two. Parking is in the street — you might not be able to park in front, but there are plenty of public parking spots in the area.
Overall, this place has plenty of different Asian dishes at affordable prices and with great tastes so I will be back for many more trips to this Asian spot on Davis Island. Make sure you sign up for a rewards card!
Fun fact: Soobak means watermelon in Korean.

GASP! I’m surprised I never wrote a review for soobak, esp when my photos have been up here for awhile.
I really like this place a lot! I wish it was not so far and deep in downtown Tampa but I don’t mind it. The food is pretty good here and the prices are reasonable. They have sushi, japanese and korean bentos and also frozen yogurt!
I think if their location was somewhere not’s so hidden and by USF or out in the open tons of students would love to come by. It reminds me of a smaller version of Bento Café.

I went here for late lunch/​early dinner while I was traveling in Florida. As a New Yorker who has enjoyed Japanese cuisine and all kinds of crazy dessert in NYC, I didn’t expect anything special. However this little place blew me away.
The frozen yogurt was very good. Although it seemed it was melting a little faster than Pinkberry or Red Mango but the taste was actually better!
And their teriyaki and sushi was amazing! I was trying to find reasons why the chef is working in this small island. He should be in NYC or San Francisco. As a sushi maniac I truly enjoyed the food there. The space is also very clean and the staff extremely friendly and great about recommending menu items.
When I visit Tampa next time, I’ll definitely come here again.

We went there for yogurt. I like that the place isn’t a chain. On the day we went, the tart plain yogurt was out, but their tart raspberry was a nice alternative. They had these awesome mango boba as toppings.
No, the place isn’t «cool» like Pinkberry — really, Pinkberry was «in» back when «The Hills» was still cool. But it works, it’s local, and it’s not a big chain. There’s something to be said about that.

Self serve froyo and a small kitchen for sushi and such. They have good daily specials, for example today was Ladies Night– buy one get one dine-​in from 5−7pm. Too bad I went in alone :(
The topping selection is minimal in comparison to bigger competitors, but i have to appreciate their independent charm.
They only get three stars because I only went in for froyo and as far as I’m concerned, they can’t compete with places like Yogurtology or Pinkberry. However, I did enjoy my yogurt and I would return if I were in the area.