Samurai Blue Sushi & Sake Bar

Awesome place! Very trendy and classy. High vaulted ceilings in a remodeled historic Ybor building. Right in the middle of Ybor City. MAKE SURE you go upstairs to find it. Came here for dinner on a Thursday night and hardly anyone there. Atmosphere super relaxed. Our waitress gave us a 5 star restaurant service! Hamachi options available which is rare for a sushi spot on top of that it extremely fresh! The entire experience was exceptional! Thank you!

BEST SUSHI IN TAMPA. This hidden gem is criminally underrated. As a self-proclaimed sushi snob, I have high standards—freshness, flavor balance, and presentation are non-negotiable. This place delivers every time. The atmosphere is inviting, the food is perfection, and the overall dining experience is easily a 10/10. Bonus: They have a sushi bar where you can watch the chefs work their magic right in front of you.

I recently had the pleasure of dining at this sushi restaurant, and let me tell you, it was a truly delightful experience from start to finish. First off, I have to give a shoutout to the staff – they were absolutely fantastic. Not only were they quick to tend to our table, but they were also incredibly knowledgeable and helpful with their suggestions. It's always a plus when the staff can enhance your dining experience with their expertise. One of the highlights of this restaurant is the sushi bar. Sitting there, watching the skilled chefs work their magic, added an extra layer of enjoyment to the meal. It's always fun to see your food being prepared right in front of you. And speaking of the food, the sushi options here are out of this world. From classic rolls to creative specials, there's something to please every palate. Each bite was a burst of flavor and freshness that left me craving more. But it's not just about the sushi – the drink options are equally impressive. The beautiful bar adds to the aesthetic of the restaurant, and the selection of drinks is sure to satisfy even the most discerning of tastes. Overall, the vibe and aesthetic of this place are spot on. It's the perfect combination of cozy and chic, making it a great spot for date night or catching up with friends. In summary, if you're a sushi lover looking for a top-notch dining experience, look no further than this restaurant. With its stellar service, amazing sushi options, and beautiful atmosphere, it's sure to become a favorite spot in no time.

Located upstairs in the center of Ybor's Centro. Great friendly staff and absolutely awesome Sushi! Everything was so fresh and delicious. Only "complaint" which its honestly no big deal but we asked if the Chef would just create us whatever he wanted and we were told they don't do that. Fairly decent amount of seating, but if you like sushi you are going to love Samurai Blue. Side note: Awesome selection of Sake!

Wow. They have some of the freshest tuna that I’ve ever had besides being in Japan. The quality of the fish is amazing and the rolls are perfect size with the perfect proportions. Also their housemaid ginger dressing is perfectly balanced, and by no means average .. Will definetly Come back here.

The food was great and the drinks were even better, the service was great as well. Would recommend the spicy tuna roll and the geisha roll

Had an absolutely delicious dinner with friends here tonight. The sushi all tasted very fresh, and was played beautifully. For as fancy as everything looked the prices are very reasonable with most specialty rolls being between $12-$15. I also had miso soup which was an average sized portion and very good as well! I ordered the red devil roll, volcano roll, and the osake hako-sushi. I tried a piece of my friends yin yang roll and it was superb. Highly recommend.

Let me start by saying the food and atmosphere were both quite nice. However we had absolutely abhorrent service from Andrea W. Possibly the worst I've ever experienced. She never gave us all of our drinks, and the ones we did recieve weren't correct. She proceeded to get our food orders wrong, then stated we were making false claims about what we ordered. While this is going on she spills a drink all over my mother's phone and clothes. She says "oh I'll go get you some napkins." She never returned with anything to clean up the spill. Meanwhile my mother's phone was having problems from being covered in the spilled drink. Manager came by later to help with our orders being incorrect only to tell us that the incorrect food they had given us had to be taken back even though THEY had put them in to go boxes and tied them up for us to take. They left us with the choice of no food, or paying double for the wrong food we hadn't ordered. A shame really because the food is good. If only the management and servers weren't a bunch of clowns. I would give them a 0/5 if I could. Never going to visit again. Have pictures of some of the leftover food I guess.

I went on a Wednesday night about 9:30/10:00pm and there was only one other person dining in. I thought it was awesome they were open so late in the middle of the week. Service was super fast and friendly. I honestly did not like the lasagna roll, but the Spontaneous Combustion roll was pretty amazing. I typically eat sashimi, nigiri or maki rolls, so for me to order specialty rolls at a new restaurant was a bit out of character for me, so I may not be the best judge. The rest of the menu looks great though. I'd come back to try some more. I also love the building, I believe Samurai Blue is in part of the old Latin club.

A very welcome back visit for our old friend. We meet here for the welcome dinner. It is definitely a great gathering. We have a big group in the dinning. Thanks to restaurant for treating us with appetizers. I have two specialty roll. The Samurai roll. This the signature roll. This is a shrimp with avocado. Nice touch with strawberry peel. The next roll we have is the volcano roll. This roll I recommended. It has nice tuna cube on top of conch roll bottom. The taste is sophisticated. We also got a miso ramen. Ingredients are good but I prefer Tonkutsu broth better. Service is good. It is a bit slow. We have good experience.

Located in a strip off of the Main Street. We had to walk up steps (outside) to locate the entrance into restaurant. The building structure is beautiful. The ceilings are extremely high. We were able to be seated in a booth. The sushi tasted fresh and was delicious. Great for a first date, girls night, or to even eat alone.

Ordered from Samurai Blue via DoorDash. The food came fresh & delicious. I have been to Samurai Blue in person before and had a great experience, but was feeling a bit lazy and wanted to order take out. Their crispy spicy tuna is a must have.

Blue Crab Rangoon 10 out of 5 Seaweed salad 5/5 Tampa roll 2/5 Blue Moon Roll 5/5 Mexican Roll 3/5 Hamachi -Kama 2/5 (this was cooked well, but I could eat this as was not my style) Over all a really great meal I got for my birthday!

One of the best sushi places in Tampa! The prices are fair and the sushi is actually good! Honestly, it was AMAZING. I love the moody vibes. The staff is great and the food came out fast. They prefer you pay with a card or cash. They have Tap/Apple Pay but it doesn't always work.

Speaking specifically to the sushi and the crab Rangoon (maybe my favorite app of all time) Samurai Blue has got to be the most reliable sushi spot in Ybor. I have never been to the other location in Carrolwood. Now sushi comes on a spectrum. You got your $20 AYCE sushi bars bring bottom barrel sushi, but Samurai Blue is nothing like this. It brings honor to the Samurai name with some world class specialty rolls, my favorite being the dragon. Rice light and appropriately sticky. Sashimi and seafood cooked and raw neither of which brings a not pleasant pungent odor, and a myriad of dipping sauces if you desire/do not like sushi as much as you told your date that you did. SB is truly an ideal date spot. Full bar with mood lighting and intimate booth style seating tucked away above the lively Ybor streets providing a full scale of entertainment after the meal. Service on my visits was standard, but the food is what has kept me coming back.

Service was bad. I was left unattended without service & food for an embarrassing amount of time. After finally getting greeted, food took even longer to come out. Expectations were low & I am understanding of busy nights but this was surreal bad.

Always a go to when I'm in town! Service and food are always top notch! So many options to choose from and you can't go wrong with any.

This place is wonderful! Great atmosphere and staff! Excellent sushi! Highly recommend

Ordered a to go order and we were missing a roll so when I went in the bartender fixed it and made the missing roll for me! They were so sweet and nice plus the food was amazing! I will definitely be coming back! Ohh and I forgot. It looks so nice and cozy in side!

Beautiful interior, not a ton of seating but it's intimate and comfortable. Booths are large. Service was friendly. The food was PHENOMENAL. I tried the mussels and they were to die for- the wasabi sauce was still sweet with a little kick of spice. The volcano roll was a little different than I've ever had before and it's my usual first roll. It has a bit of a thick, sweet sauce along with the spicy mayo. Loved the flavor and the presentation.

everything was perfect! i was looking for some ramen in ybor and decided to give samurai blue a shot. i was impressed by the quality of the ramen (sometimes it doesn't taste authentic) but that was not the case for here! everything we ordered was delicious. the restaurant is also super cool with brick walls and high ceilings it was such a vibe. the service was great too, i don't remember my servers name but she had red hair :3

I'm still on a mission to find the best sushi in Tampa and I still have no luck. Samurai Blue is good but not amazing. Came here for dinner. I used to live in NYC so the expectation is high. The server was super friendly and we ordered sake but it was way too sweet. What I ordered: - EDAMAME: Boiled Soybean Pods - MISO: Soybean Broth, Tofu, Seaweed, Scallions - SUSHI TACOS: Tuna, Salmon, or Kani (we did salmon) - Salmon Nigiri - Tuna Handroll - Salmon Jalapeno Roll: Salmon and Jalapeno, inside out with Sesame Seed - Crispy Spicy Tuna - Lasagna Roll

This restaurant is truly beautiful, My boyfriend took me on our anniversary and it was a great experience. The crab rangoon was absolutely delicious along with the sushi we had as-well. We came in around 6 on a Tuesday and we waited a while for the sushi but other than that the service was good. Definitely go try it out!

This place has slid way downhill. To start off with the price of things has risen sharply. A lunch sushi roll deal is now $15 for two basic rolls and soup or salad (and now this isn't UberEats). I decided to get the sashimi bento since it's almost the same price as lunch anyway at $18.95. You get around 5 pieces of sashimi with a bunch of rice, some cucumbers, 3 gyoza, and miso soup. It also comes with a California Rolls. It's not bad, but not great either. However, I expect excellent at this high price point. I could've gone to a number of other places for a better deal or ordered a chirashi bowl somewhere else for more sashimi. My guest ordered their sushi roll deal. They brought the wrong order, we realized we didn't get the eel roll we ordered and instead received a salmon roll. When we noted it the server switched our food with the party behind us. We had both been served and the plate was already touched. I don't feel like that's good cleanliness protocol. Overall, the feeling is that this place has slid in customer service quality and food quality. I get that inflation has made times tough, but as a paying customer I feel like this is a waste of money and time. I wouldn't return.

Four and a half stars. Enjoyed having sushi with friends at the Carrollwood North Dale Mabry location. Sushi was fresh and flavorful, Caterpillar Roll as well as the Lobster Crab Roll. We werent given enough soy sauce bowls for each of us, but the plate on which tge sushi rolls were served were large enough to accommodate it. I placed my beverage order with everyone else's but, for some reason, it wasnt served along with everyone else's but eventually i got a freshly poured beverage in an ice-cokd glass. I've dined here before, and the sushi has been fresh and delicious each time. No real complaints this visit.

The place is beautiful and relaxing, loved the vibes and the food! I will definitely come back to try more food Also, if you go, ask for their desserts! The fried ice cream is amazing

Super yummy and super fresh sushi!! Parking is a bit tough-have to park in garage and walk through Ybor City. Service was great and had super attentive servers! Not badly priced at all for sushi either. Great meet up in Tampa

Service was amazing and very quick. Area surrounding is a little sketchy, but sushi was pretty good. Will be back.

Didn't get the chance to physically go and eat here but ordered delivery and definitely some of the best sushi I've ever had! The sushi and the fish were fresh, dumplings were so yummy and warm, side ginger salad was fresh/cold and dressing was delicious. This makes me super excited to get the chance to actually go eat here!!

I originally was looking for this place but they have a temporary spot . I walked upstairs & saw the sign . Then saw the new spot downstairs after choosing somewhere else to eat . Needless to say, i still wanted & tried the sushi lol . It was mediocre . I really thought I was going to get more in the mushroom roll besides mushroom . Go figure right ? The service was a 3/10. The hostess was greeting but we never had anyone come to us besides to order food, bring food, & collect the check .

I got some takeout today but usually I dine in, I will say that the crispy tuna app is much better if you dine in-- once I got home it wasn't as crispy. But still my fav dish on their menu! The sushi is really fresh and prices are fair. The ambiance is great as they have exposed brick and it's a great spot for date night! The service has been spotty in the past but overall great place

Stopped in for a sushi roll with some friends around 7:30pm on a Tuesday. It was easy to get a table without a reservation. The restaurant is located in the center of Ybor City, just up the stairs near the wine bar. We started with the crab rangoon which were the highlight. We had the Hawaiian roll and the blue moon roll. They were pretty good. It's casual but nice ambiance. Next time I'll try a different roll but will definitely start with the crab rangoon, maybe the best I've ever had.

Went here for the first time while visiting family. They knew that I liked Japanese food. The service was impeccable. Our server (Abdullah listed on the receipt) was pleasant, attentive, and helpful. The food was pure, clean, and delicious.

I usually take togo from here. Their sushi rolls are great and their sashimi is great quality. the inside is really pretty and you can tell they took time when designing this location. the staff is usually very kind and knowledgeable. really good place to eat at.

if you're having trouble finding this place, it's upstairs, the stair case is outside! went in, ordered take out. I waited for about 5 minutes pretty fast. Crab Rangoon was great! sushi .. I don't know if it was because it was takeout (I've never dined in) so I don't know if there's a difference but the sushi didn't taste fresh. I would give the sushi a 7/ 10. was it worth 32$ ? no.

Stunning location. Amazing service. Exquisite food. Highly recommend visiting during off peak hours.

My niece has the tuna rolls and the fish was all stringy. The server, acted like she didn't want to be there. Usually the food is wonderful, but at these prices it should have been a better experience.

First time at Samurai Blue and first time in Historic Ybor! It was a double treat! My experience at Samurai Blue was great! They are open from 11-2 for lunch then they reopen at 5pm I believe, for dinner and they are open very late! I sat at the bar and service was prompt. I ordered right away since I had already looked over menu. I ordered the Hamachi Fresh Roll and the Crispy Spicy Roll. Both were very delicious but the Hamachi was my favorite!!! I love the industrial building and aesthetic of this place! I am definitely returning! Service was awesome!

Garbage spot. Garbage rolls. Garbage service. Over priced and the rolls are trash. Not worth the money you can go to literally any place and get better sushi. Super disappointed

Went out for a girls night Saturday and wow! Did this place get busy and fast! This place is located on the second floor facing AMC. The inside of the restaurant is small compared to some other restaurants in Ybor. As soon as you walk in the host(ess) stand is to your left and the seating starts six feet in front of you. For those who wish to maintain social distancing, this restaurant is NOT for you. This restaurant operates with the tables closely together, with strangers shoulder almost brushing one another. There are booths along the right hand wall and in the center there are free form tables. The booths do not have plexiglass or any other type of barrier between tables. I did witness the hostess wipe down tables and menus though. Initially when we arrived we had a very lackluster waiter who was very inattentive, rushed off as soon as dropping drinks off, and came off as we were inconveniencing him. Maybe he had a bad night or day, but we ended up asking for a new waiter (something I've never done before! So I felt bad) however, we did get a new waiter by the name of Mikey who was FANTABULOUS! I didn't feel rushed or ignored and he was so pleasant! So as my friends know, I LOVE sushi. I picked this place because it was a top sushi place to eat at in Tampa. I wasn't disappointed. We ordered quite a few rolls, with my friend ordering the miso soup, and scallop nigiri. We did order the blue crag Rangoon's and they were DELICIOUS! They had a sweet Thai chili sauce drizzled on them and were perfectly crunchy. The rolls we did order were Devil Roll, Japanese Bagel Roll, Florida Roll, Rainbow Roll, Hawaiian Roll, Lasagna Roll, and a California roll. The Devil Roll was pretty when served and is served in a bed of spicy Mayo sauce. I don't recall what was in it since I'm not big on spices foods! The Japanese bagel roll was your standard bagel roll with salmon, avocado, cream cheese with sesame seeds on the outside. The Florida roll was also pretty typical of tuna, Salmon, avocado, and cream cheese with smelt roe and sesame on the outside. The rainbow roll was yummy and was your standard California rolls topped with fish and avocado. Since I liked the rainbow roll, the California roll on its own was good too. The Hawaiian roll was pretty good! It's got a nutty aftertaste to it and it's topped with mango. The inside has coconut shrimp and asparagus. Can't recall if there was cream cheese, but it was beautifully plated as well. The lasagna roll I definitely can't recall what was in it, but it's topped with hot crab meat mix on top with what I think was cheese. I wasn't a fan of the flavor mix so I only had one piece of that. The yummy yummy sauce they have is great! Definitely recommend getting a side of that to go for any leftover sushi! If you like sweet alcoholic drinks, I 10000% recommend the Fuji Apple. I'm not big in drinking but that drink was sooo! good! I didn't grab a picture of it from the time it was brought out. They're priced at 10$ a piece and they have sake in them. All in all this was a great (expensive) night out, but well worth it. It's conveniently located near the parking garage as well.

Yummy hand rolls sushi salads and more, always fresh and my favorite GNO Meetup with friends after work. Nice selection of sushi rolls, staff could be more professional and attentive but it's not the same anymore. Veggie rolls and menu items are fresh give it a try!

I think this is a review to be taken with a grain of salt. Samurai blue is in there temporary location so I cannot score on atmosphere which is a big part of enjoying a meal out, however with that being said samurai blue is a miss for me. The service was incredible slow and we were sat before the rush. Both of our water glasses were extremely dirty but we couldn't ask for new ones since our waitress was nowhere to be found. After about 30 minutes our order was finally taken. Once our food came out I was somewhat disappointed. There was a lack of fish on the rolls and the plating was not up to par. I went with a friend who has been to the old location and said this was not the norm. I might head back when they are in their normal space until then I recommend other sushi spots.

Brandon was an awesome server. The host was so sweet. We had a great time. The sushi was really good tbh. I was a little nervous since it is in ybor, but good. Best miso soup I've ever had. It was a very chill atmosphere.

The take out service is very inconsistent. About 50% of the time they will either not have the order correct or you'll get there at the correct time and still have to wait 20 minutes because they're behind or they didn't have your order in. That said.... This is my favorite sushi spot in Tampa and we keep coming back because the food is great. I recommend dining in. If you do get takeout, keep your order simple and arrive for pickup 15 minutes late.

Came here for a dinner with family and turned into a fan very easily. This is hands down the best sushi I have ever had in Tampa. Potentially the best sushi I have ever had- period. I wish I hadn't deleted the photos I took so I could share how delicious my entree looked. I ordered the sushi & sashimi dinner which is roughly $30 and included a miso soup and salad. What is so fun about this option is the chef picks the rolls and fish for you, so your entree is a surprise! My plate came with tuna sushi rolls, salmon sashimi, octopus sashimi, Tuna sashimi, and much much more. I actually ended up taking half of my plate home and it was surprisingly good as leftovers. Other items that the table ordered include dim sum, volcano roll, crispy spicy tuna roll, and the key west roll. Although the rolls were phenomenal, I could come back for the dim sum alone and leave content. Food aside, the aesthetic is very pleasing. The restaurant is located in an old building in Centro Ybor with exposed brick and lofted ceilings. There is also a bar with glass panels so you can watch the sushi being prepared fresh to order. I plan on coming back very soon!

Let me start off by saying this review is based on their sushi menu. I came here on a late Wednesday night since I was in the area and craving sushi. I came in a party of 4 and we were seated immediately. Our waitress was extremely kind and gave us some great, honest recommendations about their menu. For sushi, we ordered the Key west, Salmon jalapeño, Tokyo roll, Red devil, Lasagna roll, and Volcano roll with conch in the middle. Their sushi is pretty decent! I was satisfied with all of the rolls. I especially loved how they had conch with the volcano roll as I don't see it that often. For the sushi, I would rate the restaurant 4/5 stars. In addition to the sushi, we also ordered the tonkatsu shoyu ramen and we regretted it. The noodles were extremely undercooked, and the broth tasted artificial. Although the presentation looked nice, the quality of the ramen was extremely poor. I give the ramen 2/5 stars and would not recommend anyone try it. Price wise, this place has fair prices for a sushi restaurant in this area. Approximately $7-9 for regular rolls and $11-13 for specialty rolls. One of the best things is that it's open late. I'd recommend this place to any sushi lover. It's a great place to visit after a chill night downtown/ ybor when you're getting hungry and the other restaurants have closed.

I found this place on Yelp and immediately knew I wanted to come because they had uni, something typical sushi restaurants do not have. I called to see what time they were open til as their Google hours and their Yelp hours were different. They confirmed that their Yelp hours were the correct one. I drove 7+ miles, going past the other sushi places by me. When I arrived on a Saturday night, there were practically no street parking. I paid $10 to park at a lot nearby. After walking here, we notice the restaurant is upstairs in a somewhat empty retail plaza. When we arrived, the restaurant was pretty empty - only having about 1-2 tables at the moment. The hostess seated us and provided us menus. There was a paper menu where you could mark the items you wanted to order and the quantity. I ordered Uni and Sweet Shrimp, two unique items that other sushi restaurants do not carry. Once the server came, I handed my ticket in and she immediately told me that they do not have Uni. They sold out. I was pretty disappointed but that was fine. I ordered an appetizer in place of the Uni. After a few minutes, the server comes back and tells me they are also out of sweet shrimp. At this point, I am very annoyed. Why was it not mentioned up front when we walked in or when the menus were dropped off. I went out my way to come here and they didn't even mention they weren't running on their full menu. The items we did order were loaded with jalapeño peppers making everything really spicy for an aftertaste. I would not come back.

The whole thing was Meh. The building is awesome though. The sushi is absolutely nothing to rave about. Flat, flavorless and more focused on presentation. Save your money and head elsewhere. Unless you want the tuna tacos for an appetizer, those were very good.

The food was amazing, the service was great, and I loved the ambiance. The industrial modern style was my style, and it would be a go to sushi stop if we lived in the area. Definitely in my all time top 5. Every roll was wonderful and crab Rangoon was, as my teenager would say, "bussin!"

The only sushi I tried in Florida! Per another Yelper's rec, I made sure to add Samurai Blue to the rotation. It's in an awesome, historical shopping strip called Centro Ybor. Some pluses: 1. Fish was very fresh 2. Pressed sushi was amazing 3. Relatively inexpensive for 3 people (we ordered a total of 7 rolls) Some questionable things: 1. I think the space was being renovated, but bar seating experiences a leaky ceiling. The entire time we were eating, we were getting showered on. 2. There was no regulation for folks who sat themselves at the bar instead of waiting for the hostess...so even though our party got to the restaurant first, this couple who came in after us sat themselves, got all their food first, and left before us... 3. Service was partially friendly Regardless, the food was still pretty good. It gets pretty busy during dinner time if you don't make a reservation!

Located in the heart of Ybor, this sushi place is legit! I've never been disappointed by any of their sushi.

Decent and you get what you pay for. A bit pricey but has a wide selection to choose from.

We went here for my boyfriend's birthday and the vibe was IT honey. Our server Mikey was so cute and gave us some pretty great recommendations. (The fried cheesecake was bomb Mikey!) we also had some beautifully made crab Rangoon and plenty of hot sake and raw sushi. SO GOOD. There's a sushi roll with a fresh lemon wedge and I was actually sad to see it be done. But-we just ordered more ha! This place is great for date night- super romantic. I guess great for friends too. Totally check this place out.

This is just the top of the food menu . Pretty good options . So far it's a beautiful place to come and have some great sushi . If you are a sushi lover this is your place because you can actually watch your sushi being made and you know it's just genuine ! My rolls were so good and so was my chicken !

I am visiting the Tampa area for work and was in the mood for sushi/ ramen and stumbled upon this place. Service was excellent and fast! The food was delicious but nothing special. Good place.

Some of the best sushi in the state! Service was amazing and never missed a beat. Highly recommend

Totally would have given this place five stars back when it was upstairs. Now that it is on the bottom floor, it is very small. Just seems like your average sushi spot. Sushi is great, and the selection is plentiful, but the experience isn't close to what it used to be. You'll want to make a reservation if you don't want to sit at the sushi bar. Yet, you can't make a reservation on their website. Not very convenient. With that being said, it's not worth the trip for me anymore. When I was craving sushi, this was well worth the trip from St Pete. The standard has dropped, and will just head to a local spot from now on..