Pin Wok&Bowl — Restaurant in Saint Petersburg

Wow…Just wow….. I cannot start this review any other way. I don’t usually stray off my path for sushi, it has never ended well. I have been going to the same place for sushi for several years, however; I won’t be going back there at this point. My path has led me to a new and BETTER place and I didn’t think that could happen. I have had sushi at more than 10 different places in the area and as I said I had found one that I loved and did not ever think I would find one that would send my pallet into the clouds…..

Well…. “NEVER SAY NEVER”…… and that is just what this little place has done.

We were out to try a new place last night and my wife was definitely in the mood for sushi and so was I…She convinced me to deviate from my path to my usual place in downtown St. Pete. I was reluctant to say the least.

We were greeted by the nicest lady with a wonderful sense of humor….. the restaurant is clean and charming and unique. It wasn’t crowded for a Wednesday evening…but I will say, that is about to change if what I had to eat and how awesome it was gets out to too many people. I am just going to say, there should be a line around the block to get into this place it is that good.

We ordered 4 rolls, the Sakura, the P.B.J, the Mango Tango, and the NEVER SAY NEVER…and some sushi pieces….. a beer and a glass of wine….. our server and the lady who greeted us said “you must be really hungry” when we ordered….LOL….

I am very glad we ordered what we did….I have a little lunch for today….I really wish I had ordered more to take home for today. Thank you for a wonderful experience….. We will most definitely be back and will be singing your praises to everyone for the experience. Please keep doing what you are doing and do not change...

Pin Wok-N-Bowl has a pretty broad menu of great options. You have the option between sushi rolls, poke bowls, sushi burritos, curry, salad, rice dishes, soups, noodle dishes, etc. I’ve dined/taken to-go from here more times than I could count!

If I’m there for lunch (which happens to be pretty much once every week, if not two weeks) I definitely favor the Lunch Special that offers “One Roll & One Entree Combo” for $12 or the Poke Bowls, either one, you definitely get your bang for your buck. All meals include a veggie eggroll fried with a thin wrapping (similar to Vietnamese eggrolls if you’re familiar) and is accompanied by this light broth with veggies, meat and rice -- it’s quite a nice touch!

As mentioned, I enjoy quite a lot of items from their menu and always challenge myself to order something new each time I visit. To keep this rather simple, I’ll give you an idea of my “favorite” dishes: Favorite Apps: Salt & Pepper Calamari -OR- Tuna Tataki Favorite Drink: Thai Tea Favorite Rice Bowl: Thai Basil Rice Favorite Noodles: Sesame Udon -OR- Spicy Ramen Noodle Favorite Sushi Burrito: Best Friends Sushi Burrito Favorite Poke Bowls: Spicy Lava Flow Poke Favorite Rolls: Lightning - OR- Empire -OR- Never Say Never Roll Favorite: Banana Coins

Service here is pretty quick. Lunchtime gets pretty slammed, and we’ve come here at all times between 11-3PM. I don’t mind the crowd, in fact I think that it’s awesome! Tucked in Central Ave, this small local shop is doing rather well for themselves then -- mostly since they do such minimal social marketing! They have many similar competitors within a 5 mile radius so it’s nice to know their quality of food and deals are so good to always keep...

We visited on a Sunday afternoon around 4:30ish. We did have the option for happy hour, but didn't choose anything today that applied to the specials. We were seated immediately upon entering and had a table or booth option. The restaurant is nice and open and the wall art was inviting. The server took our drink and food order immediately. It was our first time and the menu was quite large. I chose a simple sushi and wonton soup. He chose a chicken katsu poke bowl.

The wonton soup had fried garlic minced in it which was a nice different touch from normal soup. The sushi salmon was perfect. Fresh and nicely made The poke bowl was beautiful. Well made, plentiful ingredients and the chicken katsu was perfect. The chicken was moist inside and crispy from the panko bread crumbs on all the pieces. It didn't get soggy either, but stayed crisp the whole meal through. Yum!

A different server brought the food from kitchen and we actually never did see or communicate with our server who seated us again till end when she brought check. She never once came and asked if our food was ok or even to see if we needed more water. It wasn't busy either. Only 3 other small groups in whole place. She I did think this was odd.

The bathroom was clean and stocked with tp and paper towels. There was as also a nice sit outside patio too if it is a nice day.

Overall good experience and we will return again. Just be aware if you need something or have a problem you will need to speak up as staff didn't check on...