Sushi Sake Tampa — Restaurant in Tampa

It was our first time here, came in around 8-9pm on a Friday and our server David was super kind to us after I asked him to repeat the specials on 3 separate occasions. The overall look of the place is minimal and modern but pulled together literally by this stunning white Sakura blooming from the ground across the ceiling. The soundtrack was an awesome mix of classy, fun pop covers. The menu is sophisticated and easy to digest but after asking David what the specials were so many times, we went for: hands down, The Best Crab Rangoon I have ever had - and yes, that's CRAB with a C. Perfectly fried, STUFFED with real crab and hand formed!!!

a classic Salmon avocado roll - a true testament of freshness and quality fish. This was so refreshing and absolutely delicious

AND, after I had harassed David enough, the BEAUTIFUL Ceviche roll (right) - the size of my forearm, featuring a sweet mango sauce, cilantro and the most delicately thin cut onions, this roll was such a surprise both visually and by flavour!! The red onions brought the acid of light, refreshing ceviche not to mention it was so perfectly fried! The textures were all brilliant but something was missing...

The owner, Michael had come by our table to ask how it was and I mentioned that when I think of ceviche, I was missing a little more kick on the roll. He had mentioned that someone had asked for Sriracha on the ceviche roll instead of the mango sauce and I said they could even be mixed... This lovely man brings back yet another forearm of Ceviche Roll this time, with this gorgeous orange, sweet and spicy sauce across the roll and THAT was exactly what it needed. We were so excited, we each took a piece before remembering to take the photo! My friend does not like spicy and even admits that this flavour was perfectly balanced! It was absolutely delicious yet again and with that extra little bit of love from Meylin, their WILDLY talented sushi chef.

Stellar service, pleasant crew, Michael has a lot of love for this food and it shows - the way he was excited to hear a suggestion from someone and headed straight to the sushi bar. David, who was so sweet to us, even made a display pit stop to our table to show us when we both caught sight of him carrying what looked like a deli sandwich-sized brownie tempura !? Lord knows we did not have space for dessert! But it sure...

Was excited to try this sushi place in Tampa since they just opened in January of this year, however it was a total disappointment. The ambiance and aesthetic does not match the food quality. For appetizers we ordered the fried Gyoza and the steamed shrimp shumai; both were super under seasoned and watery, it was clear both were either previously frozen or microwaved/fried. For sushi rolls we got the Angel Roll, the Dragon Roll, the Dolphin Roll, and the Caliente Roll. All of our rolls fell apart as we ate them with the chop sticks- indicating the rice was either poorly molded or day old rice that had been refrigerated. The Caliente roll had zero heat though it is advertised as a spicy roll, the other rolls were mid to say the least. Lastly, as in most sushi restaurants that I’ve frequented, I asked for a side of eel sauce and a side of spicy mayo. They added a surcharge of $3.00 for the sauces which was hilarious because the spicy mayo tasted like a sour plain mayo mix and the eel sauce was probably from a supermarket jar. Honestly, save your money and your appetite. The only “good thing” about coming here was the happy hour because I could never imagine paying full price for this food. If you’re looking for real, authentic, and delicious food, try Sushi Cafe in New Tampa, Izakaya Tori just down the street, or Origmai Sushi on Hillsborough. With all of these amazing sushi options in Tampa this place should do better and stop trying to imitate a high vibe and expensive menu while serving...

I have really struggled with what to rate Sushi Sake as part of it was great and part of it was horrific.

If we call this place a bar that happens to serve sushi, it gets 4 stars. But if this is a sushi place with a great bar, then it is 2 stars.

The good: the decor is wonderful, and the atmosphere is top notch. The service is on point (they are still learning, but that is expected) and the drinks were great.

The bad: the sushi was a complete joke. Our nigiri looked like it was cut and assembled by somebody that has never served sushi. Normally that wouldn’t matter, but their prices are well above normal. $5 - $7 for one piece of nigiri, whereas other sushi places will give you two, demands that the fish is top quality and the presentation is perfect. Unfortunately neither happened. The nigiri fish looked like a kid butchered it, it wasn’t really fresh and the rice was terrible. Their sushi dinner, for $45 gives you 15 pieces of nigiri. One generally does not get three pieces of shrimp, tuna, salmon, escolar and one more type of bland fish for one of their most expensive dishes, but that is what came out.

The ceviche was good, but again, the fish was cut to much different lengths and thickness, which was a shame.

Again, the staff was very friendly, and had we just came for drinks, we would have been happy. The margarita was great, and their version of sangria was also great. Sadly. The sushi was a complete miss.

Hopefully they fix these issues as the foundation is there...