2.5 stars
3218 W. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa, 813-873-7646 or sohosushi.com
I was taking CL contributor and local food blogger Jenna Weber to lunch and needed a place close to the office. Easy enough, but it also had to be healthy. That's Jenna's thing and, despite my devotion to bacon peanut brittle and beef in all its forms, I tend to eat healthy meals as well. Have to justify the occasional binge, after all. Sushi is a safe choice, especially with frequent Best of the Bay winner SoHo Sushi just a mile or two away.
Despite the awards, its popularity and its location in the heart of one of my stomping grounds, I'd never been to SoHo Sushi. I'd tried, on occasion, to visit after the restaurant moved from SoHo proper to Franklin Blvd. after a dispute with its landlords. Problem is, every time I stopped by I'd either find the small parking lot full, or the tables full, or both. Popular place.
Thankfully, this time we quickly found a seat in the restaurant's pleasant dining room loaded with wood furnishings and the usual Asian decor accents. At lunch, SoHo has the usual array of bento boxes and cooked meat rice bowls which, it turns out, are the way to go despite SoHo Sushi's name.
This article appears in Aug 5-11, 2009.