Sushi Time — Excellent Sushi & Japanese Fare At Affordable Prices!

The Former Location Of Ginza No Longer Offers All-You-Can-Eat, But Is A Big Step-Up In Quality! 

I can honestly say that I’ve never been a big fan of all-you-can-eat restaurants. Especially when you don’t know which dishes you even like at a place, all-you-can-eat basically means you’re “forced” to sample a number of different items in order to find the ones you like — and by then, you’re usually too full to enjoy those items. 

Once you’ve been to a particular all-you-can-eat restaurant more than once, and know what items you like there, I’ll admit that there is a certain value in this type of dining, but it usually causes you eat more than you normally might to “get your money’s worth.” 

That’s why I wasn’t upset when the owners of the new Sushi Time restaurant — which opened a couple of months ago in the former location of Ginza All You Can Eat Sushi & Hibachi (on E. County Line Rd., next to LA Fitness, just south of the Pasco County line) — decided to do away with Ginza’s all-you-care-to-eat concept. 

In fact, the first thing those of you who loved Ginza should know is that even though you no longer receive unlimited food for one price, the quality of the food — especially the sushi — at Sushi Time has been upgraded significantly, as has the presentation of that food (as evidenced by photographer Charmaine George’s beautiful pictures on this page). 

Let’s start with the sushi. Jannah, Charmaine and I were treated to a beautiful and delicious sushi boat (top photo), which included three rolls — Jannah’s favorite California roll, a spicy tuna roll topped with avocado and a black dragon roll (tempura shrimp and avocado with eel and eel sauce on top) that I couldn’t eat but Jannah and Charmaine both loved. The grilled eel on top was so sweet that they both thought it was cooked banana — and loved it! It was Jannah’s first time ever even eating eel and she was stunned to find she actually enjoyed it! 

The boat also included thick slices of raw tuna, white tuna (escolar), salmon and yellowtail, plus nigiri (sliced sushi on rice) of salmon, yellowtail and my favorite — red snapper. Slices of the snapper also were formed into a pretty flower and topped with ikura (salmon roe). 

The boat alone would have been more than enough for the three of us, but we had already ordered Charmaine’s favorite Naruto Roll (above right), which is an extra-large sushi roll with tuna, salmon, yellowtail, spicy krab, avocado and tobiko (flying fish roe) wrapped in cucumber. Simply amazing. 

Charmaine and I also really enjoyed the yellowtail jalapeño (above left). which was only slightly spicy, as well as a salmon “sprint,” which is slices of salmon wrapped around julienned cucumber in a mild chili sauce (right). And, since my companions loved the eel so much, we also had three pieces of eel nigiri. All of the sushi was incredibly fresh. 

But, since Jannah is only a casual fan of sushi, we also got an order of crispy and delicious gyoza (fried pork dumplings; below left) and equally crisp Chinese-style pork egg rolls (below right). Both were yummy! 

And, even though we were totally stuffed by now and took much of the food home with us, we wanted to sample (and of course, photograph) at least one hibachi dish, so we had the chicken hibachi, which featured big chunks of chicken and broccoli florets in a zesty sauce. Please note that Sushi Time does not have teppanyaki (hibachi) tables. The hibachi dishes are made in the kitchen, but are well worth having. Other hibachi options include tofu, sirloin steak, shrimp, scallops, king salmon and a variety of combos. 

Other entrĂ©es include favorites like sesame, orange and General Tso’s chicken (or tofu), Mongolian beef or chicken, beef & broccoli and “Dragon & Phoenix” (shrimp with mixed veggies & General Tso’s chicken). There also are ramen and udon noodle dishes and all of the entrĂ©e categories feature vegetable-only options. 

So, despite already being barely able to get up from the table, we finished off our meal with one order of fried (chocolate) ice cream (topped with whipped cream and chocolate sauce; below right), an order of fried bananas (which were done to crisp perfection) and Jannah’s favorite green tea ice cream. 

Best of all, Sushi Time is a pretty restaurant with a variety of Japanese (Sapporo, Asahi and Kirin) and other beers, plus red and white wine, green, jasmine and boba tea, as well as a variety of soft drinks, including Japanese soda. 

The portions are large, the prices are very fair and as I said, the quality is a quantum leap above Ginza and other all-you-can-eat places. 

Need more incentive to try Sushi Time? With the coupon in the ad below, you’ll save 20% off your total bill when you dine in! 

Sushi Time (6417 E. County Line Rd., #104) is open every day for lunch and dinner, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. For more info, call (813) 907- 1688 or visit SushiTimeFL.com. Reservations are not required. Please tell them I sent you! 

Sushi Update — Sushi Bowls & Ginza Are Gone, Sushi Time Is In 

It was only 3-1/2 months ago that we were the first to tell you about the opening of Sushi Bowls by Kazoku Sushi (photo below) in the Pebble Creek Collection, but co-owner Cristina Chanquin admits that Sushi Bowls closed abruptly a few weeks ago. She cited issues with finding a solid team to work at the New Tampa location and a need to “focus on the foundation of our business,” as Cristina and her husband Sergio also own Sushi House in Ybor City. 

“But, we do serve our bowls at the cafĂ©s at both the AdventHealth and BayCare hospitals in Wesley Chapel every Thursday,” she says. 

So, if you (like yours truly) were a fan of Sushi Bowls, you can still grab a tasty bowl at those local hospitals. 

Is It Sushi Time Yet? 

But, speaking of sushi, if you’ve been wondering what happened to Ginza Endless Sushi & Hibachi next to LA Fitness at 6417 E. County Line Rd. (top photo), it’s been replaced with another Japanese restaurant — Sushi Time Hibachi, Ramen & Seafood. 

Now open less than three weeks as this issue is reaching you, the new owners want everyone to know that Sushi Time is not another all-you-care-to-eat place, nor does it offer teppanyaki/hibachi tables in the dining room. 

It is, however, a reasonably priced, full-service, sushi-focused, sit-down Japanese restaurant with nearly 80 different sushi and sashimi options. Of course, Jannah and I first had to try — and gave thumbs-up to — the California roll shown above left), but we’ll be back for more. 

But, for those of you who, like us, enjoy Japanese/Asian appetizers like fried (or steamed) pork gyoza dumplings, spring and egg rolls, we did try all of the above and enjoyed them all — especially the extra-crispy pork egg rolls. 

We also sampled the chicken hibachi (which is still available, but made in the kitchen) shown right, which was loaded with large chunks of chicken and fresh veggies and served with white or pretty good fried rice. There also are steak and shrimp hibachi options and Asian favorites like Mongolian chicken or beef, General Tso’s chicken, beef or chicken with broccoli and more. For more info about Sushi Time, call (813) 364-4545 or visit SushiTimeTampa.com and please tell the owners I sent you! — GN