Noble Rice Japanese Restaurant Reopens in Tampa's Channelside Area
I was so excited to learn that Noble Rice was reopening its doors in the Channelside area, and patiently waited for the initial buzz to subside before we made our reservations to check out the new space and refreshed, modern Japanese menu. While the design of the space is reminiscent of the former location off of Platt St., its capacity is much larger, featuring bar seating, omakase seating and regular dining area.
Before I dive into the details of what we ate, I have to preface that this menu shines bright in comparison to what I remember from the old location. While they did bring back a couple of fan favorites, the majority of their offerings now are new. If you’re hesitant to check out their new location based on an experience you had at their old spot, I encourage you to you give it another chance!
While pH was thrilled to see a full liquor bar and cocktail menu that wasn’t just sake and champagne sips, I was personally pleased that they included a couple of non-alcoholic mocktails on their menu. pH thoroughly enjoyed his Dragon Smoke, one of their signature cocktails made of mezcal, reposado, honey chili syrup and lime, and I loved my refreshing mocktail made with yuzu juice and lychee.
To kick off our double date night, we started with four orders of king salmon nigiri, one for each of us at the table, and pH and I each tried the uni (sea urchin) nigiri. Our very first experience with uni was not a fresh one, and our second experience was just OK; I figured if anyone in town had that deliciously creamy and buttery fresh uni, it’d be Noble Rice, and they absolutely do. It was pricey, but worth it to finally be able to enjoy this delicacy in the best way!
We worked our way through the menu a little bit at a time, and everything was perfectly phased and portioned for our party of four. The Kamo Crostini and Karaage shareable dishes were favorites from the menu at their former location, and our table loved them along with the Scallop Motoyaki, featuring buttery and savory chopped Hokkaido scallops in a hot skillet topped with Gruyere cheese and served with shrimp chips dusted with nori for dipping.
Karaage: Spicy fried chicken, citrus miso kewpie
Scallop Motoyaki: Hokkaido scallop, lemon, miso, gruyere, shrimp & nori chip
For our second round, we ordered the Jumbo Prawn, Milk Bread & Burrata and Bone Marrow. The Milk Bread & Burrata is a must-order and absolutely delicious, while the prawns, while they were fresh, I could have gone without ordering. My recommendation of the Bone Marrow is dependent on whether you’re sensitive to salty flavors; I personally thought it was on the salty side and couldn’t take more than just a couple of bites, but pH, who loves salty everything, really enjoyed it!
Jumbo Prawn: Yuzu kosho butter, shishito kanzuri
Milk Bread & Burrata: Confit tomato, black garlic molasses. yuzu marmalade
Bone Marrow: Caramelized onion, shiso chimichurri, toast
We couldn’t go without ordering sushi rolls to round out a full experience. We opted for the Negi Toro (fatty tuna) sushi roll and the King Salmon sushi roll, and they were both delicious! I loved that they each came with their own soy sauce, one a black garlic shoyu, the other a smoked shoyu. The Negi Toro features a small amount of tobanjan, a spicy bean chili paste, on top of each sushi bite, so be prepared for a lovely, spicy kick!
Negi Toro (fatty tuna, scallion, tobanjan kewpie, black garlic shoyu) & King Salmon (shrimp chip, chives, smoked shoyu) sushi rolls
And finally, we ended our feast with the Soy Milk Panna Cotta from the dessert menu. At this point in our meal, we were so full, but this was the perfect light bite for us to share among the four of us. Each bite was a unique combination of flavors, and I especially loved the bites I got with the black sesame.
Soy Milk Panna Cotta: Matcha cake crumble, burnt honey, black sesame, miso caramel
We all agreed that we absolutely enjoyed our meal at Noble Rice. While there were some dishes I loved more than others, I’d be perfectly delighted to have this exact same meal again; in fact, one week later, pH and I couldn’t help but to return again for another date night with just the two of us.
Noble Rice is located outside of Sparkman Wharf, at 615 Channelside Drive, Suite #112 in Tampa. The restaurant is open Tuesday through Thursday from 5 to 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 5 to 11 p.m. For the latest updates from Noble Rice, follow along on Facebook and Instagram.
