Rolltation, Toronto

When I travel, I've taken to ordering delivery or takeout poke.  It is kinda my travel thing, ideal for when I just need an easy option on evenings when I'm too worn out to even imagine going out to another fancy meal, and when I want something fairly reliable, moderately healthy, but fun.

And thus, my first night in Toronto, I ordered poke delivery ... while still in a cab from the airport.  It arrived right when I did.  Perfect.

My venue of choice was a chain, Rolltation, with locations all over Toronto.  Home of sushi burritos, plus the bowls I was after.  Not exactly known for plentiful quality sushi options, but every category of the menu had something that really appealed to me, and Yelp reviews were solid, so, it was an easy pick.

Ordering online was easy, I had many options, and went with Uber Eats.  It was delivered even ahead of estimate, no troubles there.

But the actual product ... was just fine.  I wouldn't really order again.

Menu

Rolltation basically just makes made to order burritos/rice bowls/salads, with a few pre-set options, or "Roll your own" style.

All creations come as your choice of sushi burrito, poke bowl (with white or brown rice), or salad (with kale or lettuce).  I was pleased to see the kale option.

Next, protein. Vegetarians can go for tofu, seafood lovers have two shrimp options, either just boiled or tempura, and those who actually want raw fish can pick between salmon or tuna. Your carnivorous non-seafood eating friends can select chicken or beef.  Again, I was pleased to see things like tempura shrimp, as I haven't been into raw fish as much these days.

Then it is time for "veggies", only 3 are included, with options that are fairly standard raw ingredients (cucumbers, onion, carrot, cabbage, tomato, red pepper, kale, lettuce, jicama, jalapeno), plus a few cooked vegetables (purple potato, asparagus, edamame).  You can add 2 more for $0.50 each, but no more.  Again, I was happy enough to see things like jicama and asparagus on the lineup. 

The next category though was odd, just called "toppings", and only 3 included.  This section spanned everything from cheese (?), to kimchi or kidney beans (??), to more standard poke additions like mango, pickled ginger, pickled radish, avocado, two kinds of tobiko, green onion, corn, and seaweed salad or kani salad (for $1 extra each), and then more wildcards like tangerine and even pork floss (yes!).  Many carried a supplemental fee of $0.50-$1.50.  If you wanted more, again, only 2 more were allowed, no matter how much you are willing to pay.  I loved the sounds of so many things here, and wanted far more than 5 I could order.

Then sauce.  A huge lineup of sauces, including 5 types of mayonnaise (sriracha, wasabi, teriyaki, spicy sesame, or plain), fun things like green curry, katsu, and teriyaki, and standards like unagi, sriracha, and even, uh, mango sauce.  Here you could select 2 and no more.  I did like that you can specify regular, extra, slim, or on the side, and I loved the lineup, I just wanted to pick more.

And last but not least, my favorite category: CRUNCH!  But again, limitations!  Only two allowed, no matter how much you pay.  I wanted lotus chips AND tempura bits AND furikake AND garlic crisps, and I had no way to do it.

Roll Your Own: Salmon Burrito. $12.79.

My companion went burrito style, and seemed pleased enough with his selection, salmon base, with cucumbers, kale, red peppers, seaweed salad, pickled ginger, light sauces (teriyaki mayo and unagi), and tempura bits and furikake.

It was a generous size, well stuffed.

He did mention that he prefers Sushirrito, in SF, though.

Roll Your Own: Tempura Shrimp.

 $11.99

I went for a bowl, which came nicely packaged up.  It did seem smaller than many other places, but the size was fine for me.

I opted for a kale base, and cabbage, jicama, and asparagus as my three veggies.  The kale was fine, curly kale, but a fairly small portion.  Again fine, but, if you were expecting a generous salad, this was not it.  The shredded cabbage (red and green) and shredded jicama were also fine, fairly crispy, and in nearly as much quantity as the kale itself.  I liked the base they formed all together, lots of good crunch.

The asparagus was more boring than I expected, and I admit, I ordered this in March, in Toronto, having just left San Francisco where asparagus season started a week or two before, and I had been eating incredible grilled asparagus daily.  This ... was just steamed asparagus.  4-5 half pieces.  It was tender enough, not woody, but quite boring.

So my base was fine, and I liked having a salad option that wasn't mixed greens, but nothing extraordinary here. 

Top Layer: Pickled radish, kani salad, wasabi tobiko, garlic crisps.

On top I could see some of the ingredients I was most excited for, but laughed that I couldn't actually see my signature protein nor half the other toppings.

Starting with what you can see, two of my toppings, wasabi tobiko (+$0.50 for the wasabi version) and pickled radish.  The tobiko definitely wasn't worthy of one of my 3 slots, nor the upcharge, just a tiny, tiny, tiny scoop of green tobiko, that was completely lost in here.  I didn't taste any wasabi at all.

I adore daikon (pickled radish), so I was trilled to see the three large yellow slices right on top, but they lacked any flavor, didn't seem pickled at all, and were thin ... not a style I've seen before.

I used up one of my two extra slots for kani salad (+$1.00), since I love crab, particularly fake crab, and I was pleased with this choice.  Definitely the best element in my bowl.  A decent sized scoop, just shredded fake crab, in mayo.  I would gladly take more and more of it.

And finally, crunch.  I selected my top two crunch as the two I could select (lotus chips, tempura bits), but they were nowhere to be seen.  In the notes, I said I'd love to have furikake and garlic crisps too.  The furikake was also no where to be seen, but I could see garlic crisps right on top.  They were ... uh, garlic-y?  I wasn't particularly pleased with the flavor combo, but that is my own bad choice.  There was a generous amount of them, not just right on top.

So overall, fairly lackluster layer, but the kani salad was the star.

A few more ingredients ... tamago, meat floss, tempura shrimp.

Digging under that layer I finally found ... most of the rest of the ingredients I selected.

My final "topping" was tamago, and I uncovered it to find 3 slices.  The tamago was ... fine?  It wasn't the sweet awesome "dessert" style I get at a sushi restaurant, but it wasn't too eggy/omelet-y, if that makes any sense.  I wouldn't get it again though.

My final extra slot went to the meat floss (+$0.50, so rare to find!), but sadly there wasn't particularly a lot of it.  I also wanted bigger clumps, but it was still a fun thing to get the chance to add.

And finally, the protein choice I went for: tempura shrimp.  You can see two of them here, once I unburied them, on top.  The tempura shrimp was ... not good.  At all.  Three pieces, every single one limp and soggy.  Uh, not what I look for in my tempura.  Two were pale blonde, one darker.  At least they were not soggy, and added some protein?  Not that I needed the protein, with the tamago and kani in there too.

The crunch elements I really wanted, and had picked, the lotus chips and tempura bits, and the additional furikake were never found.  Sad, sad, sad.

So overall, not much exciting here, even though the ingredients *sounded* so different and appealing.

Sauces: Teriyaki Mayonnaise, Katsu, Unagi, Spicy Sesame.

And finally, sauces!  I asked for my two included ones on the side, and asked for two more too.  It was hard enough just picking 4, I kinda wanted them all.  Unlike the crunch toppings, at least I did get these.

The sauces ... were ... interesting.

Top left is the teriyaki mayonnaise, I think, as it was fairly sweet.  Creamy, sweet, ok, and I dunked several things into it.

Top right was ... THE WORST.  I think this was the katsu.  It just tasted ... bad.  I can't even really describe it.  It just had a funk, not a good one.  I did not like it at all.

Then, bottom right, unagi.  I think.  This was very sweet, tasted a lot like teriyaki.  They do have a teriyaki sauce too though, so I'm not convinced this is what I ordered either.

And last, spicy sesame.  This one was actually good, a creamy style, that certainly seemed like mayo, but perhaps was just rich from sesame seeds?  I thought this might be a spicy thin sesame oil / soy sauce type dressing with sesame seeds, and it most certainly wasn't.  I liked the creaminess, the flavor, slight spice.  I dunked nearly everything in this, and mixed it into my salad base.

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Poke from Poke Origin

I'll spare you the preamble.

Yes, I've join the swarm of people who are obsessed with poke.  You can read all my poke reviews here.

For me, my poke obsession started as a easy delivery or takeout option when I was traveling a lot for work and got sick of eating in restaurants constantly.  And for me ... uh, poke isn't about the raw fish.  Or a rice base.  I don't get either of those usually.  For me, it is about the toppings.  The crunchy things.  Oh, and of course, crab salad.  Even imitation crab.  Love the stuff.

Poke Origin is in San Francisco, far from my house and office, and not available for delivery from nearly any of the delivery services since it is too far away.  I've wanted to try it forever, but, just not generally accessible to me without a lot of effort.  But, Postmates came to our rescue when my work group wanted to order poke, and since we were a large group, the extra delivery fee was worth it.  Particularly for the options.

Oh, the options.  What sets Poke Origin apart, and why I was interested, is the options.  18 kinds of protein ... including non-standard items like lobster tail (!), spam, and three types of crab.  More than 20 toppings.  We were in.

Overall, I was quite pleased, and most of us really appreciated the large variety of toppings and options.  As someone who *doesn't* go for the raw fish, it worked great.  But ... everyone who did get raw fish felt the quality of the seafood was lacking.  Most said it didn't matter as much because of the great sauces and toppings, but, I can't recommend Poke Origin for quality seafood exactly.

I'd still order again.

Large Poke. $13.99.

"Five scoops of protein and your choice of base, toppings, and sauce."

Like many poke places, the concept is to design-your-own, with different selections for each step.  Bowls come in 2 sizes, regular (up to 3 proteins) or large (up to 5 proteins).

The steps:

Base (1):

• Sushi White Rice
• Brown Rice
• Mixed Greens
• Kale
• Nachos
• Kelp Noodles

The base options are a good indicator of how Poke Origin excels.  Two choices for rice, two choices for greens, and even nachos or kelp noodles, if you are feeling really different.

Many places allow for 2, it was interesting that they only allowed a single choice.

I went with kale, given my recent strange kale obsession.

Next, Add-ons (0 - 5).

• Cucumber
• Sweet Corn
• Carrot
• Jalapeno
• Red Onion

These were pretty basic, I only added sweet corn and jalapeno.

Protein (0 - 5 for large, 0-3 for regular):

• Ahi Tuna
• Salmon
• Spicy Tuna
• Scallop
• Escolar
• Albacore
• Tofu
• Crab
• Spicy Crab
• Shrimp
• Spam
• Octopus
• Seared Albacore +$2.00
• Marinated Big Eye Tuna +$2.00
• Hamachi +$2.00
• Snow Crab +$2.00
• Unagi +$2.00
• Seared Lobster Tail (Limited) +$6.50

Ok, um, wow?  This is where Poke Origin blows all other establishments away.  The number of choices, and selection, is just insane.

Want tuna?  You can have ahi, spicy, albacore, marinated big eye, or even seared albacore.  Want crab?  THREE CHOICES (imitation, spicy, or snow crab).  Um, they have spam.  And ... lobster tail??!

Yes, this is why I picked Poke Origin, as I adore crab, and it is my poke of choice, and I was thrilled to see so many options.  I got all three.

Note that some items (like lobster tail, obviously, carry a surcharge).  Additional scoops are available for $2 more as well.

Sauce (0 - 3)

• Mild House Poke Sauce
• Spicy House Poke Sauce
• Spicy Aioli
• Creamy Wasabi
• Kimchee Sauce
• Sesame Aioli
• Unagi Sauce
• Honey Avocado
• Miso Sauce
• Yuzu Citrus

The sauce options were also plentiful, creamy, spicy, mild, light, and everything in-between.  I'll dock them a point for only allowing 3, although you could add more for $0.50 charge.

I went for 6 different sauces, all on the side.  Honestly, I wanted them all (except the honey avocado since I'm allergic), but I was trying to be reasonable.

Toppings (Unlimited)

• Seaweed Salad
• Edamame
• Jelly Fish
• Kimchee
• Oshinko
• Green Onion
• Cilantro
• Ginger
• Wasabi
• Massago
• Furikake
• Sesame Seed
• Minced Garlic
• Macadamia Nuts
• Tamago +$0.50
• Mango +$0.50
• Pineapple +$0.50
• Avocado +$0.50

And then, yup, tons of toppings, fruits, veggies, seasoning, crunchy stuff, and, uh, jellyfish?

Unlimited, although many premium ingredients had surcharges.

I added oshinko, green onion, ginger, wasabi, massago, furikake, sesame seeds, minced garlic, macadamia nuts, tamago, mango, and pineapple.  I was just so excited for all these choices!

Create Your Own Bowl (Large).
Top Layer: Tamago, Wasabi, Mango, Pineapple, Green Onion, Oshinko.

Digging into my bowl was a feat, as it was just so loaded up.  It was also HUGE.  Seriously, huge.  Large is easily multiple meals, or at least, it was in my case given the distribution of ingredients.  This was NOT a bowl of filler kale!

So, starting on top.

I haven't ever seen tamago at a poke shop before, and I was happy to pay a little extra for this.  The portion was a single slice.  It certainly wasn't fine sushi restaurant quality or anything, but, I enjoyed it.  Firm, slightly sweet.  I always get tamago at sushi restaurants for "dessert", and it worked similarly here, particularly with some sweet mango!

Speaking of mango, another premium ingredient, but done nicely here.  Large portion, super ripe and juicy.  The pineapple wasn't really worth the upcharge, it was literally just a little canned chunks of pineapple.  I was hoping it might be roasted?  Not sure what I was thinking really, likely just excited to see something different.  There was much less pineapple than mango, which was fine with me.

The wasabi, ginger, and green onion were not notable, all applied in reasonable portion.  My bowl was missing masago, which I ordered, and expect should have been on this top layer, as others in my group had it there.

My final ingredient here was oshinko, one of my favorite things.  I had exactly two small pieces.  TWO.  I know my bowl was loaded up, so I think this was the last thing to be added, and they just ran out of room?  I was still quite sad, as my co-workers (like the bowl pictured above), all had generous portions.

Middle Layer: Spicy Crab, Snow Crab, Imitation Crab, Sesame Seed, Furikake, Macademia Nuts.

Under that layer was the good stuff.  All the crabs, plus the "sprinkles".

I'll admit that I was pretty sad by the lack of quantity of the furikake, sesame seeds, and macademia nuts, as I adore those things.  It was easily fixed because I had my own at home, but still.  I also seemed to be missing the minced garlic, but it might have been in there and just minimal?

But the crab.  Um, wow.  You can't see it in this photo, but this was an insane amount of crab.  2-3 scoops of each of the three varieties.  I don't understand, actually.  My bowl had more proteins than any other, by far (of course, the others had more traditional, cubed, choices).  I'm not upset, but, it was an insane amount, honestly.

The spicy imitation crab was my favorite, standard imitation crab, shredded style, mixed with what I think was just the spicy aioli (which I had on the side too).  I liked it quite a bit, my favorite of the crabs.

The imitation crab was also good though, very standard imitation crab.  I enjoyed it, as I always do, particularly pairing and playing with different sauces (more on these soon).  It worked equally well with creamy sauces (creamy wasabi, spicy aioli, etc) and with lighter sauces (poke sauce, miso citrus, yuzu).  It also worked great as a "dip" for my taro chips (more on that soon too).  My second favorite of the crabs.

The one that shocked me though ... the snow crab.  The real crab.  The one I paid extra for.  It ... was just fishy and mushy.  I hated it, and discarded it.

Next time: I'm trying the spam, the seared albacore, and the lobster tail!

Lobster Tail..

One of my co-workers did get the lobster tail.  It came on the side, in its own box.  An actual poached lobster tail, in the shell and everything.

Crazy!

Bottom Layers: Kale, Sweet Corn, Jalapeno.

And then, once I extracted the pounds of crab, the base.

Normally bowls are filled up with the base, lots of rice, lots of greens, you know, the cheap filler.  For me?  Not much actually.  I *wanted* a bunch of kale, so this was a bit disappointing, but, again, they gave me so much crab I can't really be upset.

The kale was curly kale, and a bit strange actually.  It was very moist, in a way that almost seemed marinated.  I think this was just from all the toppings and juices running through.  I liked it though.

The jalapeno slices had some kick, great to pair with the crab.

And the strange winner?  Yeah, the sweet corn.  I'm nearly certain this was the kind from a can, honestly, nothing special at all, yet I really liked it.

Sauces: Creamy Wasabi, Sesame Aioli, Spicy Aioli, Miso Sauce, Spicy House Poke Sauce, Yuzu Citrus. (Top Left, Clockwise).

And then, sauces.  Normally mixed with your proteins and mix-ins, but I requested on the side so I could try independently, and mix and combine as I pleased.  And so I could dunk my taro chips!

I tried 6 of the 10 choices, and would gladly try all the rest.  They were all winners.

Starting from top left, clockwise:
Creamy Wasabi: This was good, I think actually a cream not mayo base, with a nice wasabi kick.  It didn't quite go with my selections, but I gladly saved it for later use, and, for the taro chips (which was a quasi successful pairing).  It worked great with some roasted plantains I had later!

Sesame Aioli: This was great! Nice flavor, creamy mayo base.  Interestingly, not a very full portion compared to the others.  Nice to dip the taro chips.

Spicy Aioli: Also good, creamy mayo based spicy aioli, like you'd use in spicy tuna or spicy crab, and I suspect they use to do so.  Not the best I've had, but totally fine.

Miso Sauce: This was fascinating.  I selected it because I like miso and I had no idea what to expect.  The miso flavor was there, which was nice, but it was also fairly oily.  I think it would make a great dressing mixed with some mayo.  Which I plan to use it for.

Spicy House Poke Sauce: Standard poke sauce, soy based, light, but, spicy (since I got the spicy one).  Nice heat.  Good with the crab instead of a creamy sauce for lighter option.

Yuzu Citrus:  Another light soy base, citrusy.  Fine, but my least favorite.

3 were included, the others were +$0.50 each extra.

Sides

It always makes me sad that most poke places to do not have side dishes for the most part.  Maybe some miso soup or bag of "Hawaiian" chips.  But Poke Origin, much like the plentiful options for proteins and toppings, has plentiful options for sides.  

Taro Chips. $2.

Ok, those taro chips I keep talking about.  They came in a little paper bag.  A little *greasy* paper bag.

They were just ok, honestly.  Over fried, as you can tell from the dark color.  Definitely too oily.  But the grease bag was a good sign, in that I think they were fairly freshly made?

I appreciated the option, and did gladly dunk them in my sauces, and use as scoops for my crabs.

Seaweed Salad. $3.50.

As I said, sometimes I like seaweed salad.  Sometimes I don't.  So, instead of having it as a topping on my bowl, where it could potentially "contaminate" everything else, I got it as a side.  

And ... it was the style I don't really like.  I still can't identify why I sometimes do and sometimes don't like seaweed salad.  It makes no sense, as it looks, and sounds, the same.  But it was just too slimy, got too stuck in my teeth, and didn't have great flavor.

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Poki Time

Poke, poke, poke.  Yup, I'm on board the trend, as you've been reading in all my poke reviews.

Poke has become my staple of business travel, when I really don't want to go out to another restaurant meal, and just want takeout or delivery to my hotel room.  I pick it generally because it is something that does work well for takeout/delivery, in that it isn't hot food that turns lukewarm, and it isn't particularly heavy, but can be full of flavor and texture.

But this time, I had poke in my home city, from Poki Time.  Poki Time is a small poke chain in the Bay Area, with only 3 locations, two in SF, one in Daly City.

We ordered delivery as we had some co-workers visiting from out of town, and they had just landed, and wanted a simple, fast dinner so they could get to their hotels and sleep.

I knew just what would fit the bill: poke!

Delivery was via Caviar, which was easy to use as always.  I especially liked being able to create a group order, and let everyone customize their bowls and place their own orders.  Delivery was on time, tracking was reliable, proper notice provided as delivery neared us, the currier friendly.  No issues at all with the ordering/delivery experience.

Our food came with folks and napkins, but no chopsticks.  I'm not sure if they don't offer them in general, but we all did say, "Minus one point!" for the lack of chopsticks.

*Very* Custom Bowl. Lol.

Ok, the concept of Poki Time is standard DIY Poke Bowls, with a few on-trend options (kale base of course!) and a few nice upgrades (real crab!).  Our bowls came nicely labelled, with each person's name, and full order details.

The options:

First: two sizes, regular (2 scoop) or large (3 scoop).

Then, base: White Rice, Brown rice, Mixed Greens, Kale (or any mix of two).

Then, protein: Salmon, Tuna, Yellowtail, Crab (Wild Blue Crab), Spicy Tuna, Shrimp, Tofu.

And ... sauce: Original (Sesame Shoyu), Spicy Mayo, Ponzu, Wasabi, Spicy Seoul (Korean-Pepper Sauce). You may select up to 5 of these.

Finally, toppings: Green Onions, Red Onions, Cucumber, Corn, Edamame, Seaweed Salad, Masago, Carrot, Jalapeño, Sesame Seeds, Furikake, Ginger, Wasabi.

And premium toppings: Avocado ($1.00), Mango ($0.50)

I was sad to not see that many crunchy toppings, but otherwise, the lineup looked decent.

I went for a regular bowl (2 scoop) but added a third scoop (more crab!), so, basically a large bowl.  I wanted to try all the sauces, but was limited to 5, so I picked 5, and asked for them on the side, with a note about wanting to try the sauces.  They threw in the 6th one too!  I also asked for lots of crunchy topping, noting that fried onions weren't available on the delivery menu, but I thought they had them.  They included them.

My creation:

• Kale base.
• Salmon, Crab, Extra Scoop of Crab.
• Green Onions, Seaweed Salad, Masago, Carrot, Mango
• Wasabi, Ginger, Furikake, Sesame Seeds.
• All the sauces (on the side).

Custom Bowl. $15.45.

The bowls were all really nicely assembled, each ingredient in its section.  Quantities of each ingredient though were not consistent.

Overall ... it was ... ok.  Some positive points, some negative.

The kale base was a strong point, very fresh, crisp, and nice size chunks.  I laughed at myself for ordering the kale, but, I did like it.

The carrots were just shredded and a bit dry.  The green onion, pickled ginger, wasabi, and masago were all very standard, nothing interesting to say about them.  Not much green onion, but everything else was a good amount, not too much, not too little.

The mango was a big surprise, there was TONS of it.  And it was really fresh, juicy, ripe, sweet.  Mango in the US is usually so lackluster, this was a very pleasant surprise, and, even though a $0.50 extra charge, my portion of mango was a bit insane.

The seaweed salad was also a surprise for me, as I've lately been skipping seaweed salad, or, more often, ordering it, and not liking it, and being sad, because I used to love it.  This version I really did enjoy.  I think it didn't have the standard marinade/sesame seeds/etc to it, and I just found the flavor and texture much nicer.  The portion was normal, but I wished for more!

Speaking of wishing for more there was barely any sesame seeds or furikake.  It was clearly a tiny little shaker, with a single dash applied.  Basically non-existent.  I was glad I had a container of sesame seeds/furikake/crispy onions/nori at my desk (this is normal, right?) to jazz it up.  I offered more to my co-workers who all eagerly added some, and said that their bowls too were lacking.

And finally, the seafood.  I was thrilled to see crab treated as a protein and not just a side, and, it was real crab (snow crab).  The seafood came in HUGE scoops.  Seriously massive portions.

The problem?  I didn't like it.  At all.

The salmon was chewy, very chewy, and didn't taste fresh.  I discarded it quickly.

The crab I tried sooo hard to like.  Real crab.  Lump crab chunks in there even, along with lots of shredded crab.  But ... it was just too mushy, too fishy, and just not good.  I really didn't like it.  It reminded me of bad tuna salad.  Its particularly sad because there was sooo much of it.

So, the kale base, the mango, the seaweed salad, all great, above average even.  Many other elements, average.  But the seafood ... not so good.

All the sauces.

Like I said, I asked for my sauces on the side, and I'm glad I did.  I love trying all the sauces.  They even threw in the 6th one for me, even though they normally limit you to 5 sauces.  Thank you, Poki Time!

The sauces weren't labelled, but most were easy to figure out, once I tasted them.

Top to bottom:

• Spicy Seoul (Korean-Pepper Sauce): This was the one I didn't order, because I could only pick 5, but they added in for me.  No question which this was once I took a bite, this stuff was clearly the spicy one!  It packed some serious punch, gochujang / sriracha like spice.  Great for adding some kick, if you wanted it.
• Original (Sesame Shoyu)  [ I think ]: The shoyu and ponzu were hard to distinguish.  I think I detected a slight amount of sesame flavor in one, so, I deem it the Original.  Light, mild, soy based.  Simple, likely a good marinade.
• Wasabi: I had no idea what to expect from a sauce simply called "wasabi", but, it seemed to be just soy sauce ... with wasabi added?  No different really from what I could achieve from the original sauce and my wad of wasabi in my bowl.  But, normally you use this as a sauce the fish is tossed with, so that would be more interesting than just the original sauce.
• Ponzu [ I think ]: Like I said, the ponzu and shoyu were hard to distinguish, this one also just a light soy-like sauce, but I think I detected a hint of citrus.
• Spicy Mayo: The only creamy sauce on offer, spicy mayo.  Fairly standard, creamy, spicy (sriracha? or maybe the korean pepper?).
• Sweet Soy (Unagi Sauce): This one was the most unique, a thicker sauce, sweet, sticky.  I think best used as a drizzle, I wouldn't have necessarily wanted my fish tossed with it.

Overall, I'm glad I got to try all the sauces, but none were really standouts for me.  I saved my sauces and used them many ways over the next few days, but, I didn't ever really find a favorite, or one I felt compelled to find pairings for.

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Poke from New Sushi Inc, Boston

New Sushi is fairly new to Boston, opened in 2016.  While the restaurant name is "new sushi", they don't actually serve any sushi, or at least, any nigiri or standard rolls.  Instead, they offer, well, "new" style sushi, that is ... sushi burritos.  And poke bowls.  So on trend.

And, as much as I hate being into trends, well, they are ones I get behind (e.g. I love Sushiritto in SF for the sushi burritos, and during my recent travels to Seattle and southern California, I've gotten a bit addicted to poke bowls ... like Cubed Poke and Pokéworks in Irvine, CA, Pokéworks in Mountain View, CA, MIX Poke Bar in Bellevue, WA, and, more locally, Big Fish Little Fish in San Francisco). 

So when I was in Boston staying just one night in a hotel near the airport ... poke delivery called out.

New Sushi offers 3 options for your creation: a burrito (sushi rice and seaweed wrap), a poke bowl (sushi rice or white sticky rice base), or a salad bowl (romaine base).  All come with choice of 2 or 3 proteins, 1 sauce, up to 6 regular toppings, and 2 crunch toppings.  Most places allow you to pay extra for more toppings, but, New Sushi does not.  Want al 4 crunch toppings?  So, no luck.

Delivery Create Your Own.

I didn't visit in person, rather, opted for delivery (via DoorDash) to my hotel room on a very, very cold night, but I know the concept is Chipotle style, with everything laid out and assembled to order.

My order came quickly, no drama, and the bowl was clearly handled with care, not mixed around, and nicely assembled.

For proteins, you can select 1-2 for a regular bowl, and 1-3 for a large, from a set of 6 options, 3 standard raw poke style seafoods (tuna, albacore tuna, salmon), 1 cooked seafood (tempura shrimp), 1 vegetarian (tofu skin), and 1 ... chicken.

For sauce, you pick only one (boo!), again out of 6 options, including creamy mayo bases (spicy mayo, classic mayo, wasabi mayo) and lighter options (spicy ponzu, ginger sauce, and "yazu" sauce ... whatever that is).

Next, up to 6 toppings, out of a list of 12, mostly basic veggies (romaine, cucumber, red onion, cabbage, jalapeno, carrot), crunchy things (tobika, sesame seeds), plus the standard higher end add-ins (avocado, seaweed salad, and crab salad), and a more unique choice of Japanese pickle.

And finally, two crunch toppings out of four: onion, scallion, or garlic crisps, and shredded nori.

Regular Create Your Own:  $10.50.

My order was:

• Base: Salad Bowl.
• Protein: Shrimp Tempura, Tofu Skin.
• Sauce: Spicy Ponzu. (on the side).
• Toppings: Cabbage, Crab Salad (x2), Japanese Pickle, Seaweed Salad, Sesame Seeds.
• Crunch: Scallion Crispy, Shredded Nori

Yes, not really a "poke bowl", as I didn't have rice, nor raw fish.  Let's just call it a Japanese-ish salad?  I feel silly, since I don't actually like poke (meh, rice, and I just haven't been into raw fish lately), but, well, I adore bowls like this.

The base was actually fairly boring, chunks of romaine.  I prefer more interesting mixed greens or kale, but they only offered romaine.  I was impressed by the quality.  Clearly very fresh, very crisp, juicy, not wilted, not browned, etc.  Very good ... but it was romaine.

The crunchy toppings were good, a pile of chopped shredded nori in the center, some crunchy crispy bits of scallion on one side.  I would have liked even more of these, or some of any of the other crunchy toppings, just cuz I adore crunch, but, the amount was reasonable, and both were good.

The sesame seed topping was sprinkled all over the top which added a bit more crunch too.

The other toppings were all arranged in piled around the exterior of the bowl.

The cabbage (purple) was fresh and crisp, a nice compliment to the romaine, good portion, just enough not dominant.  It made me wonder about a "poke" bowl with a cabbage/slaw base rather than greens?

The seaweed salad was also a good portion, a nice mound, but I didn't really like it as much as most.  It didn't seem to have much marinade nor flavor to it. It was fine, but, boring.

My Bowl: Under the Toppings.

The "Japanese Pickles" turned out to be takuan, slices of pickled daikon.  Crisp, but, I didn't care for the flavor (and I do like takuan).  There was more of this than any other topping, and it kinda dominated (which, would be great, ifI liked it).

My final topping was the crab salad (fake crab) which I asked for double of since I adore it (enough to have a label on my blog devoted to it!), but, since it was a delivery order, I did that via the comments section in the ordering tool, and I'm pretty sure this was just a single serving.

I loved it.  Loved it, loved it, loved it.  Shredded "krab", creamy mayo base.  I seriously would have been happy with just a big bowl of this and some crunchy toppings.

For my actual protein choices, I went for the shrimp tempura and tofu skin, since I haven't been into raw fish lately, and I dislike chicken.

The shrimp tempura was an amazing surprise.  I think it was just one piece of shrimp, chopped up into a few pieces, but it was excellent.  Flavorful, great batter, somehow still crisp, and the shrimp itself wasn't fishy at all.  Really shockingly good.

The tofu skin was eh.  Marinated, chopped up, but, not particularly flavorful nor interesting.  I wish I could have just had two shrimp tempura!

And finally, sauce, which I asked for on the side.  I went for the spicy ponzu (because I had a spicy mayo sauce in the fridge already), and it wasn't particularly good.  Certainly not spicy.  Mostly just tasted like soy sauce.  I was glad I had my other sauce to dunk the shrimp tempura in, and the crab salad had so much creaminess already that I didn't need more for that.

So, overall, there were some highlights (the crab salad! The shrimp tempura!), but, overall, I don't feel compelled to order from New Sushi again, unless I really could double up on the shrimp tempura and crab salad, and add on more crunchy toppings.

Regular size was plenty, and decent for the $10.50 price.

"Chips". $2.

The list of sides available is meager: edamame, seaweed salad, and chips.

Most poke places offer chips ... they are usually taro chips, usually made in house.  So I eagerly added "chips" onto my order, slightly concerned because the menu didn't specify what kind of chips, but also didn't offer any options.  If the chips were just regular potato chips, surely, they'd have options, right?

Apparently ... wrong.

Really, I paid $2 for a tiny bag of plain Lay's potato chips?  Boo to this.

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Pokéworks, Mountain View

I've been reviewing a lot of poke places lately.  Which I know is a bit funny, as I also keep talking about how I don't really like raw fish these days.  But I love sauces, crunchy toppings, and crab salad.  And "krab" salad.  So, I'm kinda obsessed with poke bowls, just, uh, not the central component.

Most of my poke has been consumed while traveling, like MIX Poke Bar in Bellevue, Cubed Poke in Irvine, and New Sushi Inc in Boston (review coming soon!).  In SF, so far, I've only been to Big Fish, Little Fish (meh).

It turns out, I also ordered delivery from Pokéworks when I was in Irvine, I just didn't recognize the name, until I visited Pokéworks in Mountain View, and realized it was the same chain.  Doh!  Luckily, I liked Pokéworks, so I was excited when I realized this.

Or at least, I loved the toppings ... the lotus chips and wonton crisps in particular.  They were awesome.

So, I eagerly dragged a crew of co-works into Pokéworks in downtown Mountain View, excited to get a bowl of crispy things, crab salad, and yummy sauces.

But this location ... let something to be desired.

They were out of ... many things.  The seaweed snacks I planned to get on the side.  Sparkling water, my drink of choice.  And ... the lotus chips.  And the crispy wontons.  And the macadamia nuts.  Bora.  Sigh.  I know places run out of things, but this was a bunch of the things I wanted.  I adore the crispy things, and when I asked about it, she simply said, "we can't cook anything here, so we never have them."  It certainly didn't seem like they had just run out in that case ...

That said? I still adored my bowl.

Setting

Storefront.

The Mountain View location is ... tiny, even if it doesn't look so from the outside.  Located on Castro Street, right in downtown, a great location.

Register & Kitchen & Pickup.

When you enter though, the size is shocking.  Wowzer it was tiny.

No seating.  Very narrow.  Small register with *tiny* food prep area behind.

The line was short, but SOOOOOO slow.

Ordering Tablet.

They also had an ordering tablet, where we started our order, but realized we couldn't really modify things as we wanted, so, we waited.  And waited.  And waited in line.

Drinks.

The drinks were self-serve in a cooler.  Just water, a few sodas, and several varieties of iced tea were available.

They were out of sparkling water, which I was able to order from the tablet.  Glad we didn't actually place our order there.

Finishing Station.

Opposite the tablet was the condiments area, with napkins, wooden chopsticks, plastic cutlery, and simple sauces (soy, sesame oil, sriracha).  I appreciated that they had the extra sauces, but didn't end up needing them (more on that soon).

Food

The menu was basically the same as my previous experience at Pokéworks, just, minus all the missing items. "Poke your way", with a white rice/brown rice/quinoa/salad base, or a burrito, your choice of protein (2 for a regular, 3 for a large), mix-ins, single flavor sauce, toppings, crunch.  Or go simple with a already created "Signature Works".  They did not offer the kale noodles that lead me astray in Irvine, not that I wanted them.

I went custom, and customized ... extensively.  But I loved the results.

Poke Your Way, Regular. $10.95.

My bowl:

Base: Salad: fresh romaine and spring mix.

1st Protein: None.

2nd Protein: None.

Mix-Ins: Diced Mango, Hijiki Seaweed (Double), Ogo Seaweed (Double), Shiso Leaves.

Sauce: Umami Shoyu && Wasabi Aioli (both on the side).

Toppings: Surimi Salad (Double), Green Onion, Pickled Ginger, Spicy Furikake, Wasabi.

Crunch: Garlic Crisps, Onion Crisps, Shredded Nori, Toasted Rice Puffs.

I know this isn't really a traditional poke bowl in any way.  No main protein selection.  Believe me, I get that.  But I didn't want it.

I also didn't want a rice base, as I just don't like rice, so I opted for mixed greens instead, the least offensive of the options, although I wasn't actually excited for that either (but I just really don't like rice/brown rice/quinoa).  I wanted taro chips as a base!

I didn't have a protein.  I haven't been liking raw seafood lately, and I didn't want chicken or tofu, so, I just asked for no protein, which was a difficult thing to convince her I really wanted.

And I asked for sauces on the side, rather than mixed in, so I could experiment with different ones.  And wanted more than one sauce, which was also difficult.

I know this order was strange.  But, it is what I wanted.  And I liked it.  A lot.

My Bowl!

Once I dug in though, my grumpiness at the whole ordering experience went away.

I really enjoyed my bowl, although not every element was a success.

I could care less about the mixed greens base, and still really wish they'd have taro chips or perhaps even just kale, but, at least the greens were just non-offensive and an ok base, compared to the kale noodles I accidentally ordered (thinking it was shredded kale), last time..

It somehow had tons of mango (like seriously, why so much mango!), and, I didn't care for that either.  It wasn't very ripe, but really, it just didn't go with anything.  I ordered it before I learned about the lack of macadamia, and I had a mango-macadamia thing in mind, and instead, just wound up with lots of mango (seriously, tons of it) that didn't go with other elements like the wasabi aioli at all.

I also didn't like the pickled ginger, just like in Irvine, I found it strangely bitter.

But everything else ... everything else I really enjoyed, and I didn't really mind discarding these few things that I didn't care for.

I asked for double the crab salad, and since I didn't have a protein, this was accommodated, a bit huge pile of crab.  Ok, "crab", but I didn't care.  Plain on its own of course, but once I added the umami shoyu or the wasabi aioli, it was quite flavorful.  Both sauces worked, just in different ways, one a lighter option, the other more creamy.  I liked it both ways, and I was glad I opted to have those on the side so I could experiment.

I also loved the different seaweeds and the shiso, and asked for 2-3 times the normal amount, which resulted in an amazing layer of seaweeds.  Since I didn't get the seaweed salad (I just haven't been liking that style of seaweed lately!), and didn't have a protein, they didn't seem to mind loading me up on other things.

And finally, my crunch.  Not the crunch I wanted since they were missing half the things I wanted, but the crispy onion, garlic, and rice puffs all did give lots of crunch to it.

My perfect bites were seaweeds + crab salad + crunch + one of the sauces.  Seriously, so good.  I wonder what they'd do if I tried to order both no base and no protein, lol?  #nextTime

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Pokéworks, Irvine

The first night I was in Irvine, I ordered poke delivery from Cubed Poke.  It was crazy satisfying.

So, two nights later, when I again needed dinner and I was too worn out to drag myself out somewhere, poke delivery it was.

This time from Pokéworks, delivered via Door Dash.  Ordering online was easy, and I tried out the group order feature, as another co-worker wanted to order as well.  It arrived around the quoted time, mostly correct.

Pokéworks main concept is "Poke Your Way", although they do have several pre-designed bowls.  Besides poke though, they have little else, just miso soup and packaged roasted seaweed round out the menu.

But the poke menu is ... extensive to say the least.  I picked Pokéworks not only for the good reviews, but, for the mix-in and topping selection in particular.  I've never seen so many options.

Poke Your Way, Regular.  $10.95 + $1.

I went for a poke bowl, regular size.  It came packaged nicely, everything was still separate in the bowl, which surprised me, I expected a jumbled mess from delivery.

Of course I customized my own bowl.

First up, selecting the base.  Even just for the base, you have 6 options.  Standard sushi rice, or organic brown rice if you want healthier, or quinoa if you want healthier still.  Or mixed greens for a salad option.  Or ... a sushi burrito, with rice and seaweed wrap.  Or ... "kale noodles".

Next, protein, 7 choices.  Again, standard options (salmon, ahi, albacore), but also some more creative ones (sous vide shrimp, sous vide scallops), something for the vegetarians (tofu), and something for your non-seafood eating friends (chicken).  No octopus, but, really, quite the selection.

Next, mix-ins, to be mixed with the sauce and protein.  Here too, the options were extensive, 11 options in all, and again, including many options outside the standard cucumbers, edamame, and onions: diced mango and orange slices for a tropical feel.  Not one, but two different types of seaweed (hijiki, ogo).  All sorts of herbs.

Then of course, your sauce.  8 options, some light, some heavier creamy aiolis.

And then, finally, the parts that I really cared about: toppings and crunch.  Starting with toppings.  10 options, mostly the standard lineup: avocado, crab salad, seaweed salad, green onions, pickled ginger, wasabi, masago, tobiko, sesame seeds, furikake.

And lastly ... crunch!  7 more things to pick from.

A regular size is $10.95, large $13.50.  Regular bowls come with 2 proteins, large with 3.  And unlike many places, the mix-ins, toppings, and crunch are not limited.  No "4 included, additional $0.50" sort of setup, and only a few (quinoa, avocado, and macadamia nuts) have any surcharge.

My Custom Bowl.

Given all the options, you'd think that I would have decision making problems.  But actually, it was simple to assemble my bowl.

Base: Kale Noodle

1st Protein: Scallop (Sous Vide)
2nd Protein: Shrimp (Sous Vide)
Mix-Ins: Diced Mango, Hijiki Seaweed, Ogo Seaweed, Shiso Leaves
Sauce: Umami Shoyu, Sauce Level: Medium Sauce

Toppings: Crab Salad, Green Onion, Pickled Ginger, Seaweed Salad, Spicy Furikake, Wasabi
Crunch: Garlic Crisps, Lotus Chips, Onion Crisps, Roasted Macadamia Nuts, Sesame Seeds, Shredded Nori, Wonton Crisps

Yes, I really did order all the crunch toppings except the puffed rice.  It took a while to find the rest of my contents under the toppings.

But, as I expected, the toppings were the best part.

The shredded nori, sesame seeds, green onion, and furikake were pretty standard, sprinkled on top of everything, and all added good flavors.

I adored my crunch elements, particularly the lotus chips, followed closely by the wonton crisps.  I'm not entirely sure I found the garlic crisps and onion crisps in there, and gladly would have taken even more of the lotus chips.  I kinda wish they had them available as a side, or, a base option (like the taro chips at Cubed Poke, or the tortilla chips many places offer).  Anyway, as silly as my crunch lineup was, these were some of my favorite bits.

The seaweed salad was actually not my favorite, a bit bitter almost.  I added soy sauce to it, and it was better, but, somehow I didn't love the standard marinade it had (even though it looked like every generic seaweed salad out there).  The crab salad (surimi really), was fine, better than the version from Cubed actually, but a fairly small portion.  The pickled ginger was a ridiculously large portion.   I'm not sure what on earth happened there, as everything else was in proportion, but, the entire center of my bowl was a huge mass of pickled ginger.  It was fine, but, way too much.  The wasabi was a decent sized little pile that I was able to mix in with soy sauce and use as I desired without overwhelming other elements.

So overall, decent toppings, great crunch elements.  Underneath that all was the actual proteins, mixed with my mix-ins and sauce, and my base.

Kale Noodles, Sous Vide Shrimp, Sous Vide Scallops.

Since I haven't really been into raw seafood lately, and I don't like chicken or tofu, my protein choices were easy: sous vide shrimp and scallops.  (Side note: really, I want poke bowls with just crab salad, but alas, no where lets me pick that!)

The portion of both proteins was generous, but, I didn't quite care for either.  The scallops, mid-sized bay scallops, were a good texture, but fairly fishy.  The shrimp, again, decent enough texture, good sized, but they weren't deveined.  I didn't really taste much of the umami shoyu sauce I picked.  I did really like both seaweeds in the mix, far more than the seaweed salad, but, since it was mixed in here, it was hard to really get much of.

The mango bits were odd, they looked like egg yolk, brilliant orange color, but were indeed mango.  They went great with my macadamia nuts, and reminded me of my old favorite "Hawaiian #2" sushi roll from Sushi Zone in San Francisco.  Mango and macadamia, always a good combo.

And finally, my base.  Kale noodles.

Which turned out to be ... uh, green-ish soba noodles?  I'll admit, this is not what I expected at all.  I foolishly thought "kale noodles" was just a fancy term for shredded kale, kinda like "zucchini noodles" that are just spiralized zucchini.  That is, I thought I was getting a raw kale salad, more like the bowl from Cubed I had two nights prior.  Instead I had ... real noodles.  Doh.

I didn't really like the noodles, but, I don't really like soba noodles.  Kinda soft, but not mushy, not clumped together, but, uh, meh, soba noodles.  I guess they had some kind of kale element, as they were a bit green?  I wished I had selected the mixed greens. 

Sauces?

Included in the takeout bag was a bunch of sauces, 3 each of a brown one, 3 each of a red one.  I'm not really sure why, or what they were, but the red one was crazy spicy, and the brown one I think might have just been soy sauce?

I ordered with one other co-worker, so we had two bowls, which came with two sets of chopsticks and utensils, but we had 3 each of these sauces, so, it wasn't like we were each supposed to get one.

I did also order a wasabi aioli on the side, but, alas, it did not come.  I did appreciate the soy-like sauce, as I used it on my seaweed salad and my crab salad.

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Cubed Poke, Irvine

Poke, poke, poke.  Yup, its a trend.  Yes, it will hit the Bay Area soon enough, if my recent travel to the Los Angeles and Seattle areas are representative of larger trends.  We might have a few poke places around San Francisco, but, wow, they are *everywhere* in Los Angeles.  And you know what? I'm on board.  Which is funny, as I don't really care for raw fish these days.  But bear with me.

Cubed is one of many, many poke establishments in the Irvine area.  I ordered delivery my first night in the area, when my flight was 5 hours delayed (!), and I arrived at the hotel much later than planned.  Once I was in a cab, I pulled up a delivery app, ordered a poke bowl, and it arrived about 10 minutes after I completed check-in.  Magic.

Since I ordered delivery, I can't comment on the establishment itself, but, the delivery was reasonably fast, well packaged.  It did come with a fork rather than chopsticks, and randomly, some soy sauce, but besides that, all was good.

Cubed's focus is poke bowls, but they also have a slew of interesting other dishes: avocado toasts (yes, really, let's just roll our eyes now), and tons of different musubis (traditional spam, but also deep fried, or tonkatsu, or even one with spam and jalapeno poppers).  Oooh, and battered fried salmon belly bites.  But since I was getting delivery, poke it was.

They have a selection of Cubed Signature bowls, their recommended recipes.  These all have no substitutions allowed though, so, not quite what I wanted, so I made my own.

 It was crazy satisfying, but, I was also starving at that point.

BYOB. $8.99 + $1 + $1+ $0.25.

"Our menu may look complicated and overwhelming but the best things in life usually are. We provide you with our house made sauces, variety of bases to fit your needs and wants with endless toppings. With our amazing sauces and quality ingredients, it would be nearly impossible to create a bad poke bowl."

Base: 1/2 kale, 1/2 shredded cabbage.

Protein: Octopus.

Sauce: Garlic ponzu.

Toppings: Wakame salad, fried shallots, tempura flakes, furikake, ponzu jelly, and garlic chips.

Premium Toppings: Imitation Crab, Pickled Radish.

Bowls have a lot of options.

First up, the base, with more options than most places: three types of rice (white, brown, forbidden), kale (yup, on trend!), shredded cabbage, or taro chips.  I was thrilled by these options, as I don't like rice, and most places only offer mixed greens.  I opted for half kale, half cabbage (although, taro chips were *very* tempting, I just added them on as a side instead).

Next, protein.  Standard salmon, tuna, spicy tuna, plus yellowtail or octopus.  A decent selection, but no scallops nor shrimp, nor anything like chicken or tofu for the non-seafood eaters.  I went for octopus.

Then sauce: ponzu, shoyu, garlic ponzu, spicy mayo, creamy ginger wasabi, yuzu.  I went for the garlic ponzu, with spicy mayo on the side.

Next, 5 toppings are included for free, with a huge selection, like veggies (onions, cucumbers, corn, shallots, jalapenos, green onion), crunchy things (fried shallots, tempura flakes, garlic chips), seasonings (sesame seeds, furikake, nori, chili oil, wasabi), and much more.  Additional toppings are $0.25 each.  I wanted too many of these, but narrowed in on 6 (yup, I paid an extra shiny quarter), going for the standard wakame salad, adding three crispy things (fried shallots, tempura flakes, and garlic chips), one spice (furikake), and, just randomly, because it sounded strange, ponzu jelly.

Premium toppings are next, and these all carry an additional $1 charge, items like avocado and imitation crab (that are often included in the base price elsewhere), plus far more interesting items like different types of masago, quail eggs, and their signature mango salsa.  I splurged for two, imitation crab and pickled radish.

So, how was it all?  Very good.  Well assembled.

I really liked my choices of the base, crispy shredded cabbage and fresh crunchy curly kale.  The cabbage was my favorite, as I adore slaws, and it soaked up the sauce from the poke really well.  Loved it, and I wish more places offered cabbage as a base.  The kale gave a good chew and made it more filling.

The sauce was fine, fairly mild but good slightly sweet soy flavor, and I wanted more actually, but at least it wasn't drowning in it.

The octopus was ... ok.  A huge, generous portion though.  Sooo much of this.  Kinda chewy, not awesome, but wow they gave a lot.  An an assortment of different cuts, some slices of thick bits, some smaller pieces of tentacles.  It was fine for what it was, but, I really only like grilled octopus, and only ordered this because I needed to pick something, and didn't want the raw seafood.

The seaweed salad was pretty standard, as was the crab salad.  The crab salad was a huge scoop, and my favorite component of the bowl.  Creamy, but not drenched in mayo.

The ponzu jelly was pretty fascinating, not as strong of a flavor as I thought it might be, but little cubes of flavor and a fun texture.  Also good flavor and texture was the pickled radish, crunchy and with slight acidity.  I'm really glad I added both of these.

My crunchy things were all kinda lost in each other: fried shallots, tempura flakes, and crispy garlic.  I loved the bits of crunch, and the additional flavor from the garlic and shallots in particular, but, they were all jumbled together.  All three probably weren't necessary.

So, a success.  If I could leave out the protein, I would, but otherwise, I'd happily order this same bowl again, perhaps asking for more sauce, and perhaps leaving off a crispy choice or adding on some other toppings, but, I liked my selections, and everything was fresh and flavorful.

Taro Chips. $2.00.

I didn't need a side with my bowl, but, I couldn't resist trying the house made taro chips.  I love snacky crispy things and I adore taro.  Plus, I thought I could save them for later ... (ha)

The taro chips were good.  Salty, crispy, fresh tasting, good taro flavor.  Devoured.

They are also available with mango salsa or guacamole to dip, but I'm allergic to avocado, so I ordered a side of spicy mayo to dip them in (and potentially mix into my bowl too).  It turned out to be too spicy and a strange flavor, but they were tasty enough on their own.

The decent sized bag was only $2, a good value.  

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MIX Poke Bar, Bellevue

Poke.  Poke bowls.  One of the latest fads for sure, and although it has hit San Francisco it isn't too bad, but the same cannot be said for Los Angeles and Seattle.  Seriously, everywhere.

As I haven't been into raw fish lately, poke isn't particularly interesting to me, except that poke bowl places have tons of mix-ins, toppings, and sauces.  Um, I live for toppings and sauces.  And they usually some interesting protein options besides just standard raw tuna (crab salad! Scallops! Octopus!)

So when I arrived in Bellevue, WA on a Sunday evening and didn't have the energy to go out to a real restaurant, poke it was.

I had my choice of at least 3 different poke places all within half a block of my hotel, but I went for MIX Poke Bar, the one with the highest Yelp ratings.

MIX Poke Bar is fairly new, open only a year, located in Bellevue Square mall.

Ordering Window.

"MIX Poke Bar puts a modern spin on the traditional Hawaiian dish while respecting the history and culture of where it came from. "

MIX Poke Bar is a very casual place, located on the sidewalk basically next to The Cheesecake Factory outside the Macy's in Bellevue Square mall.

They have no seating, and really, it is just a open ordering area to the outside.

The menu is poke bowls.  There are lots of customization, all included in the price, but besides that, the menu contains only bags of chips (Hawaiian chips), soft drinks (Hawaiian Sun), poke by the pound, and macaroons.

The first thing you select is the size, ranging from "Regular" with 2 proteins for $12 to "X-Large" with 4 proteins for $16.  I'm not sure if the amount of the base changes too, or just the proteins?  There is no option for a single protein, but probably you can just select one and double up?

The next decision is what your base will be.  Salad greens, white rice, brown rice, or tortilla chips.

I went for the smallest size since I wasn't actually very hungry, with salad greens as my base, because I don't like rice.  I was planning to get the chips actually, but the person before me got chips, and I saw they were just tortilla chips.  Somehow I thought they'd be more interesting than that.

With your bowl size determined, and the base added to it in, it is time to continue down the assembly line.

Proteins.

Next up is your choice of protein.  Choices here include standard raw offerings (tuna, salmon), cooked seafood (shrimp, octopus), a non-seafood option (chicken), and vegetarian option (tofu).

The only protein I really wanted from this section was the octopus, but I picked salmon as my second since I was required to pick two, and, I figured I could hedge my bets.  I certainly didn't want chicken or tofu, and I'm just not really into raw seafood these days, but, I do still sometimes like raw salmon, and I was in the Pacific Northwest after all!

Your protein is put into a metal bowl for mixing with the mix-ins, not into the container with your base.

Mix-Ins.

Next is, well, the mix-ins.

Green onion slivers, slices of sweet white onion, cubes of cucumber, thin slices of jalapeno, and ogo (seaweed).

I don't like cucumbers so I skipped that, and was planning to add many things in the next station, so I left out the jalapeno and sweet onion, but added the green onion and ogo since I thought they'd compliment my upcoming selections well.

These were added to the bowl with my proteins.

Sauces.

Next, sauce and sprinkles.

The sauce choices all sounded pretty interesting: House Shoyu, Creamy Spicy, Sweet + Savory Miso, Gochujang Ponzu.  I narrowed down to creamy spicy (because, um, I love creamy sauces) and sweet + savory miso (because, uh, miso), and asked for a recommendation.  I was told that they are both great, and that people love to mix them.  I didn't know that was an option!  Of course I wanted to mix.

The sauces are normally added to the metal mixing bowl with the protein and mix-ins, but I asked to have mine on the side, for two reasons: first, what if I didn't like it!  But second, I wasn't planning to eat it right away, and I didn't want it to get mushy.  

This was no problem, and my sauce mix was made into a little container on the side instead.   The person making my bowl recommended that I still add sesame oil to the mix then, which I agreed to.  She also offered sesame seeds from the shaker, which I also said yes to.

Toppings.

The final station is why I was really there.  Honestly, if I could have just gotten toppings, I would have.

Krab salad, seaweed salad, masago, wasabi, ginger, furikake, crispy onions, and edamame.

I left off the edamame and roe, but went for everything else.

Regular. $12.

So, my final creation: Regular size, mixed green base, tako and salmon proteins mixed with green onion and ono tossed with sesame oil and sesame seeds, topped with krab salad, seaweed salad, ginger, wasabi, furikake, and extra crispy onions, with spicy creamy + sweet and savory miso sauce mix on the side.

I think I selected well, although, poke bowls just really aren't for me.  I still enjoyed most of it.

I'm not a big salad eater, but, the greens were good, a pretty standard mix of "salad greens", that is, baby spinach, a few slightly bitter lettuces, some standard green leaf.  All fresh enough, and delicious dunked in the sauce, and tasty where the sesame oil soaked in.

The proteins though ... I did not like.  At all.  The tako I was pretty excited for.  I adore octopus, and I've been on an octopus kick lately.  But this ... this was every reason people don't like octopus.  It was sooo chewy, rubbery.  I really couldn't get through it with my teeth.  It had no flavor, only chew.  I love a nice smoky grilled octopus, but this ... yeah.  I tried a few different pieces, different sizes, different parts, hoping something would be salvageable, but alas, no.

The salmon I also didn't like, but that I expected a bit more.  It wasn't well trimmed, and it was pretty flavorless.  Not nearly as offensive as the octopus, but really not good.

The sesame oil, green onions, and seaweed that were mixed in though were good, and I enjoyed those elements, particularly as the lettuce below soaked it all up.

My toppings though redeemed the whole thing.

In the center of my bowl was a scoop of the krab salad.  Yes, it was "krab" and I knew it, but I loved it.  Bring on the mayo and I'm a happy girl.

The seaweed salad was another scoop, added on one side, and it too was good.  Better than most generic seaweed salad, a good assortment of seaweeds, great flavors and seasonings.  Awesome mixed with the krab salad too.

The ginger was a bit comical ... a huge, huge mound, as big as the pile of krab salad if not bigger.  Um, I didn't need that much ginger.  It was pretty typical low-end pickled ginger.  Nice to cleanse the palette I guess, but not particularly good.  The wasabi was even funnier, just a big pile of wasabi paste stuck on top of the bowl.  Uh ... I guess I was supposed to mix it in?  It too seemed pretty low end.  I'd probably leave both of these off in the future.

The crispy onion bits were awesome.  I'm a sucker for these in general, so it probably comes as no surprise that I loved them.  I loved the crunch, I loved the fried-ness.  I was originally given a little mound, just like all the other elements, in its own separate area, but I asked for extra, saying I just loved crunch so much, and so she sprinkled some all over the top.  Yes!

Furikake was my final topping, also sprinkled all over the top.  It added great flavors to everything.

And finally, my sauces, on the side.  They were both great.  The creamy spicy sauce wasn't really that spicy, but it was quite flavorful, and yup, mayo.  I enjoyed dunking salad into it, and would have liked dunking my octopus in, if I had liked the octopus that is.  The sweet and savory miso was a lighter option, but again, great flavor.  I see why she recommended mixing them.

So overall, I did actually end up with a tasty salad that I enjoyed, topped with very flavorful seaweed salad, creamy krab salad, and plenty of crunchy fried onions, with very delicious sauces on the side.  It was fairly healthy and quite satisfying, and really packed in a lot of flavors and textures.

That said, I discarded the premium parts of my bowl, the salmon and octopus, and that felt a bit sad.  I really wish I could just go for some krab salad and seaweed salad sides, topped with crispy onions and furikake!

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