In search of the best Poke

Yeah I’m obsessed. Poke is one of my favorites. I live in the SF Bay Area and poke is huge here. Being a sushi fan, poke is a cheap fast alternative.

Poke comes in three forms: prepared ready to scoop on rice, build your own (like the Chipotle of sushi), or as a menu item at a sit down restaurant. Prepared poke restaurants will have a handful of options, mostly tuna, with different sauces. Some had crab or onions or seaweed in them, others just sauce. The restaurants will usually have some form of soy based sauce with different toppings on rice and/or greens.

Maui, Hawaii

This post was written prior to the devastating fires in Maui. My heart goes out to everyone on the island especially those who lost their lives, homes, family, and businesses.

Having recently traveled to Hawaii I found that most of the poke restaurants were in the first style, already pre-sauces and ready to go and almost all restaurants had a poke bowl on the menu. Many of the grocery stores had amazing poke options. My favorite appeared to be called “California” and was a spicy Mayo with imitation crab and tuna.

The best I had in Maui was recommended to me by a local. Napili Market was super fresh and delicious. The second favorite was at Times Supermarket Honokowai. Honestly, I wasn’t in Maui for very long, but both places were amazing with Napili being a little tastier and Times having great pricing and huge portions. This market was one of the

Kona Hawaii

When I was on the big island, my lunch and dinner times were never near a where the highest rated poke restaurant is located. I would get it at the grocery stores, but I was looking for a poke restaurant. I never made it.

We did have a delicious poke at two places. The first was at the Hau Tree restaurant in Mauna Kea Resort on the big island. We were there for the night snorkeling off the beach (not a boat ride) and had dinner there prior to the activity. The poke was delicious and fresh but I do prefer poke stops where I can pick my sauces and toppings.

The second one I had was at a little shack called “Fresh off the Grid” on the way to/from one of the most popular hiking spots on the big island of Hawaii.

When hiking Kigali Waterfalls, on your way out, not only is this a beautiful stop with ocean views, beautiful pastures with horses and donkeys, but it has pretty good food. The poke bowl with rice was good. It was a little boring but tasty and fresh.

I was surprised at how hard it was to find poke in Kona like I get in California. When I go back, I am going to be sure to make it to Da Poke Shack on a day they are open and way before they sell out and close early.

Poke in Italy!

Yes! Italy seems to be a great place for poke. When in Lake Como, we stayed at the Sheraton Lake Como hotel. There wasn’t a lot of restaurants in walking distance, so we ate at the hotel many times. Lo and behold, I had to try the poke.

One morning I had several hours free so I woke up a little late, wandered out to the pool to swim some laps. When done I sat on the lounge chairs in this beautiful idyllic setting and ordered poke. Yes poke! And wow was it good. I had options to pick the protein, sauces and toppings. It wasn’t extensive, but I liked that I had options.

My favorite is one close to home

So far I have not found any poke that beats my first and favorite poke bowl. It is located in Santa Clara California, where I used to live prior to Covid. It also was where my son had his first job at 14 (and yes, it was legal and he had all the approvals from school).

Their fish is fresh, they have 8-10 sauces all amazing, and their toppings are the best. Do not skip the corn which is mixed with jalapeños and cilantro. Oh my. I miss this so much and I might have to take a drive to go get poke soon.

Still hunting…

I’m still hunting whenever I am traveling for amazing poke. To make the best sushi: the freshest fish, only ocean caught not farmed salmon, many protein options with salmon, tuna and scallop required, at least 5 sauces, the freshest toppings.