I know, it's kind of rough doing a post on one of these fast-casual poke concept places right after doing one on the great, inexpensive seafood on rice in Hokkaido. But that's the breaks. I've got really mixed feelings about the recent poke boom on the mainland. On one hand, it's great that something I've eaten since "small kid time", we're talking almost half a century here, has gained general acceptance and popularity. On the other hand, much of it looks more style and hype over substance, jumping on the latest bandwagon, remember cronuts? Or maybe fro-yo? Or maybe (fill in the blanks). I'm not one who follows fads and I've always said, I'd never get poke from a place where I wouldn't eat the fish without all the sauces or what not, but there I was in front of San Diego Poke Company. Mainly because one of their regular customers from their Farmer's Market stall emailed me saying it was quite good.
I'd kind of made up my approach to trying these places on the way to this shop. Because I always like to experience the food at any eating establishment at its best, I'd never go on Sundays and Mondays (since I don't know when their fish is picked up/delivered). Because, to me, poke is traditionally ahi/aku, Ala'e/sea salt, limu, inamona, and because of my background, shoyu, and onions, though I guess these days I make it all kinds of ways, I'm going to stick with fish from the tuna family at first.
The drill here is ordering perhaps a "specialty bowl", or doing the fast-casual, have it your way thing, a base of starch plus seafood item, sauce, then any variety of toppings. Like Kirbie mentioned in her post, the world is your oyster, you can get anything from avocado to Flaming Hot Cheetos (whatever...) if you make it your own way.
Nice group of folks here, quite friendly. On my first visit, I went with the large OG SD ($11.95), which looked like a modification of shoyu poke. I thought the amount of fish used was much more generous than what I had at Poke Go back in August of last year. It also had a ton of rice.
The fish seemed to be better quality than what I had at Poke Go, though obviously not top grade. There were a couple of pieces that had quite a bit of "suji" (connective tissue) and a few pieces smelled a bit off, so I didn't eat those. The sauce was a simple shoyu - teriyaki-ish based sauce which didn't mess too much with the fish. Love onions in my poke, though this was a bit too much. The avocado added a nice creamy component to things. Way too much rice for me though, so I made note to just get a regular bowl the next time.
I like a good Poisson Cru and had two somewhat similar versions of it in Hanga Roa recently, so I thought trying the Koko Loko (regular - build your own bowl $9.95), a coconut, citrus, and sweet chili sauce base would be nice. Though when I asked the guy at the counter if this was similar to Poisson Cru or 'Ota'ika, he looked at me weird and said, "no, this is koko loko...." Okay......shame on me for expecting he would actually know a bit more about something very similar. Food nerd malfunction.
The sauce was a bit too heavy in coconut for me, also a bit too sweet, and I thought it needed a bit more citrus. Cucumbers are a must for this type of poke/ceviche and I wish tomatoes were available. The fish was actually even better this time around, though I noticed that it looked like two different batches thrown together as there were some mushy pieces. For me, avocado always adds a bit of creaminess, even with the coconut based sauce, the masago adds a nice crunch as does the seaweed salad, though this "bled" all over the rice making it green. I stopped the guy after one scoop of rice in my bowl, that was enough for my carb needs.
In the end, while it wouldn't make me forget places like Ono Seafood, Tanioka's, or any number of places back home, this was better than other versions I've had in San Diego. Think of it as "Poke Chipotle", which I guess is better than "Poke Micky D's". It's worth a stop if you want something a bit more healthy and are in the area.
San Diego Poke Co
10387 Friars Rd
San Diego, CA 92120
Open Daily 11am - 9pm
I just tried this place last week, and enjoyed the poke bowl (went with the original sauce). It seems like everyone I know is heading to Hawaii this summer, so poke is definitely on my mind.
Posted by: Sandy | Monday, 20 June 2016 at 09:55 AM
The mixing of different batches worries me. Like you mentioned, you never know the age of the fish at the bottom of the serving tray.
Posted by: Jason | Monday, 20 June 2016 at 10:04 AM
I've been on a Poke exploration tear lately. The two places that I thought the best were Poke UTC and Rolled Up in Hillcrest. I thought the quality of the fish at both of these places was better and only these two places have Yellowtail. Pokirito says they have Hamachi, but one of the managers confessed to me that they will not be carrying that because it is "expensive". Still have to get to SD Poke Co., I will be going back to UTC and Hillcrest, but the others fall in to the disappointing category.
Gelson's in PB is serving some really good Poke Ahi regular and spicy and I've seen Salmon and Tako @ about $12/13 a pound, that is a very good deal. Also L&L just opened across the street. L&L is what it is, but that L&L is incredibly generous with their portions to the point I thought they might be making a mistake in how much they give. I had the BBQ Chicken and Beef plates. My 16 year old swimmer/water polo player could not finish his plates and he regulars eats 1.5 Los Dos Pedros Breakfast Burritos (extra bacon).
2 random questions - are you Mr. K to Kirby? And, do you drive a black Mercedes with a "Loco Moco" license plate? Promise, I'm not stalking you, but I was wondering if that was you parking near me at Costco near the stadium.
Thanks for you words, I've shared your site with many people.
Posted by: John M. Dowd | Monday, 20 June 2016 at 01:06 PM
hopefully they can keep improving
Posted by: kat | Monday, 20 June 2016 at 04:06 PM
Lately there is an explosion of poke business, I see it in Zion and one being built across from Mitsuwa and another coming in University Village in Riverside. Does anyone knows sudden explosion of this kind of food business?
Posted by: Brian | Monday, 20 June 2016 at 05:51 PM
This took the spot of the former Tropical Fruit Paradise (the7 had good tortas). San Diego is experiencing a Poke explosion.
Posted by: Caninecologne | Monday, 20 June 2016 at 07:09 PM
Hope you get some good stuff in Hawaii Sandy. It'd nothing like what you get here.
Quite true Jason.
Yes, totally Kat!
It's because they found a fast-casual concept that they can cash in on Brian. Low food and labor cost and they can ride the wave of popularity.
Hopefully we'll survive the inevitable implosion CC!
Posted by: Kirk | Monday, 20 June 2016 at 09:03 PM
The transistion must be rough. 😉
Posted by: Nhbilly | Tuesday, 21 June 2016 at 04:54 AM
LOL Billy!
Posted by: Kirk | Tuesday, 21 June 2016 at 06:31 AM
Unfortunately, I am not heading to Hawaii anytime soon :-( I'll have to go back soon to SD Poke Company to get my fix.
Posted by: Sandy | Tuesday, 21 June 2016 at 10:13 AM
Zion Market has a new Poke Restaurant in the food court area (no Hamachi).
Posted by: John M. Dowd | Tuesday, 21 June 2016 at 12:42 PM
Papa Luna's Empanadas in PB (which is now closed) had a sign on it's door that said it was going to offer "poke bowls" (under a new moniker, I assume).
Posted by: caninecologne | Tuesday, 21 June 2016 at 04:14 PM
Bummer Sandy!
Hi John - Looks like this year's ramen! Everyplace is serving poke.....
Spreading like wildfire CC!
Posted by: Kirk | Wednesday, 22 June 2016 at 07:03 AM
Going a bit off-topic: The old Fish Bucket in Tierrasanta has a new sign for rice ramen bowls. That's a lot of carbs!
Posted by: Sandy | Wednesday, 22 June 2016 at 08:26 AM
I saw that Sandy....you can compelte the set with a side of gyoza!
Posted by: Kirk | Wednesday, 22 June 2016 at 09:05 AM
My wife and I were up in Hollywood a few weeks ago to see the Cure, and we stumbled on something similar -- PokiNometry -- you choose the base starch, the fish, the toppings, the sauce. My wife and I have eaten tons of poke over the years -- on all the main islands of Hawaii, and here in California -- and we were impressed with the quality and flavor. Really good. There are only two stores now (Hollywood and Anaheim) -- hope they expand to the south!
Posted by: Peter | Wednesday, 22 June 2016 at 09:12 AM
Another new Poke place - It's on Pearl St. in La Jolla, just east of LJ Blvd...close to Ohana Cafe...Pokegeddon is hitting San Diego.
Posted by: John M. Dowd | Wednesday, 22 June 2016 at 05:04 PM
We'll see Peter. I did have some pretty good poke recently, I'll have to see if they can do it twice in a row.
What a name John...... And I don't think I'm Mr K. And I don't drive a Mercedes....and good lord, I'd never have vanity plates! ;o)
Posted by: Kirk | Wednesday, 22 June 2016 at 06:52 PM
I've gone here a few times as it's not too far from my office. It's pretty decent; basically poke places like this are turning into the equivalency of a Panera or a Subway - a place to eat something reasonably healthy (and low carb at times) with solid quality.
The ironic thing about all these places now offering poke everywhere is i'm starting to realize i legitimately have no idea what Poke should actually taste like outside of a giant sushi salad with soy sauce.
Posted by: Seth | Thursday, 08 June 2017 at 09:22 AM
Hi Seth - I believe most are in the same boat as you regarding what traditional poke is. Unfortunately, I'm born and raised in Hawaii and grew up eating the stuff. My first poke bowl here was decent; the second, was not very good. As for the Panera comparison....that's why I call places like this "Chi-Poke". I think our definition of "quality" vary. Even "back home" I'm pretty picky about my poke.
http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2012/12/honolulu-whole-foods-kahala-ono-seafood-tamuras-kaimuki-takes-mini-garden-and-dinner.html
http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2012/08/honolulu-fresh-catch-tamuras-kaimuki-and-ono-seafood.html
http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2011/12/hawaii-a-plethora-of-poke-poke-stop-alicias-market-taniokas-seafood-and-catering-ono-seafood-and-lan.html
http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2012/10/recently-consumed.html
http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2012/07/spicy-tuna-poke.html
http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2005/07/poke_as_in_poka.html
Posted by: Kirk | Thursday, 08 June 2017 at 09:35 AM