Pacific Poke Co.

I first noticed this place during one of my visits to Mama Cinia. It hadn't opened yet and I had to sigh at what looked like yet another "Chi-Poke" place. A few months later, I intended on getting some pho at Cow Cali, but there was actually a bunch of people waiting in line.

PPC was right next door and had just turned on the "open" sign. So, I thought why not check them out.

And yes, this was indeed one of those pick some seafood; pick some toppings, make a bowl kind of place. They also had Spam Musubi, miso soup, and a couple of other items on the menu.

I ended up ordering a Large Bowl ($12.50); four scoops of protein, I did like that they had a marinaded version, almost like real poke (not), because the fish looked a bit dried out. So I got that, with the sweet and spicy sauce. Nice that they didn't charge extra for avocado like a lot of places do; white onions, cucumbers, and green onion. Simple is best.

This was actually not bad; the fish was relatively tender, not much connective tissue, no off flavors, the marinade and the "sauce" worked rather well. The avocado was starting to brown, but was fine. There was one sneaky little move....I don't remember requesting any wasabi, but I put this little lump of what looked like smashed avocado in my mouth....ho-ly smokes....try eating an entire spoonful of wasabi!

While not really "Poke" to me, I thought this was pretty good; perhaps on par with Tokyo Deli and much better than other versions I've had.

And yet, I just kinda let it go at that for a few months. Then a few weeks after reading Kirbie's post, I decided to head back. In search of a light lunch, I went with the Large - Salad option. And I did appreciate the availability of Hamachi, since many places don't serve it based on food cost. 2 scoops Ahi, two Hamachi, marinated (of course). I was a bit surprised at the rather small size (even for me a rather light eater)  of the salad. Back "home" we call this "manini".

Man, this was on the small side....but all would be well if the fish was good. Which it wasn't. The Hamachi tasted a bit off; on the fishy end of the scale, I pushed that off to the side...my salad got even smaller. The Ahi this time had too much connective tissue and was too chewy. Well, the masago and the rest of the ingredients were decent.

In the end; I'm not quite sure which bowl is the norm here. All I've got to say is YMMV. And I really don't feel like a tie-breaker visit right now. Maybe one of these days.

Pacific Poke Co
9168 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126
Hours:
Sun - Thurs 11am - 8pm
Fri - Sat 11am - 830pm

Comments

[nhbilly]

That would have been perfect for today scorching Tx.

[caninecologne]

This used to be the yogurt place that also served shaved snow. Poke is everywhere now.

[kat]

:(

[Kirbie]

Aww, that's too bad on your second visit. I've been wanting to go back, but I think I finally reached my limit of poke in SD. Every place is tasting the same and blending together now.

[Kirk]

We're getting "May - Grey" here Billy....hope you find a remedy for the heat!

Everywhere CC....everywhere....

+/- Kat!

Hi Kirbie - That's not a good sign....it means that as a whole none of these places is very good. I'm waiting to see when we hit saturation point and everything balances out.....though, to be honest, I'm not a big fan of these "Chi-Poke" places.