Poke bowls — a raw fish salad originating in Hawaii — entered the mainstream a few years ago. Poke means “to slice or cut” in Hawaiian, referring to chunks of raw, marinated fish tossed over rice and topped with vegetables and flavorful sauces. While we’re far away from the islands, when the hot days call for something cool, here are seven spots to find a quality modern poke bowl in OKC.
GoGo Sushi
405-602-6333 • 432 NW 10th St.
A sushi bar already has all the ingredients for poke, so why not? Each GoGo Sushi bowl comes with a base of sushi rice topped with romaine salad, crab salad, seaweed salad, avocado, cucumber, masago, edamame, green onions, furikake and poke sauce customized with your favorite protein. Choices like escolar, smoked salmon and yellowtail complete the flavor profile perfectly.
405-702-9808 • 808 N Broadway Ave.
Yuzo offers a modern take on Asian cuisine. Peppered among their menu are all sorts of tropical specialties including salmon ceviche and tuna carpaccio. They offer a variety of bowls, but their poke bowl is quite notable with its large chunks of tuna (or salmon) crab mix, avocado, pico de gallo, seaweed salad, spring mix and chili aurora. Skip the rice and try the poke salad if you want to cut the carbs.
Chae Cafe and Bakery
405-840-7725 • 7300 N Western Ave.
Poke bowls aren’t the primary focus of Chae, whose menu offers a decidedly Korean perspective boasting a variety of savory comfort foods, as well as coffees, teas and breakfast items. Their poke bowl contains a conventional assemblage of spring mix, rice, avocado, and edamame with a choice of fresh tuna or salmon, bursting with flavor from the spicy sauce.
Okie Pokie OKC
405-724-7687 • 308 NW 10th St.
One of the OKC’s original poke restaurants, Okie Pokie is now located inside The Collective. Choose from one of their specialty bowls like the Cowboy Bowl or the Spam Mail or build your own from a choice of seven different proteins like spicy tuna, crawfish tail or seared spam and a variety of healthy toppings and house sauces.
Creek Sushi & Poke
405-506-0558 • 9517 N Council Rd.
If you’re looking for a filling bowl stuffed with big chunks of fresh fish, this is the place. Their traditional Hawaiian bowl is a mix of sushi rice, spring mix, tuna, crab salad, edamame, avocado, seaweed salad, green onion, jalapeño, lemon and poke sauce. For a spicier kick, check out the Cajun poke bowl, which comes with crawfish and all the fixins as well as a spicy sauce.
Ichiban Sushi Bar & Poke
405-506-0833 • 6308 SW 3rd St
At Ichiban, you can have your poke bowl any way you like it. Literally. Whether you choose rice, lo mein or tortilla chips as your base and select octopus, red snapper or beef tataki as your protein, your bowl will be everything your poke dreams are made of. Each bowl is made with fresh ingredients and is available with an astonishing number of topping options, so customize away.
Gogi Go!
405-778-8524 • 1325 N Walker Ave.
While not a traditional Hawaiian-style poke bowl, Gogi Go! is a spot worth stopping into for a flavor-packed meal. Their Korean-style BBQ bowls are ripe for customization with plenty of bells and whistles and come with fish, bulgogi beef, spicy pork, Korean fried chicken and/or tofu. Each is made with house sauces and the freshest ingredients.
