Poke Poke (North Shore City, New Zealand)
More than a year ago Poke eateries became a big hit in Auckland with many shops opening offering this raw fish salad from Hawaii. I did not join the bandwagon because even before it started here, I had travelled to Hawaii several time and tried it from where it all began. Traditionally Poke is a simple dish of raw fish served with Hawaiian salt, seaweed, and roasted, ground kukui nut meat, that was in the 70’s then around 2012 it became more increasingly popular in the US Mainland and how it was prepared was modernized.
Many years on ingredients such as sweet corn, cucumber, edamame, seaweed salad, fruits, surimi, coconut, avocado, mushrooms, masago and kimchi to name some became the popular additional toppings aside from the fish, plus an array of sauce choices like mayo, miso, gochujang and aioli became prevalent and this is what Poke Poke is offering now in Auckland.
While traditional things are nice sometimes modernizing it is even better like in this case, there are more varieties and flavours to choose from which gives this dish a wider audience. This is the first time I will be having this in New Zealand and I am loving it as the food ingredients here in New Zealand are always top quality and I would not expect anything less. If you visit this place you will easily get the hang of it, it’s like ordering a sub in Subway, it’s that easy, just choose your protein then what toppings and sauce you want to go with it.
My favourite combo was the Half Rice Half Salad with Sashimi Grade King Salmon and Chicken Breast topped with mostly everything apart from the Kimchi, Coconut and Cucumber (just my preference), and for the sauce it was Wasabi Mayo and Sweet Chilli Gochujang. The result was a tsunami of flavours and texture in your mouth, it was fresh tasting, it was delicious, it was amazing, it was very filling, its nutritious and a well-balanced meal, I think I found a new favourite.
I haven’t tried the other Poke bars here in NZ but I think I will stick with this place for a while before trying others, it was a real good experience, nice food, great service.
Update: 01 Sept 2019 : We tried the branch in New Market, almost exact same offering but here they serve it in bowls if you opt to dine in.
Poke Poke
Address: Shop 6/40 Hurstmere Rd, Takapuna, Auckland 0622, New Zealand
Phone: +649 486 5399
Website: https://pokepoketakapuna.business.site/
