Ono Poke

Ono Poke
3145 Poplar
(901) 618-2955

I have been anxiously awaiting the opening of Ono Poke, which I first read about a few months ago. It was opened by the same man who opened Skewer out east. (It's since closed.)

Last night, Jiro (13) and I went to go check it out. "What's poke?" he asked. Not having any official definition, I said, "It's basically sushi ingredients, but served in a bowl." Good enough, he was in. (Here's the official description from the Facebook page: Poké is a Hawaiian dish, fish salad served over rice. Fresh fish, salmon and tuna, and variety of vegetables are the main ingredients.)

Ono Poke is on Poplar near East High School, next door to the E's.



The inside is cute and bright, if not a little stark, and has limited seating against the walls.



They also have a couple of high chairs.



The food is made "Subway style." You can pick from House Bowls or you can create your own bowl. (There are also a few other menu items like a Poke burrito, tuna tartare, and seaweed salad.) Having been to similar places (i.e. Genghis Grill, Zaka Bowl, etc.), I decided to get a House Bowl, specifically the Pele, because I didn't really trust myself to come up with a good combination. Jiro decided to go DIY.



The House Made bowls come in the large size ($13). I chose white rice as my base, and it was a lot of rice--at least two cups. I also had a choice of raw tuna or marinated tuna. I went with raw. Then I got a close up of the other ingredients as I watched the guy put my bowl together. I thought everything looked nice and fresh, except the shrimp. They looked a little skinny and formerly frozen.



Even though it was a pre-made bowl, I ended up having the choice of four toppings at the end. Dangit! I probably should have just passed, but I added cilantro, masago, seaweed salad, and pickled ginger. Pshew! They guy said the Rice Krispies were a must, but I didn't believe him. Jiro went with a large bowl including shrimp, crabstick, tofu, broccoli, edamame, pineapple, carrots and Pele sauce. I think he eventually called it quits on the choices. While we mulled over drink options, the cashier packed everything to go.



Jiro wanted to split a coconut water, but I wanted Kombucha (and was happy to see it as an option), but in the end, we both went with the free infused water which Jiro eventually said was too gross to drink. (It was not.)



Our total was $28, and the cashier happily unpacked our food when I said we'd be dining in. When we sat down, I could barely get a photo of Jiro's bowl before he started chowing down. "This smells good," he said.



Mine didn't have a smell, but I thought it looked pretty good.



Jiro asked if we should mix everything up, and I said yes. (This task would have been easier accomplished with a real fork.) Neither of us could finish, and I think we were both relatively pleased. Not wowed, but pleased. I told him I thought they should have the sauces out on the table like at Zaka Bowl so we could add more sauce, and he agreed. (The bowls got pretty dry after a bit, though they did give us some soy sauce packets. I am anti soy sauce.)

They've only been open a few days, so I imagine there will be some fine tuning. Maybe they'll even hook up with Project Green Fork (hint hint). I will probably take Satchel (15) to see what he thinks. All in all, my advice would to be to study the options before ordering and not go too crazy with the toppings. I think simple is better. I'll probably go with a smaller snack bowl next time and focus on the things I REALLY like.



Let me know what you think.