Poke Bowl

I really wanted to like this place. I didn’t read any Unilocal reviews coming in and I dove into. The quality of the fish is definitely mediocre — it tastes like fish that was flash frozen, defrosted, and somehow refrozen… the texture is off and not very fresh testing.
I’ve actually done a better job buying fresh Ahi Tuna and making shoyu poke myself in the kitchen.
I wanted to love this place. I wanted to be a loyal customer, but I’m sorry the taste is just not there and the execution is lacking. Great concept.

This is the best place in the Bay Area for poke that I’ve had so far. Today was the second time I’ve been here in a long time. First time I came was when this place was open for about 3 weeks. Since then, they’ve definitely added a lot more items to their menu. You fill out a form by the door and hand it to the people behind the counter when you reach the front.
I ordered a medium with white rice as the base. My three choices of fish were salmon, tuna, and albacore. Before when they first opened, hamachi (yellowtail) was not an additional charge. Now they charge an extra two dollars. I topped it off with seaweed salad, masago, furikake, green onions, jellyfish, and a mild poke sauce. Jellyfish was definitely a new item that they didn’t have when they first opened! It’s definitely a unique one as other poke places don’t have this.
The portion was very big and under 10 dollars! Can’t find another place in the area that has such huge portions for that price! Service is always quick and easy. If I’m ever craving poke again, I’ll definitely be coming here!

I don’t want to be ridiculous and call myself a Poke fiend, but let’s just say I frequent Poki Time in the Inner Sunset probably once a week and Pokeatery once a month so I know my stuff. So I just had to come try this place out too!
Came during lunch and while the line looks long, it moves pretty quickly. They have cards like Poki Time that you fill out while you wait and then give to your server when you reach the front.
Pros: wide/​unique variety of fish, sauces, and toppings. For fish they had scallops and for toppings they had jellyfish, which I haven’t seen from the other two poke places. For sauces, I tried the Honey Avocado which was good! However I think it would be better suited for someone who wasn’t used to a typical poke sauce. The Unagi sauce also sounded delicious!
Cons: huge chunks of fish and not the best tasting. My scallops were cut fine, but for some reason my tuna were cut into huge chunks. The portion was decent, but man those things were cut so big it was hard to eat anything else in the same bite. It also seemed like they didn’t soak up the sauce as well because of it too. Also the taste didn’t wow me, maybe it’s because of the non-​poke sauce I chose, but it was decent at best.
Like some other people have said, if you have a craving and you’re in the area, this will def satisfy you. But if you have a bit of time on your hands, I’d definitely choose Pokeatery or Poki Time over this location.

Omg!!! Where have you been all my life! Delicious and I had so many options. While working on the road all day I Ike to keep it light and healthy and so I did. Had spicy crab balls, edamame, seaweed salad, Kim Chee, shrimp snd brown rice. Worth every penny. Great customer service and highly recommended.

Desperate times call for desperate measures… of poke.
If you’re in Daly City, craving for poke, AND you’re feeling lazy to drive elsewhere, I’d say come here. This place is simply okay, but it’s good enough if you need a quick poke fix.
The parking lot is small, so I suggest you park at the nearby parking lots and walk. The place is also tiny so it’s more of a getting in and getting out type of system. When you’re inside, you grab a piece of paper with the menu and fill out what you like for your bowl.
Generous portions, but the rice is hard and the fish isn’t the freshest with weird cuts and marbeling. BUT I like that they offer different toppings from the norm (e.g. kimchi) and a variety of bases, sauces, and poke (e.g. spam, octopus, unagi).
But really, we’re told to never settle, but I can make some exceptions.

I’ve been here since it first opened up and had the odd ordering system of getting a cheaper bowl if you paid cash. They have since done away with that method, revamped their menu items, and upped their prices a bit.
You come here, grab a menu, fill out what you want, hand it to the person, they will make your food, you pay at the end and eat there or go take to go. There’s limited bar seating, about four seats. You can always go down the way and sit at the community table outside of Starbucks as well.
It’s a great idea, and I know poke places are creeping up everywhere, but this is one that is just OK. I get it because of the location, not because it’s amazing. The quality of the fish is ok. I usually pick my fish after taking a look at the bar area. You can tell what looks fresh and what’s been sitting around. Sometimes you get someone who makes your poke bowl who is sauce heavy and someone who isn’t. There’s not much consistency.
Heard they opened a new spot in the city, but I doubt I’ll go out of my way to visit their second location. Lucky for them, they have a spot near the shopping area out in Colma or I probably wouldn’t be coming by…

This is my first time trying poke and I’m so glad my little sister and her boyfriend took me here! The restaurant is inside of a little plaza that also has target and other stores around the whole area and the parking lot to this place is small– I mean small like most people park where target is and walk over to it!
Upon walking up, we were surprised to see that a line was also forming as well! The way this place works is you take a piece of paper and check off what you like. They have the papers by the front door and pencils there as well for you to fill while you wait. Inside the restaurant Probably seats about 10 people but most people that I saw there just bought the food and left. the set up is similar to that of subway/​chipotle only when you walk in, you had the employee in the first station your paper and she starts creating her magic.
What I learned is you can choose to have a mix of a base– for instance, I wanted brown rice and kelp noodles so I marked both and got both. I also wanted spicy tuna and scallops as well and I got both. They were very generous with portions of everything! There were 3 employees working the poke bar today when we went, the first girl did the bases, the second guy down the line did the proteins and veggies and the last guy was where we paid. Each small bowl was around 7.95 I think, but so worth it because the give you a huge amount of food!
We each went home with our bowls and devoured all of it! I got the brown rice and kelp noodles with carrots and all the veggies except jalapeños with spicy tuna and scallops and my sister got spicy tuna with albacore and her boyfriend got something around that line too. We all loved it! I forgot to mention that you also get to pick a sauce with your poke bowl too, I think a lot of people picked spicy mayo but we picked a miso sauce, I got the unagi sauce and her boyfriend got the unagi sauce too. I bet I’m butchering all the names of the sauces up, but you’ll see it in the menu.
After finishing our food, I was full but not a disgusted full– full in a way that I had fresh veggies, fresh protein and a hearty amount of carbs. I’d imagine eating this on a hot day or after the gym for a clean healthy meal!
Am I coming back here? Oh you bet!

Small, easy system. Get in, get out, but don’t expect that there’s a place to eat there unless you hide at the tables next to starB’s :P. It always looks like there is a line because the store is super small, but no worries, l because it moves pretty fat. You’ll have enough time to grab an order form and choose all the toppings you want. The fish ain’t so hot. The honey avo sauce is surprisingly good. They ran out of three toppings by the time it got to me around 8pm. The toppings people work hard. I don’t think they charge extra for using credit anymore. Also, there’s a temporary 50% off coupon from here to use at the new Ocean Pokebowl in SF.

The bowl was not good. The menu is very confusing without much explanation. Young lady that was charging our bill needs to smile. I understand is 11am and might be early for you but overall terrible customer service.
The bowl did satisfy a craving if you are desperate. But if you’re willing to drive… I suggest going to SJ or the other poki bowls around. I am disappointed with the bowl so I ended up with some Popeyes. And Popeyes is always consistent.

Delicious and quick! I love this place. Everything’s fresh.
The only fastfood I love where I don’t feel guilty pigging out.

I’m so disappointed! I waited in line patiently like everyone else, for like 10 – 15 minutes. I wrote down my order on my paper like everyone else. I saw them make my poke bowl, BUT, the cashier had given my bowl to the party before me! Range party said they had 5 bowls but there were only 4 of them?! Whatevs!
She said she would have my bowl remade– BUT the bowl they made me was not what I ordered. The cashier was pretty confused at this point. I noticed the bowl she gave me was with white rice, not brown, like I ordered. Then we realized they had remade the wrong poke bowl! It was the order of the guy after me! So I told the cashier and she asked me if she could just give me a bowl of brown rice with some of the fish. I should have told her to remake my poke bowl correctly. That was #fail, more like #epicfail!
I’m just really disappointed because I paid for 3 poke meats, including scallops, and I didn’t receive that. I received an incorrect order that I just picked at, not really eating it. It doesn’t taste the same as what I imagined my poke bowl would be, especially since I’ve been looking forward to eating poke for a while now.
Nevertheless, this is really the only poke place in the area so I will continue going here. I will watch them like a hawk next time and make sure they make/​give me my correct order. I’m also going to write my name on the order form so they know that’s really my order.
This is my 2^nd time here at Poke bowl. First time was better. The food is good to me!

I’ve came here a couple times and the line is always out the door. They have a paper with the selection of things you want mixed together and pencils on the side for you to help fill out while you’re waiting. As soon as you get up there they mix everything really fast, and then you pay. The place is kind of small with maybe a few seats, so it’s best to take it to go.
Unfortunately with my last experience I got food poisoning and I think that will be my last poke ever. Sorry guys, I wanted to try and love you, but my stomach couldn’t handle it and I felt sick as ever.

Of all of the things I loved during my time in Hawaii (and I LOVE Hawaii), poke would have to be one of the things that I miss the most. That, and the beaches. And all of the pretty girls, of course. Plus the food, like shaved ice and shrimp scampi. Marukame Udon and all of that spam musubi, as well. Can’t forget about those gorgeous sunsets, too. Especially when sitting by the beach with a cold Longboard in hand. Actually, just the general notion of not being at work, really…
Wait, where was I going with this again?
For whatever reason, finding legit poke in the Bay Area is surprisingly tough. Thus far, I’ve found Takahashi Market in San Mateo… and that’s about it. So, while it’s debatable as to how authentic a place like Poke Bowl may be, their opening was more than a welcome sight to see and they were a place I was more than stoked to try. Even if their initial reviews were rather tepid…
Like other poke joints that have opened recently, Poke Bowl lets you customize your order to your heart’s content. Simply fill out their order form with all of the details — the bowl size (how many scoops of poke) and your picks from five categories:
– Base — White/​Brown Rice, Chips, Salad
– Condiments — White Onions, Sweet Corn, Carrots, Seaweed, Cucumbers, Avocado, Mango
– Poke — Salmon, Tuna, Albacore, Spicy Tuna, Shrimp, Crab, Scallop, Hamachi, and Unagi
– Sauces — Original (mild/​spicy), Spicy Mayo, Unagi, Japanese Kimchi, Honey Avocado, Miso
– Garnishes — Masago, Sesame Seeds, Ginger, Wasabi, and Green Onions
**Note: some poke (Hamachi, Unagi) and condiments (Mango, Avocado) have upcharges.
For better or worse, I’ve mostly stuck to the exact same order every time I’ve been here (with the exception of alternating between Brown and White Rice) — Large Poke Bowl with Tuna and Salmon, topped with Onions, Seaweed, Ginger, Wasabi, and mild Original Sauce ($ 9.99 cash, $ 10.50 credit card) with Avocado (+$ 1.00). Kind of a standard combination, but pretty solid overall. On each of my trips, everything has been decently fresh, flavorful, and quite fair in portion size (the bowl has always been filled to the brim).
Now, while I haven’t encountered the same types of problems that so many others have had, I certainly understand some of those concerns. Well, in regards to the consistency of their cuts of fish, at least. The vast majority of what I’ve had has been fine, but I’ve gotten a few pieces that had a lot of sinew/​tendons in them. Not a major issue, but it’s part of the reason why Takahashi Market is still the best bet for authentic poke on the mainland. However, for a quick and convenient fix? Poke Bowl is not too shabby!

Meh. I think you can make better poke at home for cheaper. Compared to poke in Hawaii and in SoCal, also meh.
The location is super small, with an assembly-​line front (think Chipotle) and maybe 4 seats at these tiny counters. When you walk in, there’s little menus on the wall that you use to make your order. This is nice and way more efficient than trying to tell the server what you want over the glass.
Options are varied, which is nice for those who like to get a lot of things. But it does look like they charge extra for a few things — I think hamachi is an extra $ 2 and avocado is an extra $ 1.50 or so. They offer tuna, albacore, salmon and hamachi, which means something for everyone’s tastes. Toppings include mango/​pineapple, cucumber, seaweed, onions, wasabi, corn, tobiko, etc. There were also about 4 – 5 different sauces available, though I can’t recall most of them.
I got a small bowl with tuna — they give you two scoops of these giant chunks of tuna. I picked onions, corn, cucumbers, tobiko, seaweed and the spicy poke sauce for my bowl. I think they really need to cut the fish into smaller cubes… When I got home, I took scissors and cut up the tuna to smaller pieces: P
Anyways, it was a good amount of food for the price. The sauce was really bland, that or they didn’t put enough sauce. They toss everything in a metal bowl, squirt some sauce into it, and then mix it around a bit. Meh. The boyfriend enjoyed his bowl, but also agreed that there wasn’t enough sauce. He actually made some at home for us to add to our bowls.
I think Pokeartery in San Mateo does a better job of poke, even though it’s a bit more expensive.

I was super excited to hear that a poke place was opening in the area, but after eating here, I hope a different place opens up. I felt like I was Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character) in the 500 Days of Summer Expectations/​Reality scene and the reality was just so terrible… so so terrible. It’s the equivalent of Summer not only barely speaking with Tom and showing off her engagement ring to other guests, but instead she effs every single person at her party, except for Tom. That’s how I felt from this poke bowl experience. Lol kind of exaggerating, but you get my drift:
Expectations: Just a quick, fast, and fresh meal with flavorful sauces. Great service and no random extras.
Reality: They were trying their best to be fast, but the server claimed she couldn’t read my handwriting even though I clearly exed out what I wanted and she kept re clarifying what I wanted. The fish is a hit or miss — sometimes it’s just super fishy (salmon and tuna especially) and really defeats the overall flavor of the dish. The sauce is just so bland that it doesn’t help masking this heinous flavor. Also, the proteins are cut so inconsistently– I felt like there was a game of tetris in my mouth with all these random cut pieces going down my throat. The rice and salad were not bad and it’s affordable compared to other spots. A medium is just good enough for one person!
After going twice and trying to give this place another shot because they have so much potential, this place just needs to have more consistent poke and more potent sauce. I am no poke expert, but this is a good I just want to eat whatever place. IF you want to be happy, don’t go here. Don’t face the reality of a sad poke place. After trying Pokeatery in San Mateo, I have to say that this place is cheaper, but the taste is just so off. I rather pay more for quality than crappy quantity.

I never thought that I would go to a place twice in one day, other than going to a Starbucks or maybe target but that’s just inevitable. But this. This ! Man, I was blown away.
Sad back story but I wasn’t impressed of these «poke» bowl hypes in the first place due to me not liking raw fish and I thought that’s what it just was: raw fish in a bowl, boy was I wrong !
let’s skip the tidbits and let me break it down:
— grab a fill out sheet and fill out what you want in your bowl and what size
— watch them prepare it but don’t dilly daddle! This place is small and the lines can go out the door
— pay and done !
*barely any seating inside :(
PRICING:
Small: 2 scoop bowl: cash $ 6.99 /​card $ 7.50
Medium: 3 scoops: $ 8.75 /​$ 9.25
Large: 4 scoops: $ 9.99 /​$ 10.50
* I personally think a medium is enough to split for two people.
First order (first time I came for a late lunch):
Medium: Brown rice, crab, avocado (+$.50), unagi sauce and sesame seeds. Helllaaaaaa bomb but the brown rice was super dry.
2^nd order (came back for a late dinner):
Medium: White rice, crab, unagi, unagi sauce, spicy mayo, sesame seeds and massago. A lot better with the white rice because it was easier to mix everything in together.
SERVICE:
Everyone was laid back and nice.
This place has a great concept to it and I can’t wait until my next fix !

Yet another new poke place in the Peninsula! At this particular place, prices are differentiated through the size of your poke bowl and whether you are paying with cash or credit card (which I found a bit odd). Even so, the poke here are always fresh and you get a decent amount of fish and topping. The place can be hit or miss, depending on the person preparing your food. I had one order where I barely had any fish but an abundance of seaweed — yuck. They also provided a variety of sauces (original sauce — mild or hot, spicy mayo, unagi, kimichi, etc) that differ from other poke places around here.
They recently raised their prices for adding avocados (which I personally don’t think is worth it) to $ 1.00, and instead of mangoes as a topping option, they are using pineapples.

Ever since getting poke in Hawaii, been keeping my eyes open for some fishy bowl goodness in the Bay Area.
I’ll admit, I was a little bit skeptical about eating raw fish from Chipotle-​like food assembly line. It’s just something about watching chunks of fish being scooped into bowl and then topped with extra goodies.
It’s not bad. It’s not terribly good either. I guess it’s what you would expect from such a set up. Service is quick, choosing is easy, people are nice. Quality is average.
If I’m going to eat raw fish, I’m going to have to go with quality of this one — and not resign myself to simple convenience. Least there was a Starbucks nearby!

3 stars — I like it more than I don’t. Here’s the deal:
You walk in, grab an order form, pencil and get to checkin!
1. Choose your base:
white rice, brown rice, chips (maybe fried wonton? Didn’t confirm) or salad.
2. A few add ons: Avocado (more like Guac) is now $ 1 and not $.50 like the form says
Mango, which is sub’d for pineapple as mango is not in season, that is $.50.
White onion
Sweet corn (Che!?)
Carrots (Che cos’è!?)
Seaweed
Cucumber
3. What kine poke?:
Tuna
Salmon
Albacore
Shrimp
Crab
Spicy tuna
Scallop
Hamachi — extra charge
Unagi — extra charge
4. Pick your sauce:
Original poke, mild or spicy
Spicy mayo
Unagi sauce
Japanese kimchee sauce
Honey avocado sauce
Miso sauce
5. Toppings:
Masago/​Tobiko
Sesame seeds
Ginger
Wasabi
Green onions
I ordered Spicy Tuna salad bowl with:
Cucumbers
White onion
Green onion
Spicy mayo
Sesame seeds
Wasabi
Ginger
Seaweed
Tobiko
I was super stoked for this bowl and then HOLY SHIT BALLS BATMAN, EASY ON THE DAMN MAYO. He put a shit load of spicy mayo, I mean so much it over powered the tuna. Before I could close my mouth from the shock it was too late. I had spicy mayo with a side of spicy tuna.
Everything tasted pretty fresh and the cucumber was crunchy. I would definitely go back but tell them not so much mayo, I mean… I know I’m Samoan but ga damn.
They also charge more for using your credit card than when you use cash. It’s small spot with a small bar and 5 stools. So I took my mayo bowl and dipped.

I never got a chance to review this place as many times as I’ve been here so here we go.
There are many locations that I’ve been to for the current hype of Poke. But, this is the first one I’ve been in Daly City. What keeps me coming back is the bigger portions & the affordable pricing. This place is based off more of quantity over quality. The portions can be inconsistent for the past times that I’ve been here. Sometimes the scoops are big and sometimes they’re not depending on the person that’s scooping it. The cucumbers are diced unevenly also.
Theres a little paper slips w/​pencils near the door that you can check mark everything you want in your bowl. The bowls vary from Small, Medium and Large.
Small (2 scoops of fish): Cash: ($ 6.99) Credit: ($ 7.50)
Medium (3 scoops of fish): Cash: ($ 8.75) Credit: ($ 9.25)
Large (4 scoops of fish): Cash: ($ 9.99) Credit: ($ 10.50)
After you’ve check marked everything, you give it to the line worker. I usually put double X’s for my rice and toppings and they don’t charge extra! They don’t have many topping options compared as other poke places as well but it’s decent. I would recommend bringing cash since credit adds an extra $ 0.50. Avocado is an extra $ 1 and mango is $ 0.50 extra.
I usually get a small since it’s enough to keep me full because of the bigger portions. For mix-​ins, I usually get white rice, white onions, sweet corn, carrots, seaweed, and cucumbers. For the poke, I usually get 1 scoop of spicy tuna and 1 scoop of albacore or salmon. Sauces: Spicy original poke sauce, spicy mayo sauce, unagi sauce and Japanese Kimchee Sauce. To top it off, I get massago eggs, sesame seeds, ginger and green onions. I enjoy my bowl because it’s pretty cheap compared to other places. Fish is not the freshest so like I said before, its more quantity over quality.
For service, they don’t usually greet you when you come in. They don’t smile much either. They’re getting faster at getting the bowls ready compared to the first time I was here. Theres only a couple of seats at the wall so it’s limited.