Restaurant Review: Hula Poke! Eat Fish!

On a Friday afternoon, my girlfriend and I decided to dine close to her workplace in San Antonio at a place called Hula Poke. The restaurant was on San Pedro, across the North Star mall and closed in between other stores such as a Jimmy Johns and a phone repair-pawn shop. An obscured location, it was no surprise we never heard of it until her coworkers pointed it out since it is one of the few places to eat from a walking distance during their lunch break. We are also very fond of sushi, even if they have the ten-dollar price tags slapped on them at HEB. We both always wanted to try out new places in San Antonio since the city allowed us the opportunity to explore our tastes.

As we walked in, we were introduced to the smell of sushi and modern pop music that filled the small area instead of the typical oriental ambiance which seemed to be the norm among oriental restaurants. It;s interior actually resembled that of a fast food chain; quite similar to Subway's, save for drawings on the left wall. How to order the food was very close to Subway's except with "sushi burrito" and not type of bread. If large choice of ingredients seemed complicated, suggested combination of ingredients were written on the chalkboard on the back wall. As first timers, we were slow with the menu and order style, although we caught on quickly that the place was basically Subway except with sushi. The patient employees welcomed us and allowed us more time since we were new customers. They offered suggestions of which ingredients complimented each other and showed us on how to open the Japanese sodas that we purchased. The convenient side of the "subway" ordering style was that  mistakes and returns that happened at any drive thru. We ordered quick but both agreed that we felt pressured with time.



The order system started with a choice of proteins usually found under the sea. It should be noted that some are priced higher than others, such as eel. The store also conveniently labeled the proteins with photos that resembled them, much closely. Just like Subway, it was possible to add an additional protein or two simultaneously! After step one, step two contained “mix ins”, such as edamame, carrot, cucumber, jalapeno, sweet corn (Alabama), carrot, red onion, broccoli, lettuce, kale, spinach, pineapple, red cabbage, daikon raddish, kale and mango. Numero tres had sauces which were ranked for their spiciness with wasabi as the spiciest, undoubted. Step four had toppings like cilantro,

avocado, sesame seeds and even more wasabi for those brave yet reckless. At last, numero cinco allowed you to pick different “crunches” either onion, garlic crisps, wonton strips and even Flamin hot Cheetos. Drinks and chips were next to checkout, although no “oriental” chips were available; quite odd for an oriental themed place. The chopsticks, plastic forks, napkins, soy sauce and less salty soy sauce were conveniently available as well.

We both had sushi burritos or on the plural form, poka, which I just coined. The poka looked like sushi that wasn’t sliced into layers like ordinarily shaped sushi were. Historical newspaper copies were used to package our poka, where historical headlines were seen. Once unwrapped, the smell wasn’t strong enough to have identified ingredients alone; these poka just smelled like sushi. My poke was bland as I basically had shrimp, avocado and sesame oil. If I recalled, my girlfriend ordered spicy salmon and onion crisps covered in the sauce with sriracha. Once I had a bite of her poke, I admitted that I made a twelve dollar mistake. Luckily, my added side of ginger added needed flavor to the bland poke. Our Japanese sodas were decent, but I am sure my sweetness sensing taste buds became desensitized by overly consumption of American soda. Like any subway sandwich, the pokes got messy as some of our shrimp and salmon had fallen out. We originally planned to try the miso soup but couldn't since the poka filled our bellies in a short amount of time.

Overall, Hula Poke granted a decent experience for our first visit. My girlfriend said she enjoyed the food although later confessed it did not fill her expectations. I agreed with her statement, especially since the food costed twelve dollars. Despite our opinions, the store was still popular so I just assumed I hadn't found my “go to” dish yet. It would only be fair to give Hula Poke a second chance; this time I would try a suggested combination, with extra ginger.