Poke was having a hot moment a little while ago. I love Manoa and PokeCity, but tried Pokeworks a while back to see how they compared. The fast casual concept should be a familiar one – pick your base, pick your proteins, pick you r mix ins, add some sauce, toppings and a little crunch.

Try a bowl or a salad, or if you’re feeling adventurous, try a burrito! Protein options include ahi tuna, albacore tuna, salmon, scallops, shrimp or or those of you non seafood fans, chicken. Mix in things like mango, edamame, ogo seaweed, kale or shiso. Sauces are spicy ginger, sweet chili, ponzu, Sriracha aioli and umami to name a few. To that you can add avocado, green onion, seaweed salad, sesame seeds or wasabi tobiko. To add a little crunch, try shredded nori, wonton crisps, macadamia nuts or some lotus chips.

Trying to pick your own seem a bit daunting? They have some signature poke items to help you out:

The Hawaiian Classic: ahi tuna – green and sweet onion – ogo seaweed – cucumber – chili flakes – sesame seeds – roasted sesame oil – hawaiian salt – pokeworks classic sauce

The Umami Classic – ahi tuna – green and sweet onion – hijiki seaweed – cucumber – sesame seeds – umami shoyu sauce

Shiso Salmon – atlantic salmon – green and sweet onion – edamame – cucumber – sesame seeds – fresh shiso – ponzu fresh sauce

Wasabi Shrimp and Scallops – shrimp – scallops – green and sweet onion – cucumber – masago – sesame seeds – wasabi aioli

Pokeworks

261 Elm Street, Somerville, MA

www.pokeworks.com

They have a second location in Harvard Square!

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I’ve been on a poke kick lately. We decided to venture over to Manoa in Somerville to try out their bowls. I have to say that this place felt the most authentic out of all the places we have been to thus far. Poke is a raw fish salad that is generally served as an appetizer in Hawaiian cuisine. The fish is generally dressed with soy sauce or sesame oil.

Manoa is a small shop with a few seats, the line is out the door when we arrive but it moves at a decent pace – clearly a good sign that so many people are eating here.

A small poke bowl with one scoop of poke and your choice of base will run you $7.95. The regular that comes with two scoops of poke, your choice of base and your choice of a side is $11.95. If you’re feeling particularly hungry, try the big bowl with three scoops of poke and two sides for $15.95. So what kind of poke do they have? Ahi shoyu (tuna in sesame soy marinade with pickled onions and macadamia), Kilauea (spice tuna in kim chee aioli with house made furikake), soy boy (braised tofu in a teriyaki marinade with edamame and avocado), salmon shoyu (salmon in a sesame soy marinade with pickled onions and macadamia), and kelaguen (raw catch of the day in coconut milk and citrus marinade with crispy rice).

Not in the mood for raw fish? No problem. They have you covered with a chili bowl, a fried chicken plate and kalua pig. They offer some delicious sides as well, the kim chee cucumber is not to be missed. They also have a mac salad, rainbow slaw, chorizo slaw, edamame and a veggie special.  Those “kaboom legumes” you see above are also not to be missed, they are spicy roast chickpeas! If you’re like us and want a little bit of everything, go for the poke flight that is a tasting platter of ahi shoyu, salmon shoyu and kilauea and kelaguen with your choice of brown or white rice and two sides all for $19.95.

The kalua pig is a slow cooked heritage pork shoulder that comes with rice or a Portuguese sweet roll and is topped with crispy crackling and served with a side of chorizo slaw. SO GOOD!

While not poke, the fried chicken stole my heart. It’s a mochiko battered thigh served with rice and drizzled with a spiced honey.

There is something for everyone here, and they use tamari sauce so all of their fish poke can be made gluten free.

Where is your favorite poke spot?

Manoa Poke Shop

300 Beacon Street, Somerville, MA

https://manoa.fish

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