Visit Hawaii anytime you want – at least in food form – at Pokeworks

The scene: Many visitors from the mainland have gone to Hawaii on vacation, tried poké, one of the island state’s most famous local culinary specialties, and loved it. But to the founders of Pokeworks it was more than just a travel fling. After a few trips to Hawaii, they started wondering why poké had not caught on elsewhere, so they started their own restaurant specializing in it.

That was 2015, and in just four years both the chain and the general popularity of poké have exploded, with new eateries all over the country, but none as prominent as Pokeworks already has 50 locations in more than 20  states,  Canada and Mexico. These include major tourist cities such as New York, New Orleans, Chicago,  Boston, Houston, Philadelphia and Seattle.

Close to 30 more are currently scheduled to open, expanding the chain's footprint in Florida, Texas, California and Michigan and adding its first locations in Arizona and the District of Columbia.  For all these reasons, Great American Bites decided it was time to take a closer look.  

Reason to visit: Sushi-style “burrito,” any seafood poké bowl

The food:  Poké (pronounced like "okay") is not one dish but rather a genre that draws from a number of cultures and influences. But it is the Hawaiian word for slice or "cut into pieces," and it is pretty much always cubed, raw seafood – though Pokeworks also offers chicken and tofu.

While poké begins much like sashimi (thinly sliced raw fish), it is then sauced and flavored, using any number of ingredients. Many are of Asian origin, such as soy, citrusy ponzu sauce, sesame oil, sea salt, seaweed, onions or furikake, a Japanese seasoning mix of dried fish,  dried seaweed and sesame seeds. It usually always has something salty – either salt or soy sauce or both.

Pokeworks took this jumping-off point and built a restaurant concept almost identical to Chipotle around it. You order at the counter and build your own poké meal, choosing from one of several proteins and transforming it into a bowl, burrito or salad.

Each meal is made to order assembly-line style: you pick a protein, they scoop it into a metal bowl, then slide it down. You follow along, choosing your “base” (such as a bowl of rice), sauces and seasoning and extras, from veggies to crispy toppings, and it is all tossed together and heaped atop rice or salad or rolled into a burrito. That's about it, except that the permutations are virtually endless.

There are six proteins (ahi tuna, albacore tuna, salmon, shrimp, scallops, chicken and tofu) and six bases (burrito, salad and four bowls: sushi rice, brown rice, quinoa and kale noodles).

That’s 36 varieties before you even add one or more of the eight flavoring sauces (such as soy, ponzu or sriracha aioli), as many of the eleven “mix-ins” as you want (ranging from cucumber and jalapeno to edamame, diced mango and two different types of seaweed), nine toppings (including avocado, slivered green onion, pickled ginger and wasabi) and finally, seven “crunches,” (including fried onion or garlic crisps, lotus root chips and macadamia nuts).

If that number of choices sounds too overwhelming, you can't go wrong with any of the eight pre-selected, "signature"  protein-and-ingredient combinations. Each takes the mental lifting out of the equation, assuring you of a great flavor combo while also leaving you room to customize.

For example, the Hawaiian Classic is ahi tuna, green and sweet onion, ogo seaweed, cucumber, chili flakes, sesame seeds, roasted sesame oil, Hawaiian salt and Pokeworks classic sauce. You probably would not come up with on your own, but it’s perfect. The good news is that once you figure it out, the food is delicious.

It’s also healthy and sustainable, especially for fast food, and Pokeworks is easily one of the best such choices for a quick bite. I’d go here before just about any sandwich chain, big pizza chain or fast food burger chain. Usually, the main reason to opt for fast food in the first place is convenience, but this is something you’ll actually want to seek out.

You can also feel good about it, because they make a real sustainability and quality-ingredient effort: all the tuna is wild-caught and Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)- certified, the best such endorsement in the seafood business. The tofu is organic and even the restaurants themselves are built with certified reclaimed wood.

Everything I tried was really good – with the sole exception of the only appetizer on the menu, the garlic Spam musubi. Another popular Hawaiian specialty, this is basically a slab of seasoned Spam on sushi rice wrapped with a band of dried seaweed.  You have to like Spam to want it, but even so, I’ve had better in Hawaii. This one was pretty bland.

Not so for all the main courses, which were great. No matter what you order you will not go hungry, as portions are quite generous. The bowls are delicious with any base, though the multi-color quinoa was excellent, perfectly cooked, and it’s one of the world’s healthiest grains – definitely not what you expect when you think of fast food.

But if I had one top tip for ordering at Pokeworks it would be add crunch, since the seafood tends to be soft and tender. This can be some onion or wonton crisps to add texture, but it could also be cucumbers. I had the salmon shiso, one of the eight pre-designed classics, and the texture combination of the fish, thinly sliced baby cucumbers, mild onion, edamame and my added wonton strips gave it great texture and body, making every bite really interesting.  

But the highlight and single most interesting item is the burrito, not made with a tortilla, but rather a sheet of dried nori seaweed, like a giant sushi roll. That distinguishes it from any other option in the marketplace but it's not a gimmick. It's wonderful, lighter than a wrap and with great texture, crunchy but so thin.

Of the basic fish, the ahi tuna was my favorite, but the wasabi shrimp and scallop – another of the eight signature combos – was my overall top pick. It comes in a rich, creamy and slightly spicy sauce that really goes well with rice, whether as a bowl or in the burrito.

In addition to the staggering array of main dishes, Pokeworks offers an assortment of artisanal fruit, spice and tea or lemonade blends, fancy fountain sodas like cucumber flavor, and classic canned Hawaiian juice blends like Passionfruit to up the island atmosphere.

Rating: Yum. 

Price: $-$$

Details: Nationwide chain found in all the largest states – and even in some of the smallest (Vermont, Rhode Island) – coast to coast, as well as Canada.

More information online at: http://www.pokeworks.com/