Pokiology (and Chicago poke in general)

The Poke craze has hit Uptown. Pokiology has officially opened. Check out DNAinfo's video showing the concept of this fast casual spot.
https://www.facebook.com/DNAinfoUptown/ ... =2&theater¬if_t=live_video_explicit¬if_id=1470769822823486&utm_content=buffer43fec&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=DNAinfoCHI

https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/2016080 ... ns-tuesday

Pokiology
4600 N. Magnolia (entrance on Wilson)
(773) 961-7624
11am-8pm

senoritap wrote:The Poke craze has hit Uptown.

I saw that and wondered, "How do you prepare charmander, or does it cook itself? Is bulbasaur vegan?"

Coming soon:

Poke Salad Annie

Pig 'n' a Poke (poke + bbq)

Poketry in Motion (food truck)

...

Sula has an informative piece about the current pokeliferation.

=R=

senoritap wrote:The Poke craze has hit Uptown. Pokiology has officially opened.

Just got back. The regular portion size was about the same as a large portion size from Firefin downtown and much cheaper. By the time I left, most seats were occupied and there was a steady stream of people coming in. A welcome addition to the neighborhood.

ronnie_suburban wrote:Sula has an informative piece about the current pokeliferation.

=R=

Just hoping it doesn't end in a pokepocalypse.

JoelF wrote:

senoritap wrote:The Poke craze has hit Uptown.

I saw that and wondered, "How do you prepare charmander, or does it cook itself? Is bulbasaur vegan?"

Me too. I noted wistfully that the gym at 21st and Halsted still registers as Nightwood (and there is a Pokestop at Italian Superior Bakery). Thanks, Niantic (and Ingress).

Aloha is already opening a third location at the new Revival Food Hall in the Loop.

Poke strikes me as merely riding the coattails of sushi. Except most poke joints seem to mask their fish in far too many toppings, a lot like some of the more overwrought sushi rolls you might encounter.

I grew up in HI and dearly miss Poke. I'm (perhaps overly) skeptical of all these new places that follow the chipotle model and add extra toppings and sauces* on top of the fish, but I want to give them a fair shot. Now there are so many too choose from I don't know where to begin!

Does anyone know which of these poke bowl places gets closest to what you'd actually find in HI? Ie fish as the star attraction, pre-marinaded and garnished, either in the more Japanese style (onion, soy sauce, sesame oil, etc) or the Hawaiian (limu seaweed, salt, inamona / kukui nut)?

Something like this: (my beloved Kahuku Superette on the North Shore of Oahu) or:
(classic Limu Ahi poke form Ono Hawaiian)

* I know Poke is constantly changing, even in HI. As a kid I could swear you'd never see Poke served in a bowl on top of rice, much more often on it's own as a snack with beer or as part of a meal w/ rice or poi on the side, but when I went home in college circa 2000 I remember seeing convenience stores offering it on top of hot rice, which I must admit is really great.

I can only speak to Aloha and FireFin, but both will do a traditional (bare-bones) poke. As is true with Chipotle, the only toppings that are added are the ones you choose.

The late Sola was a reliable source for poke during its run. I'm happy to see it (poke, that is) making a comeback.

I can only speak to Aloha Poke Co, but my biggest complaint with the mainland poke trend (other than the very problematic relationship between business and culture that really bums me out) is the fish is lost amidst all the toppings. It's not a huge portion of tuna and you need to add a ton of shit to make your bowl seem worth it and not sad looking.

It's nowhere near Kahuku Superette, Foodland, or my new top dog, Tanioka's, but I found it to be a reasonable way to scratch an itch at least.

Pokiology has already adjusted their pricing. A Regular bowl (3 scoops of fish) is now $9.95 and a Large bowl (4 scoops of fish) is now $10.95. During an off-peak hour, they seemed to have a customer walk in every five minutes or so. I wish this place all the best as every meal I have had there has been delicious and the staff is very friendly.

And yes, the Americanized version of poke is definitely piling toppings onto fish. But the Americanized version of makimono is also piling toppings onto fish, so is anyone really that surprised?

My concern would be if the restaurant chopped thier own fish or do they use 'scrape'.
Scrape like many food products to day that have a lot of surface area can spread food borne diseases easier than whole.
I don't use scrape at home unless i make the scarpe, preferring to chop my own fish for various poke.-Richard

The chunks of fish used appear to be cubes around 2cm to a side. I don't think that constitutes as scrape. Caveat: I am not a fish monger/culinary professional. Just an eager eater.

Costco (lincoln park) had some of the most authentic looking pokes that I have seen in town. I didn't buy any, so can't attest to the taste, but it looked legit. I hope this is a permanent setup!

Managed to catch a nice magikarp poke near my residence.

I for one welcome our new raw fish overlords.

I've tried the Loop places. Pretty good. Considering mediocre falafel or a bowl of penance/quinoa costs about the same, I was impressed by the basic quality and quantity at Aloha and Firefish. Trying not to think about the inevitable bad day at the raw fish and lettuce shop. I mean, an operation as regimented as Chipotle couldn't keep it safe with cooked to death meat. But I'll accept some risk.

The Costco stuff looks at least as good as Safeway HI poke and their relevant fish (salmon, tuna) is solid, assuming they are using the same. Don't like the sound of "scrape" but I'm ok with trimmings from a good whole fish.

The "Americanization" of this perfectly American snack doesn't bother me any more than what Hawaiians do to "our" hot dogs. I know that the sticky purple rice, greens and many toppings at Firefish are mostly there to hide the lack of fish. But what was there was good, and the whole deal was like a nice hwae dup bap. Always love it when folks wax about the salmon poke they had in Maui or whatever (not saying anyone in this thread said it; I've heard it in line from dumbasses expressing grave reservations about eating fish so far from the sea). Frozen from Alaska is frozen from Alaska. We can make quality poke here.

Thanks for all the info everyone!

Wow, that Costco stuff looks great, and exactly like what you'd see at a Costco in HI. Maybe they're even using the same recipes? I might have to sign up!

sidenote: living in Hawaii with a dad from Chicago, a big part of our Costco trips was getting kosher hot dogs and satisfying his childhood nostalgia. So I love the idea of going to a Chicago Costco for Hawaii nostalgia.

JeffB wrote:Considering mediocre falafel or a bowl of penance/quinoa costs about the same, I was impressed by the basic quality and quantity at Aloha and Firefish.

As for "costs about the same" I have yet to pay $15 for a falafel. I can get two falafel sandwiches and a side for about the same price as a decent-sized $15 serving of poke. They offer smaller sizes at lower price points but they are not really satisfying even as a lunch portion.

FireFin Poke Shop, a rapidly growing Chicago-based chain of eateries serving salad and rice topped with fresh fish, will open outposts this spring in Wicker Park and Lakeview, it was announced on Wednesday.

https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/2017012 ... -n-halsted

Being close to the Aloha Poke outpost in the French Market, we have enjoyed the addition to our lunch rotation since they opened. Fresh, flavorful and plenty big enough for most appetites with their regular size bowl. Enough variations to create the fairly occasional craving.

Last week, Firefin opened just around the corner - we have been anticipating that since they bumped Perry's to the woodshed (Perry had lost his mojo long ago). We caught the opening day 'for free' last week (free is good) and were intrigued enough to try it again today. Well.....it's a far cry from Aloha. Besides the fact that the bowl costs an extra 1.50 and is filled about 30% less, the whole combination of flavors and textures seems lost. Sauces were salt and garlic heavy and the fish quality seemed a notch lower and less of it.

Thankfully, we can still visit Aloha when needed. I wish the Firefin guys success in the neighborhood, but they need to up their game if they want to compete.

I visited Pokiology last week. It was my first visit to a non-Hawaiian poke shop, and I really see no reason to try another one (as I'm assuming they're all generally the same). The fish is cut into tiny cubes and the fish portions themselves are so small. It's all about the toppings (and rice) -- almost the complete opposite of what you'd find in Hawaii. The flavors and rice were just fine, but I couldn't really tell what type of fish I was eating once all of the toppings were piled on, and without the toppings you'd be finished eating in a minute and be starving.

Yes, in Hawaii you get top notch Poke. Now it is becoming the "thing" on the mainland. Sorry, but I wouldn't even take a chance. Recently my wife and I were at a Steakhouse in Vegas for S-in-Law birthday. The special app that day was fresh stone crab. I ordered some for an app and they came back saying they were out. Then he pushed their crab cakes, said no. Then tried to push their new Poke app, said double no. Like I said, once you have had the top of the line, this stuff is for unaware mainlanders.

Been a while, but the last time I was in HI I did a little nonscientific poke survey. The vast majority of the fish was not nearly local, including from some well-regarded local's faves. And "not local" in HI means it came from somewhere far away. Which isn't to say people in HI don't have high standards for poke or use good fish. But it surely doesn't preclude good poke in Chicago any more than it might preclude good sushi, or ramen, or burek, in Chicago. Absolutely nothing with salmon (obviously), octopus, or shimp is likely going to be local. Ahi can be but one should ask. Marlin and opihi would almost definitely be local. But marlin is generally said to be non-sustainable and it has high mercury levels. PS - the fast food poke overtaking the Loop generally scares me, same as cheap sushi. Nothing like the old timey fishmonger-focused places in HI, which are somewhat more like eating at the Boston Fish Market here.

stoutisgoodfood wrote:Last week, Firefin opened just around the corner - we have been anticipating that since they bumped Perry's to the woodshed (Perry had lost his mojo long ago). We caught the opening day 'for free' last week (free is good) and were intrigued enough to try it again today. Well.....it's a far cry from Aloha. Besides the fact that the bowl costs an extra 1.50 and is filled about 30% less, the whole combination of flavors and textures seems lost. Sauces were salt and garlic heavy and the fish quality seemed a notch lower and less of it.

Thankfully, we can still visit Aloha when needed. I wish the Firefin guys success in the neighborhood, but they need to up their game if they want to compete.

Seems like I work in exactly the same place as you, so I also was excited for Firefin and tried it last week. The first thing I noticed was that the menu sure was more complicated. And the second thing I noticed was also that it's definitely less food for more money.

I kind of liked the idea of mixing everything together when I saw them doing it, but in the end I think it just came out tasting more like a big mush. And the fish quality was definitely lower, especially the salmon.

I'm sure I'll keep trying it since it's so close by for me, but at least for now the best thing I have to say about Firefin is that maybe others will like it more and it will keep the Aloha lines at bay.

JeffB wrote:Been a while, but the last time I was in HI I did a little nonscientific poke survey. The vast majority of the fish was not nearly local, including from some well-regarded local's faves.

Just back from a couple weeks in Maui and this is quite true. Every local grocery we hit had fairly expansive Poke bars with more than a dozen offerings. However, when we started eliminating the non-local and previously-frozen options, most places offered about 3 options. Still, those were great, and head and shoulders above anything we've ever had before. In fact, this being our second year in a row on the Valley Island, it was one of the culinary way points to which we looked most forward. Sitting on the beach in Wailea, eating some great poke and a bag of potato chips . . . it really doesn't get much better than that.

=R=

Having been to HI numerous times, I am in total agreement about the true poke experience vs what is served here in the latest craze.

That said....being a 5 days a week, every day for way too many years, downtown lunch eater (and a bread avoider for the last - I welcome any new option for a protein laced salad or rice dish with flavors that encourage a return trip. The poke theme hits that spot.

Another FireFin is coming to the food court at Ogilvie (I think in the spot where Jaffa's was).

ronnie_suburban wrote:

JeffB wrote:Been a while, but the last time I was in HI I did a little nonscientific poke survey. The vast majority of the fish was not nearly local, including from some well-regarded local's faves.

Just back from a couple weeks in Maui and this is quite true. Every local grocery we hit had fairly expansive Poke bars with more than a dozen offerings. However, when we started eliminating the non-local and previously-frozen options, most places offered about 3 options. Still, those were great, and head and shoulders above anything we've ever had before. In fact, this being our second year in a row on the Valley Island, it was one of the culinary way points to which we looked most forward. Sitting on the beach in Wailea, eating some great poke and a bag of potato chips . . . it really doesn't get much better than that.

=R=

I just got back from a week in Maui. My favorite meals were when I split off from the group to get a spam musubi and some half pound containers of poke from Foodland and eat down by the water. The Hawaiian caught versions were a little more expensive, but totally worth it. The ahi practically melted in my mouth. I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to eat at any of the Chicago poke places ever again after eating the real deal.