Poke bowls are popping up everywhere in Vancouver now! When they first started to appear, I wasn’t sure what the hype was about. But now, I’ve grown an inkling to poke bowls because they are a healthy and filling alternative.
So far, I’ve only tried two poke places in the city. The second place I tried was The Poke Shop, which opened a few weeks ago. It is located in Gastown, just by the steam clock.
It is a basement suite and you have to walk down some stairs. Once you get in, the decor is very cheerful and artsy, with a big mural on one side of the wall!
The long wooden communal table is also custom made, one of a kind too. I really liked the interior and it was spacious and comfortable to sit and dine.
I haven’t been to enough poke shops to judge the prices, but I would say it’s fairly average? The only other place I’ve been to is The Poke Guy, and The Poke Guy is a bit more expensive because it is ocean-wise.
There are two sizes, large & super large. The large didn’t look filling enough for a meal, so most of us at the media tasting ordered the super large for dinner. But you’ll see soon enough that we were proven wrong!
Pictured above are the proteins! You can pick from ahi tuna, spicy albacore tuna, spicy Atlantic salmon, wild sockeye salmon, spicy baby scallop, unagi, grilled organic chicken, or roasted organic chicken.
After selecting your base (purple rice, white rice, zoodles, spinach, or pick half/half) and protein, it is on to the toppings! I’m not going to list them all here because there are too many! But you can see from the picture above.
Super large bowl w/ unlimited toppings, $15.95: For my two proteins, I got the albacore tuna and wild sockeye salmon. I chose purple rice as the base. Unlimited toppings were pomegranate, mango, watermelon, spinach, cucumber, corn and topped with shoyu dressing.
The proteins come pre-marinated, which seems to be the preferred option for most as it is the authentic method of making poke bowls. I found that there was only a slight marinated taste for the tuna and salmon, it tasted mostly like plain sashimi which is not necessarily a bad thing! Both proteins tasted really fresh.
As for the toppings, I liked the inclusion of both fruits (mango, pomegranate and watermelon) with veggies. It gave the bowl a burst of sweetness!
Even though it doesn’t look filling, there is a LARGE amount of purple rice at the bottom. After all, I did order the super large! I didn’t end up finishing the rice because there was such a big amount, and I wanted to eat the proteins & fruit/veggies first.
Here are other poke bowls that some of the food bloggers ordered!
Left to right: 3 berry & lemon soda, pineapple plantation iced tea, iced matcha green tea w/ honey, all $3 w/ poke bowl, or $4.50 solo.
I ordered the 3 berry & lemon soda, which was basically berry & lemon infused 7-up. My goodness, was it delicious! I was one of the only bloggers who ordered the soda, and received many comments about how good it looked.
I didn’t try the other two, but heard the pineapple plantation iced tea was okay. The iced matcha green tea was a bit disappointing, as we were expecting matcha. It tasted more like a sencha, or regular iced green tea.
Overall, The Poke Shop was good and I would recommend giving it a try! The portions are generous, while the restaurant is spacious with great interior design (a dining experience also includes the ambiance).
I would recommend getting the large bowl, as most of us who ordered the super large bowl couldn’t finish. As well, you are getting the same two scoops of protein in both sizes.
Yay!
The restaurant was very clean, new, and spacious. In particular, we awed over the beautiful plate art wall that was behind us. It looks like they glued a bunch of Asian plates into a nice pattern. I can certainly spot some plate patterns that my family and relatives own!
P4, Pho Tai, Large, $9.95: There are many different pho combinations to choose from, as with most Vietnamese places. The boyfriend chose p4, which just comes with rare beef. There was a pretty generous amount of rare beef, as well as onions.
P7, Pho Nam Bo Vien, Large, $9.95: I ordered the opposite of the boyfriend, aka all cooked beef – beef balls and beef brisket. As with the other bowl, they were pretty generous on the meat toppings and onions.
Since we had a larger group, we tried to make reservations but unfortunately, were told that they don’t take them. Hopefully this will change soon, as the space was comfortable enough to hold larger parties. We were told to come a bit earlier to secure seats.
I would describe Fable Diner as a fancier, much cleaner and hipster version of your traditional diner. It is not greasy in there, and did not smell like oil. With that said, it is also more expensive than your classic diner!
Drink: I don’t remember what the drink was called and there isn’t a drink menu online. I do recall it was some sort of blueberry soda though. It was pretty good and sweet.
Peanut butter nutella milkshake: Again, sorry I don’t have the price as the drink menu isn’t currently posted online! Everyone expect me split this milkshake, and LOVED it. It was very creamy and rich, and they couldn’t stop raving about how good it was! It also came with some salted pretzels inside the whipped cream.
Roast duck pancakes, $14: We all decided to split this and see how it tasted. For $14, it is a bit pricey but the roast duck was cooked very well. It was flavourful and very tender. It’s a good appy to split with others!
Tomato soup bowl, $10: Again, almost everyone ordered this because it is a favourite of theirs back at Fable Kitchen. Everyone was happy when they tasted it, and it was the same recipe! I wanted to try it but this dish is the epitome of food death for me because of the high amount of dairy inside!
FD Burger, $14: Finally, something I could actually eat! After checking with our amazing and friendly server that this did not have dairy in it, I decided to order this! The patty was cooked well done, and very juicy. It was served with a mayo-based sauce. The bun was also soft and fluffy, and lightly toasted.
Pulled pork sandwich with tomato soup, $10: I didn’t try this, but I was told it was really good! 
Corn on the cob, $6: I didn’t try this either, but I was told it was really good. It came with a chili lime sauce and a couple pieces of fresh cilanto.
Prawn tempura nabeyaki udon, $11.50: The price for the udon was a bit steeper than what I normally would pay, but Ebisu is a bit more upscale. I don’t like when the tempura comes inside the soup, as it makes it soggy. We quickly took the tempura out before it got super soggy.
Miso soup, free: This came with the other dish. The miso soup was pretty standard, but I liked how it came with a good amount of tofu and seaweed inside.
Ebi sunomono, free: Again, this came with the party boat that we ordered. Both of us aren’t really big fans of ebi sunomono, but this one was pretty standard.
Chicken teriyaki boat, $14.95: Don’t let the giant boat fool you, because the boat is actually only good for one person. It looks big but it isn’t really thaaaaat much food.
Chicken karaage, $8.25: Yum, this was delicious! My stomach is pretty sensitive to oily foods though, so I only ate the small piece. However, it was very crunchy and fresh! We would definitely order this again. Although, we came back to this location a year later and the chicken karaage was not as good.