Poke poke poke! No, I am not poking you, I am talking about one of the latest food trends in Vancouver right now, poke! Or am I poking you?
Poke Bar at SFU opened up a few months ago in Cornerstone. The vibe inside is Hawaiian and the staff have always been really friendly. They had a Groupon deal last month, so Peanut and I decided to check it out! I’ve also came here when others wanted to grab a quick lunch which is why I say their staff have always been nice, despite only eating here once!
The Groupon deal was $20 worth of food for $12, which was pretty good! Pictured above is their protein section. There is also a tofu option for vegetarians/vegans.
With our small and regular size, we didn’t quite make the $20 mark so we spent a few minutes choosing what types of add-ons to get. We each ended up getting the avocado add-on, and sharing a drink. The staff member recommended that we both get the regular size next time to reach the $20 mark.
I was too busy catching up with Peanut and forgot to take a photo of hers, but here is mine! I chose to get half rice/salad, tuna shoyu, and pretty much all the standard veggie toppings.
The tuna was marinated very well and tasted fresh! I also quite enjoyed the rest of my lunch too. They pack the container pretty well, which made it really filling!
Peanut ordered the tofu option, and said that the tofu wasn’t marinated. But she ended up using the sauces provided so it all worked out.
Poke Bar is a great addition to SFU’s food scene and is a definite hit. I haven’t seen it empty yet! It’s a great healthy and fresh option when you’re sick of the usual food on campus (I’m looking at you, Subway!).
On another strange note, I tagged along when my friend got lunch here one day, and there was something in the air that was stinging my eyes. ????? We sat down for about 15 minutes until I ended up having to close my eyes because they were beginning to tear up LOL. It was very strange because once we left, I was fine. We concluded that they were probably cutting onions for the poke bowls and my eyes picked up on it??? Strange!
Yay!
Negitoro roll: The negitoro roll was pretty decent, no complaints about it. Good ratio of toro and onion, mixed well and the toro was nice and soft.
Salmon and tuna sashimi: I remember that there was a period a few years ago where they changed their sashimi preparation, and sliced it very thin and long instead. After having that happen a few times, it was yet another reason why we stopped coming here. I actually forgot about that until now, writing this review.
I was in the mood for some authentic sushi, not the usual Chinese or Korean-run fast food sushi joints that we usually go to. I’m not hating on Chinese/Korean-run sushi joints because those are cheap, fast, and usually decent but I just wanted to go somewhere that was authentic that day.
Tuna tataki, 9 pieces, $14.95: The boyfriend loves tuna tataki, so we usually order it at every new place to see how it compares. It came with grated daikon on top which we haven’t seen at other places, but it was refreshing and cleaned our palette.
Tuna & salmon sashimi, $14.95: We really appreciated the fact that they had freshly grated wasabi here, as most places do not! I normally like to eat my sashimi plain, but I used wasabi this time because it was freshly grated.
Salmon nigiri, $2.95 / piece: Just like the salmon sashimi, the salmon nigiri was so good as well. The sushi rice was absolutely perfect too!
Negitoro maki, $4.75: Just like the tuna tataki, negitoro is a must for the boyfriend. This was soooo good. The tuna was so soft and mashed perfectly with the fresh green onion. At first, we were reluctant to order it because it was more expensive than we were used to, but so worth it.
Our bill came to around $65-70 with tip (forgot exactly how much), which was a lot more than we we usually pay! But it was nice to treat ourselves and have a relaxing, authentic Japanese dinner.
Panko breaded daikon: We thought this was meat, turns out it was daikon haha! The daikon was cooked and very tender.
Nigiri: Big eye (ahi), hamachi, striped jack, seabream, sea bass, amber jack. All were very, very, very fresh and tasty. The tuna pieces were incredibly soft, buttery, and melted in your mouth.
Bluefin tuna nigiri, $7.50: Can you spot the additional piece of tuna on the red plate? The boyfriend ordered this a la carte, because it is not commonly found in restaurants. At $7.50 per piece, it was the most expensive piece of nigiri I’ve had. But it was a special occasion and so tasty.
The omakase ended off with a dessert, which was a green tea panna cotta!
It is in a very random and unique location, away from any foodie hotspots. The Workshop is tucked inside North Vancouver, along a stretch of quiet road that is mostly outdated car repair shops. I’m not too familiar with North Van transit other than the Seabus and Phibbs Exchange, so not sure how transit-friendly this place is.
There was a small nook on the side of the cafe where you can buy healthy and vegan to-go treats.
Organic nama shoyu ramen, $12.99: I am a big fan of truffle oil so naturally, I was curious to see if this would deliver. And boyyyy, did it deliver.
Since both pictures above didn’t include their bouncy noodles, here is a picture of them! I believe you might be able to change your noodles to either rice noodles or udon if you wanted. I overheard another customer saying that.
Avocado and I wanted to sit and chat more, but the place was getting busier and a line was forming so we each just got a pastry to go.