Poke Five: Lighting Up Commercial Drive with a Taste of Hawaii

Poke Five is Commercial Drive’s newest poké restaurant. It has five owners, five signature bowls, and will officially launch on August 18, 2018. We were invited to their soft launch opening to get a sneak peek of what they have to offer.

Interior

It’s a fairly small space, but one that is well designed to show-off all their fresh ingredients and let you watch your poké bowl being made.

Menu

There are five signature bowls: The Drive, Simply Poke, Ahi Hawaii, Akuma Tuna, and the Buddha Bowl (Vegan).

Unlike most poké restaurants, their seafood and vegan protein options are not pre-marinated. It is coated in your choice of sauce when ordered.

You can also Build Your Own Bowl. Everyone can get exactly what they want because there are five bases and eight difference sauces to choose from.

Poké Five also offers nine different toppings:

• Wasabi Peas
• Walnuts
• Cashews
• Tempura Bits
• Sesame Nori
• Toasted Coconut
• Ramen Bits
• Fried Garlic
• Fried Shallots

It’s such a spectacular way to add flavour and crunch to your poké bowl.

Akuma Tuna Poké Bowl

Akuma Tuna is an aburi poké bowl that has ahi tuna, avocado, kimchi, wasabi tobiko, teri-mayo, shoyu egg, green onions, and matchasabi aioli.

The aburi ahi tuna, avocado, and shoyu egg makes this dish very filling.

Make your Own Bowl

We tried to make our own bowl and chose some unique ingredients they offer.

Base: citrus kale. Protein: shrimp, crab, and scallop. Ingredients: cucumber, watermelon, lychee, edamame, avocado, and shredded carrot. Sauce: teri-mayo. Topping: crispy ramen and tempura bits.

We made sure to try ingredients we’ve never seen elsewhere, including lychee and watermelon. Initially, it sounds odd but they were refreshing and complementary to the seafood taste.

Hoochy Booch Kombucha

They serve craft kombucha on tap! We tried the Mango Ginger Fizz and Cucumber Mint Fizz. Both were very refreshing and pairs well with poké bowls.

Final Thoughts

Their poké bowls are loaded! It’s not quite two meals, but it’s a very large serving so come hungry.

Poké Five is experimenting with unique ingredients that differentiates them from other poké restaurants in Vancouver. I would love to see which ingredients make it to the final menu for their official launch, and if they continue to offer seasonal ingredients.

There are many developments being constructed near the Commercial-Broadway area, and Poké Five is in a great spot to take advantage of the upcoming population increase.

Address:
2247 Commercial Drive, Vancouver

Website:
https://www.pokefive.com/