goPoke
Recommended by: We discovered that the owner of Dochi is the brother of the owner of goPoke down a few blocks. We really enjoy the poke there, so it’s time for a revisit and review.
Description on the goPoke’s website: Authentic Hawaiian Poke and Desserts.
Neighborhood/Type: ID (International District)
Address:625 S King St, Seattle, WA 98104
What we ate/drank: 12th Man Bowl – Salmon, spicy aioli ahi, spicy aioli salmon, fried garlic, edamame, ocean saled, ginger, krab salad, cucumber. Aloha Bowl – Sweet sirracheeahi, shoyu shaka ahi, mango salmon. Classic Salmon, spicy ahi bowl
Comments: goPoke opened in late 2016 right in the middle of the Seattle poke craze where poke places were popping up like mushrooms. We briefly mentioned the saturation of poke places in our Stop N Shop Poke post. Many poke places have since closed up shop. We also predicted that the only poke places that would survive will be the ones who emphasize quality and customer service and goPoke has both.
Poke in Hawaiian means “to cut/to slice” and is a Hawaiian dish of raw fish cut into cubes and typically marinated in soy sauce, green onion and sesame oil. At goPoke they have pre-designed bowls or you can create your own bowl. Like most poke places they have a Subway/Chipoltle model of picking your ingredients until your bowl is completed with your choices of rice, poke and toppings.
They make a concerted effort to keep line moving fast, but will allow you to sample the poke if you can’t make up your mind. That’s a nice touch.
Depending on how many choices of poke you choose for your bowl – 1, 2 or 3 are priced at $11, $13, $15 respectively. You might be thinking this is a little on the high side for poke. We agree, but the generous portions, various poke choices and quality fish definitely make the few extra bucks justified in our mind.
There’s also something comforting knowing that the owners originated from Hawaii and that they pretty much survived as a family selling poke there. So they must know what they’re doing. I encourage you to read this Seattle Met article that provides some background into the family history of the owners. Their father was a Ahi tuna fisherman and the children sold fish door to door. Their mother created and refined a poke recipe and they sold it at flea markets and small local shops.
A lot of poke places seem like they were opened as an afterthought. Like “Poke seems easy enough. I’ll open a poke place!” goPoke seems like a real sustainable business. It feels like real thought was put into goPoke. The ingredients are quality(that’s obvious), it’s always clean, there’s a Hawaiian theme(shaved ice w/li hing mui powder, Dole whip, keiki menu, Hawaiian Sun, span musubi), their assembly line process is efficient, the space is big, updated and airy for being in the ID(International District).
A true indication of a good business is the mood of the employees. They seem to be hard working, but genuinely happy to be working there and friendly.
We’re pretty certain that you won’t see anymore poke places reviewed here. Unless some new outlier brings something totally fresh to the poke Seattle landscape, goPoke, Stop N Shop Poke and Seattle Fish Guys are our defacto poke places in Seattle.
Ratings:
Atmosphere: 4.50
Service: 5.00
Food/Drinks: 4.75
Bang for the Buck: 4.50
Overall: 4.65
Locals Only Factor: “Locals Only” grading-We’ll assign a grading as to how “local” a place is.
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- Well known or Touristy. Most locals don’t go there unless they have business dinners or visitors in town.
- Most locals know about it
- Locals “in the know” know about it
- Only those who live close by know about it.
- You’re in on the secret. Don’t tell anybody!
Servers recommendations to visit in the future:
Related Articles:
Seattle Fish Guys
Recommended by: After reading our Stop N Shop Poke post, my wife’s co-worker advised we need to hit up Seattle Fish Guys for the best poke.
Description on the Seattle Fish Guys website: “Fish handling is a lost art now. Everything is so processed now.
Being a third-generation fisherman, I handle fish out of respect, heritage, honor and tradition”-SAL PANELO, OWNER
Neighborhood/Type: Central District
Address:
What we ate/drank: Shoyu Tuna/Salmon Poke Bowl with Mac Salad. Shrimp Tempura. Garlic Cajun Shrimp Plate. Scallop Poke,calm chowder.
Comments: As mentioned above, a co-worker of my wife recommended that we had to visit Seattle Fish Guys for what she believed to be the best poke in Seattle. As I mentioned in our Stop and Shop Poke blog post, there’s been a proliferation of poke places in Seattle. So much so, that many of poke places have had to close due to over saturation. I also mentioned that Stop N Shop Poke and goPoke were my two favorites. I have to admit, we rarely venture out to the Central District, so we had never been to Seattle Fish Guys before.
First, the parking situation. There are very limited parking spaces outside of the actual storefront, but there is a lot of designated parking under the building and it’s free. The storefront looks like any other and doesn’t stand out although there are signs, so it’s not hard to find. Seattle Fish Guys is actually a seafood market, but also a restaurant.
As you enter the poke is located on the left and the actual seafood market is on the right and then to the very right are a few televisions and a few seats.This is where you’d eat if you intended on eating in. There’s no hostess. You just find an open seat. Don’t come here with a group of more than four if you plan to eat here due to the limited seating and constant crowds. There was a steady stream of customers when we went on a Saturday afternoon and finding a table for three of us was a challenge and a stroke of luck that a table opened right as we ordered.
After ordering our meals, we paid and they brought out the dishes as they were completed. The poke bowls are very simple- rice(white or brown), salad(macaroni, kim chee, squid salad or seaweed salad), poke(shoyu tuna, tako or scallop(+$2 extra). They also serve fresh oyster shooters as well crab or shrimp cocktails. In addition to some clam chowder this is what we ordered..
Overall, I’ve got to admit, Seattle Fish Guys has the best poke we’ve had in Seattle. It’s family owned and you can feel it in the service and quality. The atmosphere while not fine dining is perfect for the type of food and business. The portions are massive and you will have left overs. Although the Central District is out of the way for us, we believe Seattle Fish Guys is worth the visit. I think our strategy in the future will be to go to Seattle Fish Guys intending to eat there, but if it’s too crowded to just do take out and order some extra to eat for later meals.
Ratings:
Atmosphere: 4.00
Service: 5.00
Food/Drinks: 4.75
Bang for the Buck: 4.75
Overall: 4.75
Locals Only Factor: “Locals Only” grading-We’ll assign a grading as to how “local” a place is.
-
- Well known or Touristy. Most locals don’t go there unless they have business dinners or visitors in town.
-
- Most locals know about it
-
- Locals “in the know” know about it
-
- Only those who live close by know about it.
-
- You’re in on the secret. Don’t tell anybody!
Servers recommendations to visit in the future:
Related Articles:
Stop N Shop Poke
Recommended by: An in-the-know co-worker brought it to my attention back in April of 2016.
Description on the Stop N Shop’s website: They ain’t got one.
Neighborhood/Type: Wallingford
Address: 2323 N 45th St, Seattle, WA 98103
What we ate/drank:
Comments: If we’re being honest, this post should have been published two and half years ago. It was around April 2016 that a co-worker in my office spilled the beans on a little secret poke place inside of small convenience store. What made this secret so tantalizing was not only was it secretly located, but if memory serves it was thee first place to serve poke dishes(not counting the seafood markets that sell it by weight). As word of mouth spread, the secretive nature added to the allure of the shop. Almost immediately there were lines out the door.
. 
I used to live in Fremont and I’d typically take N 45th to get to the I5, so I used to pass by the location all the time. Prior to a Stop N Shop, it was home of the famous Erotic Bakery, which used to make X-rated cakes. From the nondescript outside, you’d think it’s just a normal convenience shop where you’d pick up some gum or some cigarettes. It is that, but as you enter you’ll see a little poke stand to the right.
The convenience store portion.
IIt still gets crowded, but due to the proliferation of poke places all around Seattle shortly thereafter the opening of Stop and Shop, the novelty quickly wore off. But whenever I take out of town guests, they still get a kick out of “this secret place”. I find the Stop N Shop Poke bowls to be a decent size, has quality ingredients and I think it’s faster because they automatically add on the side items instead of letting the customer pick and choose. I think this makes the orders go quicker.
So you start with the bottom of the bowl-either rice or a salad or you can half/half. Then you can choose one fish($11), two fish($12) or three fish($13). Choices are tuna, salmon, izumidai, shrimp or veggie(tofu). They also have unagi for an extra two dollars. You can have the fish with a regular sauce or a spicy sauce. I prefer spicy myself. Then they add on krab salad, seaweed salad, edamame, ginger, tobiko, pickled cucumber. Voila. There are only a few tables, so we always take ours to go. A normal practice for us, is to order poke from Stop N Shop and then eat it at a local brewery which allows outside food.
A note about Seattle poke places: It seems as soon as Stop N Shop opened a poke place, so many poke places opened up that in less than one year after Stop N Shop opened many of these poke places were closing down due to saturation. So in less than one year, the poke craze started and went down in flames. Here’s an article from The Seattle Times talking about the Seattle poke saturation. It’s easy to understand why so many poke places opened. Most places use the Subway Sandwiches model where you start with rice, add the fish and then the toppings. Everything is already prepped, so you just need somebody to listen to the customers and put the poke dish together. Also, there is no cooking involved(except for the rice) since the fish is raw and mixed with sauces. Don’t get me wrong I love poke, but you can see it’s an easy business to replicate. The only thing that will separate the poke places that survive and the ones that won’t, are quality of the fish and customer service. My two favorite poke places are Stop N Shop and goPoke in the International District.
Ratings:
Atmosphere: 4 Cmon, it’s a convenience store, but due to the secretive nature it gets a 4.
Service: 5
Food/Drinks: 4.5 on the poke scale
Bang for the Buck: 4.5
Overall: 4.5
Locals Only Factor: “Locals Only” grading-We’ll assign a grading as to how “local” a place is.
-
- Well known or Touristy. Most locals don’t go there unless they have business dinners or visitors in town.
- Most locals know about it
- Locals “in the know” know about it
- Only those who live close by know about it.
- You’re in on the secret. Don’t tell anybody!
Related Articles: