Restaurant Review: Pacific Poke

By Sherman Chan,
Special to The Post

 

The Cali consisted of spicy salmon, crab and shrimp, pickled red onion, avocado nori, green onion and sprouts and spicy mayo. It was creamy with tang from the pickled onions. The Keefer sported ahi and albacore tuna negitoro, avocado, nori, fresh wasabi peas, mixed herbs, classic sesame shoyu and lime juice. Loved how the creamy avocado contrasted the chewy seasoned rice. There was also plenty of tang from the lime juice and aromatics from the sesame shoyu and sesame oil from the wakame.

My favourite was The Main with salmon, spicy tuna, crab and shrimp jicama, cucumber, avocado nori, sesame miso sauce, lime and yuzu juice, green onion and fresh herbs. This was spicy but balanced with hits of sesame from the miso as well as a rich mild saltiness. The creamy avocado added body while the jicama provided a refreshing crunch. Their creations are crafted by trained chefs where flavour profiles and textures are taken into account.  Hence, this is not supposed to be just a plain ol' Poke.

I had a Custom Bowl to go which I loaded with negitoro, spicy salmon and spicy tuna. I chose half sushi rice and half quinoa with beets and basil, wakame, fresh pineapple and wasabi peas, finished off with lime, citrus dressing and wasabi mayo. It was hearty and satisfying. It was pretty spicy and had a tang too. The quinoa lightened things up. The flavours worked and the textures as well. I liked how they didn't put everything but the kitchen sink into it either.

 

Pacific Poke

625 Main Street, Vancouver, BC

 

The Good:

• Generous with the proteins

• Restrained amount of topping choices

• Unique flavours that worked

 

The Bad:

• For poke purists, yes, there is creative liberties here (but I liked it)

 

Sherman Chan is the #1 ranked food blogger on the Vancouver portal of Urbanspoon.com. Read more of his reviews at www.shermansfoodadventures.com.

 

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