Shannon M.
Yelp
Okay, I preface this review by saying that I have had poke in Hawaii and I make it myself too, so I'm a little picky! But I'm really happy that there are places to get it now aside from tiki bars and the like! And Aloha Poke is the genuine article. They use sashimi grade fish and other ingredients you don't see outside of the sushi restaurant too often (tobiko roe, sesame oil etc.)
You can choose from the "House creations" where they have combined different ingredients already for you, or you can "Pack your own bowl" from a list of ingredients, which is what I did, to make it as close to the type I make (thus: marinated ahi tuna with white rice, maui onion, seaweed, jalapeno, sesame oil, and crunch, with spicy aioli on the side).
It wasn't super crowded while we were there, but there was a little confusion of people getting the sheets on which you fill out for your order and then finding their way into line. Once they took your order, the wait wasn't long (on a Thursday afternoon).
I think the only thing that was disappointing was that they didn't really blend the ingredients together; they were more stacked. I have never had a poke that wasn't sort of like a "tossed salad" where everything got mixed, but here it seemed that they were reading what was on the checklist and just piling them on top of one another. The bowl DOES get totally filled, which is nice, but that also means there isn't really room for you to "stir it up" either without making a mess (I had a crunch blowout anyway at our table).
I will say that the Ahi tuna was excellent and was the highlight of the dish. I'm glad for this novelty, but maybe they'll mix it up next time!