Blue Whale Poke Bar and Grill

I can't believe I found this place! I think it's going to be a hit! It seems like nobody in the Bay Area has mentioned it. It's a really good place. But I had my favorite poke bowl!!! While eating it, the rice seemed so familiar. I also have Korean BBQ rice! It's like the kind of rice from Taiwan Like tender and juicy. You must try this rice!!!!! You will love it!!!! The environment is clean, the service is good, and the food is refreshingly cool! Very comforting!

The menu was updated to include more Korean options, but overall, the quality of the food is still mid. Not bad, but not worth the price. The fish tastes like any other poke fish and really leans on the sauces to be halfway decent. Korean options are not much better. Service was fine, totally depends on who's working, but no worse than any other spot in the food court. Its main benefit is probably being the healthiest option in the food court.

This restaurant was a complete disappointment. The service was incredibly rude - when we asked for food recommendations or clarifications, the staff member simply told us to "read the menu." We should have left then, but hunger and exhaustion won over. We ordered two bibimbap bowls, and the wait time was absurdly long. When the food finally arrived, it was cold and utterly flavorless. We couldn't even finish our meals and ended up leaving most of it on the table. Save your money and go elsewhere. This place is not worth your time or your appetite.

Now serving Korean food! Didn't try though but their poke is pretty good. Regular is $14 for 3 scoops of fresh fish. Spam musubi is delicious and is made to order and warm $6 for 2.

Yummy. They have pineapple and corn as topping that’s nice. But they can use more choices on sauce. The salmon is only ok has lots of chewy tendon in it. They can add a little more sauce too half way thru the bowl, there are no sauce left

The food is considered below average. Nothing really much to say. Small bowl is a bit overpriced since the food portions are a bit off. They could have filled the bowl almost to the top. Also, they forgot to add house made ponzu sauce.

Amazing options for my Poke Bowl. Coming from orlando we have so many poke places but nothing compares to this. Very fresh and great prices for the bowls. Would definitely come again. Cant wait to come back on vacation just to eat here. Also the employees are very helpful and help you if you don’t really know what to get.

Quantity was surprisingly great, plus food quality was not bad. Since they just opened, majority of their food items are still not ready. But great service from the team Update Added more pics

Large selection of Asian fusion food to choose from - Hawaiian, Japanese, Korean. Great staff and good quality of food. Coming back :)

Smallish servings of fish but fresh and tasty Poke bowls for the $15 you pay. In fairness, they have to cover the crazy rents here I suppose, plus inflation these days. The vibe? Clean, casual modern food court vibe in the upscalish all-new (a few years new) food court annex of Hillsdale Mall. Indifferent service but they get the job done. I ordered the 2-scoop Poke bowl with Hawaiian style tuna and salmon with a base of mixed greens and brown rice. The scoop of tuna was small, so perhaps the pro tip here is to just spend the extra $2 for the larger 3-scoop bowl. I did not like the fact that you have to pay $2 extra for seaweed! Uhh.. no.. not this time. I normally go for the Mexican place here in this food court, so this was still an okay alternative for something different.

This is an Asian fusion place right? They should get the rice stuff perfectly. There are so many videos out there on how to cook sushi rice perfectly and check the consistency of the rice. My last several visits over the last year have been nothing but disappointment. When I approach the restaurant I got confused with the restaurant's menu. I get that they need to make money but when this restaurant first opened, their poke was outstanding. Now that Blue Whale became a variety fusion restaurant their poke quality has gone down. Each time I order from Blue Whale whether it's via UberEats or in person, the rice is either too crunchy or too gummy and soft. How can you be an Asian restaurant and not get the rice cooking correct and consistent in the last near decade or so? The poke, especially the spicy poke mix tastes old. The fish tastes very fishy and it has been sitting in the freezer for a while. Sometimes it's slimey. The service has gone down too. They keep changing staff and while they are not over the top rude the workers there lack people skills. I really want to like this restaurant at times. But almost no one goes there when I stop by. Maybe it s a bad sign. Hopefully Blue Whale will assess their entire restaurant operations before it's too late. I really hope they change and stay around. They are the only place that serves spicy mayo and spicy poke mix that I know of.

This restaurant was a complete disappointment. The service was incredibly rude - when we asked for food recommendations or clarifications, the staff member simply told us to "read the menu." We should have left then, but hunger and exhaustion won over. We ordered two bibimbap bowls, and the wait time was absurdly long. When the food finally arrived, it was cold and utterly flavorless. We couldn't even finish our meals and ended up leaving most of it on the table. Save your money and go elsewhere. This place is not worth your time or your appetite.

The Blue Whale Poke Bar and Grill in Hillsdale Shopping Center is a great place to take a lunch break. Service was quick. The flavors of the Philippines, Hong Kong, China and Korea are showcased in their offerings. I enjoyed the Beef Bulgogi Bibim-Bap, freshly cooked to order. Lots of table seating indoor and outdoor. .

My cashier Yanet, was so sweet everything made sure to tell me what everything was since i didn't know. She had a smile on her face all the time. Everything was so fresh! Thank you for everything Yanet

Sure, I get it - reviewing a mall food court eatery feels a little silly. If you're out shopping and looking for something to eat, you're going to go with what looks good or whatever you're craving, not whichever spot has the highest ratings on Yelp. However, it's not like we're talking about Panda Express - that staple needs to no review/introduction at all. However, for a place that's a bit more unique to Hillsdale's airport terminal-esque food court? Feels like fair game to me, especially when their prices are comparable to stand alone restaurants out there. What happened to cheap food court meals? Sigh... Seemingly tucked away in a corner of the food court (it's opposite the main wall/row of eateries), Blue Whale doesn't seem to have the same long lines as some of the other eateries during peak meal times/weekends. The menu is also decidedly atypical from most of the other spots here, featuring primarily poke bowls and sushi, though they also have a variety of hot foods made up of Asian and Hawaiian favorites, like Chicken Katsu Bowls, Musubis, Adobo Pork Belly Bowls, and Bibimbap. The Loco Moco with Galbi, in particular, looked really tempting, but I already knew I had to try their poke bowls. With three different bases to choose from (White Rice, Brown Rice, and Mixed Greens, four basic toppings (Crab Salad, Cucumber, White Onions, Mac Salad, Cucumbers), two premium toppings (Avocado and Wakame are +$2 each), nine types of poke (Classic Hawaiian Tuna, Ahi Tuna, Salmon, Sweet & Spicy Shrimp, Salmon Furikake, Garlic Tuna, Spicy Salmon, Spicy Tuna, and Vegan Tofu), six toppings (Green Onions, Edamame, Ginger, Pineapple, Corn, and Jalapenos), five sauces (Housemade Ponzu, Chef's Sauce, Spicy Mayo, Cho Chili, and Sweet Maui Onion Mayo), and three seasonings (Furikake, Fried Onions, and Sesame Seeds), Blue Whale actually gives you a decent number of ways you can customize your bowl! For my order, I opted to go with the THREE SCOOP POKE BOWL ($16) with Classic Hawaiian Tuna, Furikake Salmon, and Salmon with Cucumber, White Onions, Crab Salad, Mac Salad, Wakame (+$2), Green Onions, Edamame, Ginger, Fried Onion, Furikake, Sesame Seeds, and their Chef's Sauce (Ponzu and Sesame Oil) over White Rice. All together, this made for a pretty decent bowl. The mac salad wasn't that great, but the rice wasn't overcooked like how I had feared, the cucumbers were crisp, and the crab salad wasn't overly dressed. As for the poke, all three were pretty fresh, but the Classic Hawaiian was easily my favorite. As for the Furikake Salmon and regular Salmon, they actually weren't far behind either; they just didn't really stand out. While I would give my poke bowl THREE AND A HALF STARS based purely on taste, I feel like they're a little closer to three than four. Even though it's not terribly skewed, the portion size felt lighter than others I've had and there aren't quite as menu options/choices here (other places offer more types of poke, like octopus, hamachi, etc.). Still, you can certainly do worse, for both a poke bowl and for a place to eat inside Hillsdale.

Located in the Hillsdale Shopping Center. Blue Whale serves a great poke bowl. Fresh ingredients, generous portions, nice location to enjoy the poke bowl. Service was fast, friendly and efficient.

Craving poke and since I was in the mall my sister and I decided to give this spot a try. Expensive for the amount you get and overall dry. Desperately needed more sauce and the toppings tasted like they were still being thawed out. They gave barely half scoops of everything and the rice was rock hard. The spicy salmon had a good marinade and was the savior of this meal. Disappointing.

The food was average for poke but did the job. The service was friendly and helpful. The ambiance is casual since its inside the mall. Would just come here for a quick fix.

I got the 3-protein option at Blue Whale Poke Bar and Grill. The service was really fast, and the packaging was solid. The vibe is casual and It's convenient being in the Hillsdale food court with so many options around. If you're craving dessert after, Uncle Tetsu is right across the station and definitely worth checking out. Good spot for a quick, fresh meal.

Average poke spot with decent options And basic service. For $25 it's a very small amount of poke. Maybe just got small scoops...

I haven't been in Hillsdale Shopping Center since Covid. I enjoyed eating here in the past and I was not disappointed. The service was quick and efficient. The selections were great and fresh. I ordered the small bowl and I didn't have to have dinner that evening. I had a late lunch at 230om. The ambiance of this mall is beautiful and staff maintains the food court so, it is very clean.

There's a few changes here over the last couple years. Two mains: the menu has changed and the staff has changed. Staff: the two Latin ladies were a staple. They were friendly and consistent and I liked them. The new crew are all high school/recent grads and like all younger folks they could care less about anything - especially the food you receive. Lol. I decided to break away from the poke and grab some Korean BBQ this time. My review is based on that. They said 10 min wait. Mmkay sounds fresh. The pic shows a nice gummy 6-min egg and some fresh looking ribeye. Yay right? Shoot down those expectations folks, it's $18 for some really old meat (likely cooked this morning or yesterday and warmed up to room temp) alongside a very hardboiled cold egg. See the photo? Not great. Now the flavor was on point. To be honest, if this had freshly seared up meat and a nice 6 min egg, it'd be entirely worth the $18. And I'd probably eat this at least once per week. But instead I'll just steal the concept and cook it at home for significantly cheaper and it'll be so much better

It was pretty expensive for a mall poke place but it's Hillsdale so that's what I expect. The cashier/poke maker was clearly not happy to be the only one working and she made it known that she was just pushing one in and out. The bowl itself was good though- good portions and everything was pretty fresh. Their toppings were a little more limited than your average Bay Area poke spot but again for a mall, it works

The food is considered below average. Nothing really much to say. Small bowl is a bit overpriced since the food portions are a bit off. They could have filled the bowl almost to the top. Also, they forgot to add house made ponzu sauce.

Not the type of person to write reviews about restaurants, but this place is great! I had a poke bowl and a spam musubi, best combo ever while in theater!

When it comes to fresh and flavorful poke bowls in San Mateo, the Blue Whale Poke Bar & Grill at Hillsdale Mall is our top choice. Their commitment to using only the freshest ingredients shines through in every bite. The sauce is a perfect blend of savory and sweet, and the service is always friendly and attentive. Treat yourself to a poke bowl next time you're at the mall!

Ok so this is a different twist to Poke... they had a Hawaiian tuna that was super delicious! They also had a garlic tuna that was great as well! The person helping me was helpful letting me know what was new and what was popular. It was in a mall so eating with everyone around and the area made it a bit more lively. It was rest for mall food

Was looking for healthier food option in Hillsdale food court which is always packed but chiland came across blue whale poke. Was excited to try their Korean rolls and boba Thai tea. And it did not disappoint. This spot is clean and they're organized. The servers were friendly and accommodating. They answered our questions politely and explained their menu. We didn't wait long either for our food to be served. And it was actually big enough to share and it tasted delicious. It was healthy and satisfying.

Ordered a regular (3 scoops) poke bowl and got half salad + half rice, 2 scoops of salmon, 1 scoop of tuna. It looked appealing and after I took my first bite, I noticed that the rice was slightly sticky and was cold. The fish was also quite cold as well. Wasn't too fond of eating cold poke. I got 2 sauces: chef's special along with spicy Mayo. The flavors were just okay.

Located on the Hillsdale shopping mall. I was craving poke and decided to try here for the first time. I picked the small two scoops poke bowl and able to pick the base with half and half with mixed greens and sushi rice and then picked the sides and the two scoops of proteins, etc. I am so glad I tried this place as their poke was very good and they give plenty and do not skimp. The raw fish was fresh and did not have any fishy taste. Service was quick and efficient! Will definitely come back and try others.

Literally the nastiest food in San Mateo. Terrible food, service was bad. Would never eat here again. Only writing this review so no one else wastes $40 on a poke bowl or a beef bowl. Food went straight in the trash.

Nice selection of poke and choice of rice or mixed greens with toppings. Good portion too!

Went in on 6/25/24 specifically to use a Blue Whale gift card that I had. They could not accept the gift card as payment, said the reason is the WiFi does not work. However, they were able to accept a credit card. (!?) I didn't want to cancel the order since they were already making the food. I asked if I could return a different day to give them the gift card and get a refund on my credit card. The staff did not know who I should talk to, did not know when the wiFi would work again and could not give me a printed receipt. $38 for two bowls. Very frustrating . . .

I ask the Poke maker gal if the rice was warm before ordering & she said yes it was. After getting my order with tuna & salmon 2 protein rice bowl. The rice was cold. If she was honest I wouldn't have ordered it since i wanted a hot bowl. Ponsu sauce is water down. No taste. Overall was a dissatisfying poke bowl. Luckily i put soy sauce & sriracha sauce on it in order to make it taste better. Was not happy with this poke. & would not return or recommend.

I love poke bowls, and decided to try this place out. They have a wide variety of menu items, and an assortment of toppings to put in your poke bowl. They don't skimp on the food they put in your bowl and they really pack it in. They prepare the bowls quickly and the service was pretty good. The bowl had a nice variety of toppings and the quality was amazing. Was very satisfied with this place and highly recommend.

Check your receipt and show the people working. There's definitely going to be added charges.

Their 2-fish poke bowl costs about $15, $16 each which is in line with the rest of the places in the area but their portion is really really stingy, and the fish was okay not super fresh. If you get it to go and eat at home I suggest getting their poke by the pound that gives you more bang by the buck. It's a lb of fish plus a side of seaweed for $23 as of Oct 2022.

so fya, luv da teokkboi. spam also delic. poke bowl is good too, very enjoyable. will cum again soon thank you.

I usually dont post reviews. but this was my first time trying poke from this place and I wanted to share my experience. this was pretty good! I questioned why the sushi rice was cold, which they explained the fish has to be cold temperatures to avoid bad quality taste and to keep it fresh. I got rice, cucumbers, crab salad, Hawaiian, spicy shrimp, and spicy salmon and a couple toppings with chef sauce. I enjoyed a little of everything!

Do not get the Loco Moco. Gross looking patty, barely any gravy, nothing remotely close to authentic. Avoid.

Very bland. Went with the staff's suggestions on the poke and sauce, but the bowl just tasted weird. Won't be coming here again. 2 stars is just for the location and ambiance because Hillsdale mall is quite nice.

What in the world was I served with my chicken bibimbap? Part of a pot? Part of a pot scrubber? Part of a pan?! Aluminum foil?!?! I bit into metal and definitely left with some lingering tooth pain. Word to the wise...be careful if what you're eating. See photo to take your guess at what it was.

For a mall food court, this place serves solid poke and bi bim bap. Not the most extensive list of options, not the best poke or korean food you can find in the area, but if you're at the mall and looking for lunch, this is one of your better options.

Paid $50 for lunch and tipped, ate for a few minutes, went back to get a cup of ice and was told, $4. Why did I tip? Not coming back to this place again.

The poke bowls are great! The fish is fresh and the toppings pair well with each other. I like getting the kids size as it is 2 scoops of fish (1 less than the regular bowl) and makes for a satisfying meal portion. I prefer getting the tuna and salmon, they taste fresh and delicious. I have also tried them marinated as in the hawaiian and salmon furikake- these are more flavorful, but more oily (it is tossed in sesame oil). I like getting all the regular toppings for a delicious bowl. I enjoy the imitation crab topping, as well as the edamame, ginger, masago, and corn.

While the prices here are a little on the high side, I was still happy with the poke bowl that I got in terms of quality of the food and the portion size. I ordered a 2 protein poke bowl with a couple different kinds of salmon and my choice of toppings and sauce. I can't remember now off the top of my head which toppings I got, but I did notice that there were some additional charges for some of the toppings they have. I'm used to avocado being charged extra but there were a couple of other ones that were extra as well, which feeds into the overall price being on the higher side.

I needed a snack after a day of shopping and saw that this place had spam musubi. I queued up behind a pretty long line for scoop and go poke. It looked like there was only one person working in the front and a customer was having some issues. It took a long time for someone else to come out and get the line moving. Like most poke places you line up to build your bowl first and then pay at the register that's placed at the end of the line. It turns out that if you aren't getting poke, you can just skip the entire line and walk right up to the register and order. I saw someone else do this to get an order of musubi which peeved me a bit since I waited in line to order like everyone else. I kinda wish there was a sign that would help direct the line a little more efficiently. I didn't have to wait too long for the food. It was pretty tasty overall with a good ratio of rice to spam thickness. There was also a good amount of sauce in between to balance out the saltiness of the spam.

Not the best poke I've ever had. I got a 3 scoop poke bowl, $16, which was more food than I needed. Should have ordered the 2 scoop small bowl. My base was sushi rice which was too sticky and parts were gummy. Added a scoop of artificial shredded crab which was bland, soggy cucumber. My fish scoops of hamachi, salmon and Hawaiian style were bland, didn't taste fishy but left me with fishy breath. I added Toppings of corn, green onion, seaweed and edamame. Sauce was ponzu and chef special which didn't help the dish. I could not finish the entire thing so took it home and ate the rest at dinner. But I had to pour on the ponzu sauce I had at home to make it palatable. Next time I'm back at the mall, I will pass on this place. There was only 1 staffer working the front by himself. Later, 2 others came out from the kitchen help. Service kind of slow for a not so busy lunch hour.

Ordered delivery for the first time from a food service. It was a okay, we ordered soft shell crab roll, beef &rib bowl, Korean chicken wings and beef bibimbap. Quick dinner.

Well well WHALE! I enjoyed the poke here in the still fairly new Hillsdale food corner! Currently on keto diet and it's kind of difficult to eat out considering the strict carbohydrate intake. That being said, poke is always something that is an option! I initially ordered yam noodles as my base... because my thoughts are "shiratake noodles! perfect, those are yam noodles right? yah." --- so then my fear of being kicked out of keto crept up and I decide to google it and feared the 27 grams of carbs I read. Granted it wasn't for sure the same noodles, but the employee helping me was so kind that even tho she'd already prepped it for me, she said she'd gladly start me another with just the salad mix. I ended up with the chef's special tuna and plain salmon topped with the chef's special sauce and spicy mayo. Wow - the chef's special is for sure special! Tangy and flavorful! Definitely would recommend it! My friend ordered a loco moco, and it looked freaking good. She basically inhaled it - and she told me it was tasty. We both loved that they sold Loco Moco! Because it is a Hawaiian type joint - and it's hard to find a good loco moco nowadays! They had a pretty good selection of hot food aside from their poke! So that definitely makes this place marketable! I couldn't give it the full 5 stars because price point started really high. I ordered a kids poke which gave 2 scoops, and it was $11 start rate and there wasn't a plethora of "mix-in" options... but I will say - despite high price point, the serving size was hefty as well. So, of course- I'm sure rent for the new Hillsdale mall is expensive and they gotta make ends meet. But I'm definitely glad to shell out the dough to enjoy a meal here. I'll be coming back here for sure once my diet is done

I think this place has promise, but the portions are teeny tiny. I ordered a regular bowl ($13 after tax) to go featuring 3 scoops of protein. I chose a mixed greens base, garlic crab side, salmon protein, ponzu sauce, and topped it with corn, edamame, masago, and crispy rice bits. I didn't pay much attention during the making of the bowl (oops) and didn't know until I got back home that the bowl was essentially only filled to the halfway mark (see pic). The strangest thing? They skimped the most on the greens and toppings, but not the salmon - I'm guessing because they regulate this at exactly 3 scoops. At any rate, what I had tasted good and the fish was fresh, but I was still hungry after. The portion they gave me was about 40% of regular-sized boxes at other nearby poke places. I looked through some other Yelpers pics of regular bowls and the size seems to vary quite a bit - some are filled all the way to the top and some are only partially filled. I probably won't chance it by coming again.

The poke is bad. The ingredients aren't fresh at all and taste much lower quality than a lot of other great poke places in the neighborhood. For $15+ a regular bowl, I'd say pass on Blue Whale when you can get fresh fish for that same price elsewhere. Haven't tried their cooked foods (non poke items), maybe (I hope) they're better.

Good poke bar! Nice selection & helpful servers. Prices are reasonable! I like all the choices of ingredients. Delicious!

Ordered the S.A.Y. Yes Combination and I would say that it was pretty good. The portion size was decent and the rice to fish ratio was great. I kinda wish that there were more veggie options with the poke bowl as there was only edamame and corn to try and balance out the carbs and protein, and it wasn't enough for me. Overall good fish portion and the garlic crab mix was very good as I can taste a hint of garlic while still enjoying the taste of normal crab salad.

Quantity was surprisingly great and food quality was a lot better 2 yrs ago. Like most places in the bay it is pricey and don't give as much compared to the ones in Hawaii. But this is the better choice when in the area. They also offer ramune (kids chocie of drinks) and bowls/plates for those who don't want poke. Just too bad they no longer serve adobo pork belly, but their loco moco is not too bad.

Came here for lunch today and ordered the 3 fish Poke Bowl. I thought they had a nice variety of toppings. I do wish they put more sauce on my bowl. It barely had any. Also compared to other poke spots, this place is a little more on the expensive side. The worker who helped me was extremely sweet and helpful!

Really good for a food court offering! My boyfriend ordered the spicy tuna with shrimp, and crab bowl and I ordered the chicken katsu. I recommend both!