Ross M.
Yelp
My wife's been talking about this place, like, forever... she doesn't like walking into downtown, so finally, today, I took her to pick-up some poke.
First thing back in the car, she said she was surprised because there wasn't a line. This, being only the second visit, she wasn't familiar with the selections. She mentioned that the employees were very helpful in explaining the differences between the selections. We wanted to get a taste of the various poke they had to offer. I wanted to taste their cold ginger ahi. My wife said that when she went in, she mentioned that she went there to try their cold ginger ahi but that they didn't have any. The lady said that they were making a new batch and asked if my wife could wait a few minutes because they were cutting the fish.
Today's poke sampling included: cold ginger ahi, dried ahi taegu, kahiau special, hurricane poke, and poke bombo. Can you tell we love our poke? ;-)
First things, first, the cold ginger ahi. By now, I want to say that I can tell the difference between previously frozen and fresh fish - this was fresh! The fish was clean tasting. I loved the ginger flavor; it wasn't too strong (for me) and I like the small cluster of ginger I had with the piece of poke I ate. The piece my wife ate, on the other hand, had a little fiber from the ginger, but all-in-all she liked it.
Note: earlier in the morning we went to Tamura's in Kaimuki, to pick-up poke and had to go back to return one of our items. While there, my wife noticed that Tamura's also had cold ginger ahi, which she's never seen before, so she decided to pick-up a little, for us to compare. You can see my review of that for Tamura's.
Since "Off the Hook" was on the way, we made a slight detour to pick-up a small poke combo which included the cold ginger ahi, to do, of course, a taste-test comparison between all three locations. Out of the three, let's just say Tamura's didn't make the top 3. Lol.
I liked Kahiau's cold ginger ahi because of the distinct flavor of the ginger. I also liked Off the Hooks cold ginger ahi for the blend of flavors. I could go either way, and I'd be happy with either one of them, for different reasons. But I digress...
Next, is the dried ahi taegu poke. Oh man, I love dried ahi and I love teigu. What a winning combination. At first, though, I had to get my thoughts readjusted while eating this right after the cold ginger ahi, as I was going from fresh to dried ahi. Once I realized I was eating the dried ahi, my mind shifted to the flavor of the taegu. Oh man, it packed a little spiciness to it, but still had that flavorful sesame oil and Korean chili taste. Unfortunately, I didn't have a cold glass of beer near by...
Next was the Kahiau Special, which I liken to limu poke. The fish was fresh, that's for sure. But trying it right after the dried ahi teigu wasn't a good idea. A few hours later I was able to eat it and felt that something was missing. Maybe with a slight dab of shoyu, the taste would have come out a bit more; but that's just me. You have to remember, we're eating these other poke that have a more pronounced flavor point...
Next, was the Hurricane poke, which I liken to a California Roll. It had avocado and imitation crab. I just had a smidgen of this, and can't give enough information on it, but don't get me wrong, I liked it. It's just that the dried ahi teigu is still on my mind...
Last but not least, was the poke bomb (spicy ahi filled inari sushi cone). This one fell short for me as the taste of the spicy ahi was missing something. The flavor of the shiracha sauce was present but there wasn't enough "body" in the flavor. My wife agreed, as well.
Overall, the quality of the fish, the cold ginger ahi and dried ahi taegu, and the customer service gives this establishment it's well-deserved four star rating, from me.
The staff were upbeat and welcoming, providing excellent customer service. My ratings always take into consideration of an establishment's customer service and for their customer service, alone, they get five stars.
