Kristen K.
Yelp
The best poke place in Portland. Trust me (I'm from Hawaii), their poke is legit.
I love them so much that I successfully converted everyone in my office to The Church of Poke (even the people who don't really like fish!), and now we have "Poke Day" scheduled on our calendars every week.
Sea Sweets Poke has several things going for them that make them hard to beat:
1) Great poke. Lots of different flavors, all good. I particularly like their salmon poke, and I LOVE their seasonal steelhead poke.
A lot of places seem to think that you can just chop up raw fish, throw it on rice, and call it "poke." No way! It shouldn't be drowning in sauce, but it does need to be seasoned.
2) Lots of free toppings. You have a choice of two sides (all good; I'm partial to the lemon pepper krab salad, seaweed salad, and the hijiki edamame), around 9 toppings (masago, fried onions, furikake, and more), and several sauces (I always go for the wasabi mayo). They have additional paid toppings like the sambal guacamole and sous vide egg.
3) Great kale salad. Seriously, I don't think I ever had good kale before trying the kale salad at Sea Sweets. It's not tough and dry -- I think they must season and massage it or something, because their kale is sweet, soft, but still fresh and springy. Sea Sweets actually inspired me to start making my own kale salads, no joke.
Poke on a good kale salad is miles better than other poke places that just toss the fish on mixed greens and call it a day.
4) Good prices and sizes. Their regular poke bowl is $11 (most poke bowls from elsewhere in Portland are around $13-15). The bowls are filling. They don't skimp on the fish, and the many toppings ensure that you won't be hungry after.
5) Quick delivery. If you use food delivery apps like Postmates or Caviar (they're available on pretty much every app), Sea Sweets delivery is fast. Their location is in Hawthorne, and we were able to receive our poke bowls way out east on Division in less than half an hour.
Their shop is also clean, bright, and very cute.
Thanks Sea Sweets! Keep up the good work! (And bring back the steelhead!)