The Poke Guy

Well, it's been a hot minute since we last visited The Poke Guy (2016 to be exact). Truth is we try to avoid downtown nowadays. Depending on which way you're coming from, the streets can get a bit sketch. This is a busy place tho and seemed to pick up just after we arrived. The reason why we came is because we recall this place having a more authentic version of poke compared to the other poke bowl places in Vancouver. We ordered Da Traditional ($21.5) which comes with 4 scoops of poke on rice or salad. We picked the spicy mayo salmon, spicy mayo scallop, shoyu ahi tuna, and shoyu salmon. Good poke but I do miss the poke we get in Hawaii... something about that limu seaweed and sweet onions over there that's magical. I feel like the scoops seem smaller than when we visited here before (shrinkflation?) and the poke pieces seem chopped a bit finer which doesn't give you a chance to appreciate the texture as well. They also have hot dishes here now so we tried the Huli Chicken Bowl on rice ($15.95) and the Maui Ribs on rice ($18.95) along witha tasty Hawaiian Fruit Tea ($6). The ribs were good... they had a bold teriyaki-like flavor. Thought the chicken could use more sauce tho.

This poke bowl spot absolutely doesn't have value for money, limited number of scoops for each size - only 3 for small and 5 for medium including even seasoning and sauce capped at two. Almost every topping you would like also is charged extra - be it pineapples or a protein. We were too hungry so caved to ordering it and realising this mid way. You are better off going to other poke stores than being charged for every little thing and mainly eating Quinoa for 18 bucks, and overall average quality taste while the appearance is pretty good, don't get disappointed

Went here for lunch during the week. I enjoyed my bowl. I got the 'big guy' bowl with ahi tuna. They have tons of different options to build your own custom bowl or they have some pre-selected options as well. The ordering process is a bit rushed especially if it's your first time ordering a custom bowl. While polite, the employees were rushing me to make all my choices and get on to the next guest - there are lots of options. Base options (white/brown rice, salad or a mix), regular toppings, premium toppings (extra $), protein options that you pay for by the scoop, sauce options and then topper options. The bowl was very good although when all was said and done it was $25 (I added avocado and 2 scoops of protein). I will try again but will definitely try something different given there are so many options.

First time here in years! I remember coming for their grand opening and back when they introduced their Hawaiian plates! Had a decent poke bowl (I built my own mini guy). I will say their portions were less than what I remembered from my first impressions. My bowl came to $14.18 including tax, which had a base, a sauce, 1 protein option (you pay by the scoop and my salmon was $3), 3 sides, and 1 crunch. It's drastically different compared to say, Steve's Poke Bar, where you can choose unlimited sides for a similar price. I always find it odd when a poke shop limits customers' number of "crunches" as the cost must be so minor to produce - items like furikake, fried onions, fried garlic, sesame seeds, etc. It would go a long way to allow people to have more than one as a topper. The sesame mayo sauce was great and I was told it didn't have dairy (milk/eggs) in it. I had the shoyu Atlantic salmon, with corn, edamame, and imitation crab. On the plus side, the staff were kind and patient as I ordered. I was asking about items with gluten/dairy due to a sensitivity, and they seemed to know their menu. They get quite a few online orders through delivery apps, as most people during a weekday lunch hour took their food to-go.

Came here for lunch while in Gastown. It was after the prime lunchtime, so was able to quickly order and grab a table. Service was friendly and helpful when ordering. They have traditional Hawaiian dishes such as Kalua Pork, Huli Chicken, Spam dishes, and other hot plates in addition to the Poke. There's also many different teas to choose from. Ordered a few poke plates and customized them as they prepared them. You can choose your own base, protein, sauce, and toppings. All the fish and toppings looked and tasted very fresh. Poke is whatever you make it, but everyone enjoyed their bowls. I'd come back here again for some fresh Poke.

Ordered from Ubereats and was looking forward to it since this place has other Hawaiian food as well. The fish tasted extremely fishy and not fresh. Very disappointed that the rice and sauce was rhe best part of the poke bowl, considering I ordered a large BYOB with 2 proteins. I didn't add anything spicy in my bowl but just took a bite of something spicy... So that's also disturbing 🙄

Very nice people, and a lot of good options for food! I got the classic fuego bowl which is really not that spicy but still good all the same. 10/10 would recommend

We had the island ribs and Maui beef short ribs on brown rice - the former was fantastic, but the latter was on the salty side. I think it may have been too much sauce?