SeaSweets Poke

When the temperatures are hot in the summer, I look for refreshing but comforting food – and poke bowls are among my top choices. Unlike sushi or sashimi which often adds up to a pretty penny with the number of rolls before I’m full, poke bowls are more filling. One of my favorites in Portland is SeaSweets Poke – I love that they are a bit more nontraditional in their poke combinations and their toppings. Here’s my closer look at SeaSweets Poke’s menu.

First, if you haven’t had a poke bowl before, you are basically going to be choosing a set combination that is already available, or more popular is building your own bowl (think a bit like Chipotle or similar taco or burrito line where you pick all your individual fixings). For the base, you are using a bowl of rice (white or brown rice, or you can use kale salad) and then choosing the 1 scoop or 2 scoops of the poke protein option. If you go when it’s not too busy, you will usually be able to ask for a toothpick taste to help decide from the 6 options available.

Poke is a marinated fish dish that is very common in Hawaii – there you can just get it in grocery store deli cases just like you get your potato salad or chicken salad here in the mainland. The type of fish can vary from different kinds of tuna like albacore, ahi, and spicy tunas to salmon or shrimp or you can use tofu if you are vegetarian or vegan as your protein. At Sea Sweets my standby is usually the Salmon which they have in a marinated mix of yuzu tobikko, house ponzu, truffle oil, serrano, and cilantro. But I also really like the Snapper marinated with scallion, sweet onion, carrot, cucumber, sesame, radish sprout, and a house made “cho-jang” (their version of gochujang sauce) or the Albacore tuna with cilantro, scallion, house fried chili oil, and black vinegar shoyu.

If you like those fancy rolls that have lots of sauce and crunchy toppings from Japanese restaurants, poke bowls are essentially a deconstructed, larger version of that. If you are not sure about raw fish, get a vegetarian or vegan option with tofu and vegetables, or try the Shrimp in charred corn, cucumber, sweet onion, cilantro, cumin-lime vinaigrette.

As I mentioned at first, what makes SeaSweets Poke really outstanding are the additional toppings you can add on top of this. You’ll find lots of fun options like

• Seaweed salad
• Kimchee Corn
• Lemon Pepper Krab
• Edamame
• Masago
• Furikake
• Fried onion
• Spicy mayo
• Wasabi mayo
• House fried chili oil
• Sambal Guacamole (additional cost to add as a topping)
• Sous-Vide Runny Egg (additional cost to add as a topping)
• and more!

And that’s how you build bowls that can look like this! Here I stacked a large bowl with one scoop Salmon in house ponzu and one scoop Albacore in house fried chili oil and black vinegar shoyu, then topped it with Kimchee Corn, Hijiki Edamame, Sambal Guacamole, fried onion, furikake, and extra richness with a Sous-Vide Runny Egg from Sea Sweets Poke.

The result is that SeaSweets Poke is a fast casual concept similar to Chipotle in being able to create custom food fast, but that is also using good quality ingredients. I definitely recommend you give them a try – and if you are in a different part of town then the location on Hawthorne, don’t fret – I totally get SeaSweets through Postmates and Caviar all the time and it travels well.

Have you tried a poke bowl yet? What would you choose in your bowl?