POKE SUSHI ROLL — Restaurant in Dallas

It was Friday night after a busy week at work and my wife and I decided to go get sushi for a date night! We just picked up a collar, leash, and nametag for the pup that we would be picking up and our spirits were high of excitement. We were also excited to try Poke Sushi Roll because they are a new establishment and already have 4.9 Stars according to Google Reviews (and tobe clear, that’s out of five!). I called earlier and asked if we needed a reservation and the young lady that answers the phone replied “no, you don’t need a reservation.” So we just headed-on-over without a care in the world, since we were on a journey to a wonderful land of no reservations. We walked in and we were instantly impressed with the cleanliness of the restaurant. You can really tell that the owners take a deeply-rooted pride in keeping their restaurant in a pristine state. We were also pleasantly surprised at the diversity of sushi products in the menu. You can get sushi rolls, bowls, or even burritos. The line was not long when we were there and we were up to order right after the middle-aged couple in front of us. The owner said to the middle-aged lady, “Seeya tomorrow!” Right away, we knew that this place was special. And now, it was our turn to pick out our food. The set-up is much like Chipotle but way better because there are so many options. My wife chose the bowl, so she was guided by the friendly man who is also the owner. She was able to choose a protein out of the options of tuna, spicy tuna, salmon, or tilapia. After this, she was able to pick a rice and then choose from a plethora of sides. All of a sudden, she had a delicious bowl that was about to be in her hands. Once it was my turn, I was beaming with excitement and my taste buds were exhuberant in their salivation factor. I chose 3 portions of tuna (I was hungry) with sushi rice, pineapple, seaweed, and I was even able to choose 2 very special sides, since I ordered a burrito! I chose tamago (cooked egg) and pickled squash. This was so intriguing to have the nice man place these on my burrito because I knew when I got home, my salivating taste buds would have a brand new experience. All of the ingredients were rolled inside green soy paper, which is actually edible. At the end, the nice man put the burrito in another white paper wrap and then in a thoughtfully prepared box for me to take home. I asked if the wrapping paper was edible and he said “no, no, no you are not supposed to eat the paper, and pointed at the white outer paper wrap.” I replied that I was actually referring to the green soy paper and he said “oh yes, that is very good.” So we were all set and they put our food in a bag “to-go style” since we were going home to watch the new Spider-Man movie. The owner, his wife, and the young woman working there gave us their sincere thanks for coming and ordering food from them. They were smiling the whole time and they made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I will tell you that when we got home, our taste buds were thanking us! I HIGHLY recommend Poke Sushi Roll and you will not be disappointed. You will probably come out of their store with a greater appreciation for what it means to get good food from good people and what it means to exchange money for edible goods in a very wholesome way. Drop your next meal plans and drive on over to Poke...

I have tried many great sushi restaurants in the past and some great ones in Dallas. With the above being said, I hold certain expectations when evaluating a sushi restaurant against their price-point. I came into Poke Sushi Roll with high expectations and was excited, since it (at this time) carries a 4.8/5 star. I have to say I was underwhelmed. While there weren't any problems or outright complaints, I would have expected better for the price. See the below:

Cleanliness: A clean 5 out of 5 stars. Ambiance: Again, a solid 5 out of 5 stars. Price-point: 2.5 out of 5 stars. Flavor: 3 out of 5 stars. Presentation: 2 out of 5 stars.

I ordered the 'Charlie's Bowl'. Seemed to be no dressing of any kind that helps meld the flavors of the various ingredients of the bowl together. Every tuna poke bowl always has at minimum the tuna/salmon tossed in a soy/sesame oil/rice vinegar type dressing and sometimes will have a touch of red chili spice to that dressing. Mixed in will often be masago and some green onion. This bowl was completely missing that. It was a ball of rice, with a small amount of greens (which had coarse iceberg lettuce in it - cheaper and lower quality) and on top was a lacking amount of fresh tuna and salmon, which were very small bits and not hearty quality chunks of fish that I would expect for a bowl that's $17 bucks and served in a takeout plastic dish.

I ordered the 'Greenville Roll' and although it was good, it wasn't great. It was well, forgettable and at $16 bucks and again, served in a plastic to-go dish, it just lacked. This is the same price point as Sa-Sa Sushi, which is just a couple miles away. Sa-Sa, by comparison, easily scores a full 5 out of 5 stars in every category and for the same price and served on actual dishes, if dining in.

I also ordered the 'Mini-Ahi-Tower'. Was very disappointed. It was 90% plain rice with a tiny (almost invisible) layer of crab mix on top and then tiny cubes of tuna on top with a few tiny pieces of avocado around the perimeter and finally a drizzling of some sauce. The sauce tasted good but it was a very poor representation of a good tuna tower, which I've had at many sushi restaurants. Additionally no finishing touches such as maybe various colors of masago, green onion, arugula, other sauce types, etc.

Finally the individual that was with me, ordered the chicken teriyaki and it was again just 'good' but lacked the finish and depth of flavor that I would expect. Again, served in a throw-away plastic dish.

Overall synopsis would be they appear to be cutting corners and keeping prices high. The problem with that mantra is that customers do notice and it will eventually take a toll on repeat business. For what I received, I would expect a tab on the order of maybe 30-35 bucks, not $65. I'm just not inclined to return. I'll simply go to Sa Sa Sushi if I'm going to drop 65 bucks on...

Had the chance to take some family for their first time eating Poke!!! Been making it for years and was happy to find such a highly-rated place near my ultimate destination that I could share with others.

If your on the fence about Poke, I basically describe it as a Rainbow Roll in a bowl... You have a base (sushi or brown rice or a selection of salads), two or three proteins (chicken, tofu, shrimp, or various raw sushi-type fish chunks), then a bunch of toppings and sauces. It's just outstanding!!! Super clean, just the right amount, and it just never makes you feel gross unlike a lot of the fried foods you get elsewhere.

This place also lets you do it as a Poke Burrito (same ingredients wrapped in Soybean Paper) - nice! Also, plenty of sushi rolls and teriyaki items to choose from. Definitely...