Paradise Poke Hawaii - Nuuanu — Restaurant in Honolulu

Thanks to Frolic and IG we saw photos that we just couldn't resist on coming by!

Arrived just before 10am and found out they don't serve Poke till 10:30am. Worked out though, my son loves Musubi and got him one for the time being. The Musubi had a thick slice of Spam which was more the merrier for him. It was a 2 thumbs up from him!

When the time had arrived there was a line formed about 5 people in front of us. We waited for about 10 minutes. We ordered the Poke Bowl for $18 for 2 choices/1 side: Salmon with Truffle Ponzu and Spicy Ahi with White Rice and Yuzu Cucumber.

Here's the not so good about PP... They have a refrigerated display case with poke styles on signs (I guess what they will be offering for the day) Garlic Hamachi caught our eye and we was looking forward to ordering it. When my partner asked the worker if the Hamachi was going to be served, she said let me check. She peeks into the back and comes out saying that they will have it later today. We asked what time and response was I'm not sure. OK... The lack of customer service part of this was that the BOH couldn't give a time when it would be available. Really? Why tease customers with something that they cannot order? Perhaps they should not have signs unless they are serving it.

As for the tasting of our choices! Spicy Ahi is good but not great. Wasn't any different than most. The Truffle Ponzu was unique to where you do not have the sweet flavor that is found with the furikake Salmon pokes out there. Not being sweet and having the citrus from the ponzu shine through made it yummy.

However, the biggest disappointment of this was the Rice was Hot! Do you know what this means? It slowly starts to cook the fish. Eating the fresh Poke warm wasn't to our cup of tea. It would probably be best to have the rice cooled prior to serving for this reason.

Management Owners should better prepare their staff to be able to communicate to the Customer to avoid any let down or disappointment. Plus attention to little details with room temp rice for the Poke bowls.

Would come back to try the Poke styles that were not available. Maybe this is their way to have...

Just so happens I saw the ad for this place on Instagram and the Poke looked good. We're always searching for a good Poke place.

This place is located at the corner of Nuuanu St. and School St. a few doors down from Starbucks. Lotsa parking.

I had the Hawaiian Bowl (rice, Kalua Pig, Lomi Salmon, and Alae Poke). I have to say that the Poke here is extremely well made. Choice fresh cut Ahi (zero suji), every piece of ahi was well salted. Could taste the Kukui Nut and chili peppers really well too.

My nephew had the Shoyu Poke. He also had the same great experience with the taste.

Other places do have fresh choice cuts of Ahi, but they don't take the time to lomi the Hawaiian Salt into the fish. This place has the salted flavor right through every piece. For me, this is important.

Keep in mind that we drive all over the island for our work so we're able to try all of the supposed best Poke Bowl places. He and I both agreed that Paradise Poke is by far the bestest in our book.

Here's the kicker...........while we were paying for our food, I looked to the left behind the counter and there were stacks of Tamaki Gold rice bags (expensive rice). That's how I knew the food was going to be good.

Every single other Poke place we tried uses the crappiest, cheapest rice. This totally ruins whatever dish you're eating with it because the cheaper rice has a rancid bite to it.

Sorry, no photos. Just look at the ones already posted, they don't do justice on how good the food really...

Best poke on the island. They use fresh never frozen sashimi grade fish that takes me back to ahi I was privileged to have grown up eating. So so fresh and buttery! I especially love the truffle salmon and ahi limu!

Their musubis and cooked items are amazing too. Their musubis have an outside wrapper for the nori, so every bite comes with a distinctive crunch before making the descent into the rice and filling. My fave is the spicy negi mentaiko and the salmon ikura. Yum! The ahi belly with finadene sauce is addictive and the salmon skin salad with truffle salmon poke and gigantic slabs of deep fried skin was a giant hug I didn't know I needed.

They also use high quality Japanese rice and Coffee Bean Tea Leaf style crushed ice! I emphasize these points bc it's better than all the other rice and ice I consume normally 😂 These little things make a difference. You can tell they put a lot of thought into their selections and that they care about their offerings.

I spoke to friends in the industry and their prices are stupid fair. I hope they don't build the 3% credit card convenience fee into the prices like others are suggesting bc cash is king and I'll take all the savings I...