Pokesan - Poke Bowls, Dumplings & More — Restaurant in Kansas City

Brought my closest friends here after seeing the great reviews, and found that it was a letdown.

In terms of how the restaurant actually operates, they're a bit unorthodox (which is fine if executed well) in having you fill out a checkmarked menu for what you want to order and then giving it to them. I understand that the intention behind this may be to make this a more "service" environment, especially with the fact that they offer some other dishes like pho (found this interesting!), but it also means that you don't know exactly what you're ordering in your poke bowl. The cucumber came out in solid disks rather than shredded like I had assumed, the spicy tuna was minced rather than whole pieces of tuna, etc. But I recognize I made these assumptions and could have asked the servers exactly what I had been ordering before I gave them my marked menu.

What really threw me off were the levels of sanitation and a mediocre experience with service. I know the mask mandate is being less enforced these days, but we just felt so uncomfortable seeing 70% of the customers wear masks when 0% of the servers were. Despite the fact that they were approaching each table and making each poke bowl, not a single individual who worked there wore a mask.

Furthermore, when we got our bowls, my friends and I were all wondering why there wasn't much flavor. We had ordered the house shoyu sauce with spicy mayo, but only saw the spicy mayo present. The servers hadn't said anything to us so we assumed the best and thought that the sauce was maybe mixed in with the fish. Didn't taste like it, though. One of our friends went to go ask for more extra sauce for the table. When she asked for more shoyu, the servers informed her that they had been completely out. My friend was confused and clarified that they meant none of our bowls had the sauce (each of us only ordered 2 total sauces) in it, and they very unapologetically and rather matter-of-factly confirmed that. They had made our poke bowls without the sauce because they had run out and decided not to tell us -- not before ordering, not after they saw what we had marked on the menus, and not when they had given us the bowls. Didn't seem to see any issue with that and didn't offer an apology to my friend. From what I could tell, the servers seem like genuinely kind people, but the lack of common decency as a server at a restaurant in combination with the above made for a disappointing get-together dinner that we had been so excited for prior.

Pokesan. You have a really cool ambience and your servers seem like really down-to-earth people. But please, take better care of the health of both your customers and your servers (/especially/ when they're the ones making all our food) and please inform your servers to use their common sense. You have such great potential. I don't know if I'll ever be back, but if I ever decide to, I hope it's a...

Appetizer: •Steamed Pork Dumplings

"Create Your Own Bowl" Entree :

*Small (2 protein) *

Base •Sushi Rice

Protein •Spicy Tuna •Crab Salad

Mix In •Cream cheese •Avocado •Jalapeno •Kimchi

Sauce •Eel •Spicy Mayo

Toppings •Cilantro •Tempura Flakes

This was my very first time trying a Poke Bowl and I must say this restaurant did not disappoint... It was semi challenging to find this restaurant location, given the fact it was "hidden in plain sight"...also parking was semi difficult due to the location being on a busy street... However when I walked through the front door , there was actually a path that led me upstairs to the actual restaurant... Definitely don't judge a book by it's cover with this restaurant because the outside of the building does not tell anything regarding how the inside of the restaurant looks... This place was small but cute and the service was very good... I started by grabbing a menu and marking off which items I wanted in my bowl, along with an appetizers or drinks... There are many different options so it took me a while to decide... My final meal was so delicious... The dumplings were very flavorful and the sauce was soo good... The bowl itself was ALOT for me surprisingly because I CAN EAT!... but I thoroughly enjoyed my meal.. I was going for a deconstructed sushi roll and that's exactly the vibe I achieved... I would definitely recommend this spot whispers ORDER THE DUMPLINGS, TRUST ME!

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Was taken here by my boss alongside some coworkers. The staff were very pleasant and attentive. The food was truly amazing. The sheer variety of options and the quality of ingredients allow for such a multilayered tasting experience that words alone cannot do it justice. The tofu skins were definitely the star of the symphony that occurred in my mouth. Crunchy onions and soft tofu alongside umami rich eel sauce and fresh tasting seaweed salad. Multifaceted flavors and textures all intermingling in fascinating ways. Then after our meal we were even given complimentary fresh donuts! These pastries were so amazingly fluffy and crisp. Each one was coated in a layer of perfectly sweet cinnamon sugar and drizzled with a light icing. Even after indulging in two of the pastries, I was left wanting more. As we had been sitting in the restaurant for quite a while, the sun began to set and one of the staff members realized it was shining in our eyes and hopped up to close the blinds. A simple gesture but that in culmination with all the other minutiae led to a divine dining experience. I will be sure to come back, eager to explore the...