Pokiology — Restaurant in Lake View Township

I ordered from Uber Eats and have never been to the actual restaurant. The food was delivered promptly so I have no doubt that it was freshly made. Whatever misfortune I had with my experience with this restaurant was purely based on their performance and not due to Uber Eats.

The bowl itself was really gross. If you enjoy eating oily rice full of mayo, then this could be your place. I personally do not like mayonnaise. Even if one removed the mayonnaise, the bowl is still swimming in oil-based sauce. Instead of a "hint" of sauce, I feel like this restaurant dumps the entire bottle on the rice. You get oil all over your mouth because the rice is coated with it. The tuna topping tastes like canned tuna with some sauce. There's barely any actual raw fish. It was also pretty hard to tell what you are eating because they are all coated in sauce.

Anyway it's like some grade school kids couldn't decide what they wanted to eat so they just haphazardly dumped everything in a bowl with no finesse whatsoever. Or a bowl of leftovers at home, with a bottle of Kewpie and canned tuna. It would be totally fine to eat those if they don't charge ridiculous prices. I was kinda expecting more.

I have never been to Hawaii so I don't know if authentic poke bowls are supposed to be like this. However, based on my experience with poke bowls in my previous country before moving to Chicago, they were more presentable, had a controlled amount of sauce, with raw tuna (never canned). This allows one to actually taste the protein instead of masking the taste (or lack thereof) behind copious amounts of sauce. Also, one would never see mayo-and-oil curry rice.

Worst place to eat raw fish...

A healthy alternative around Uptown neighborhood: sushi bowl combinations of starter (white, brown, salad, or half & half of the 3 choices), proteins [ veggie, regular (3 kinds), large (5 choices)], spice level (nonspice, mild, spicy), 8 toppings + 1 to choose from (avocado is extra)! Around $14. Chopsticks or fork? I had a 30 minute break so I had to gobble it up. Fork it is.

I ordered the half & half (brown rice & salad), ahi tuna, salmon, and tofu as my protein, and as for my toppings...cunchy tampura, sraweed, ginger, and green onions. And their sauce called the 3 way.

The place is supposed to be a Hawaiian or Pacific Rim kind of atmospgere: Table tops are shaped into surfer boards. A bulletin board for patrons to use push pins from a used and cleaned up SPAM container to pin what part of the Philippines. See my picture!

Aloha maid ($2.50) Pellegrino, Figi, and Pepsi product beverages sold. I opted out of trying the 3 kinds of Aloha Maid drinks and got a water courtesy cup instead. Fill your own water.

Meter parking or street...

This is a gem in Uptown. I had it three days ago and I'm still thinking about it!

While it might be a little bit pricier than other quick service options, it's unique and fresh and the ingredients are quality. Plus, if you consider how much you get in a bowl and compare that to the two or three sushi rolls I would typically order at a restaurant, it's a lot cheaper.

It's customization in every way - choose a bed of rice (brown or white), mixed greens or half and half. I went with half and half. Then you get to select three scoops of fish. I went with the spicy tuna, salmon and shrimp. The topping options are a plenty and I wasn't sure what everything was, but I asked for recommendations and was not disappointed. I recognized seaweed salad; which I loved, avocado, ginger, jalapenos, and roe. The sauce was a mix of sesame oil, chili sauce and spicy mayo. It was so good!

My bowl was literally overflowing and I ate every single morsel. This will now be a regular destination for me....