Wicked Poke — Restaurant in Oceanside

If you’ve read my other poke reviews all across the country you might think I’m some sort of poke nazi only praising and supporting the purest forms, but my only real umbrage is with the concept of build your own chipoke into a meal and the oversaturation of the business model.

On first thoughts is that it’s location is pretty tucked away, but with recent additions of LA Fitness and Daiso I can see the uptick. The entire complex lacks the proper signage to stand out and from many angles you can’t even tell what’s right in front of you, doesn’t help that the building base is older than I am.

Classic base, protein, toppings, sauce build your own methodology. Some things I’d like to point out (when doing the crab salad and spicy tuna they scoop that direct into the container and not the mixing bowl, it’s the proper way to do it as the sauce when mixed changes the ingredient in whole. Also shout out to their biodegradable/compostable containers they now use. Kudos for exercising humanity in choosing. You will never get a piping hot scoop of rice with your bowl, unlike some places who turn this into a plate lunch they understand that heat will cook fish. I generally love salmon, octopus and tuna for my proteins and have not been disappointed, though I can taste the sugars from sriracha in the spicy tuna (prefer togarashi or chili oil/flakes as they don’t’ discolor the fish). Avo add is free, though that’s really a very California ingredient, also stemming from this weird culture where people get California rolls at all. I steer clear form scallops if there is any milky liquid it’s a sign of additives, I also steer clear from shrimp because let’s face is garlic shrimp in Hawaii is the only way to eat it. I wish their sauces had more heat, but I’m glad they don’t premix sesame seed oil in with everything because I like a lot and as an additive. I wished their green onions were cut thinner because they really are more of a garnish. They don’t’ skimp on the sesame seeds or furikake though they should toast them for more kick.

There is never a wait and even when it’s just 1 person the staff acknowledges them. I’ve come 1st thing in the morning, right before close, weeknights, weekends so I can say that they are consistent. Prices aren’t bad and yes people will say there are better places that do bigger scoops and room for improvement, but I challenge anyone to who has been to more poke places outside of Hawaii (and not like gotten a poke salad at a Japanese restaurant) because unlike many of them and many poke shop owners I’ve had the real thing, spent real time in the islands and my count is over 50. Enjoy this for what it is, it’s a healthy thing they are doing. I used to go on and on about kukui nuts and limo, ago, yada, yada & yada, but at the end of the day it’s what people want and who am I to over criticize a wave, nay a movement.

Some other things to note is it’s size, it’s small. The stubborn soda’s are cool, but ultimately this foray into nostalgia is likely not going to last. They offer miso soup from time to time as a special. The owner is realty involved with building the business, friendly and accommodating to a fault. He lives in OC which is still the poke capital of socal (150+), so he knows what he’s doing from what...

Lot of nice sauces, all the fish I would expect, some good toppings. One of the better poke places I've tried. Also, really good soda. Edit 4 years later: the picture is a bit old. They use different containers now. Portions are actually larger than that now! I've been going non-stop since, and it really is one of my favorite poke places. I've been to plenty from San Diego, to Los Angeles, then even a few in San Francisco. I'd say this place is among my top three. Also, I see so many negative reviews from people complaining employees weren't smiling. Employees are very pleasant here and I usually get them talking and smiling. But I also don't get why people are rating their experience at a food place so heavily on if employees put on performances. People aren't always happy, and I really don't want to live in a world of fake smiles. If you want to see smiles, maybe learn to be a kinder person and don't knock good food because people didn't fake smile for you? Service here has always been too notch for me. Four years of eating here. I just went in and an employee was cracking jokes like a standup comedian and making EVERYONE smile. Honestly, I can't think of a place I go to with...

My family wasn’t treated very well there today. We were next door shopping and my daughter needed to use the restroom but theirs was broken. She was about ready to have an accident. We ran into this place and I was clearly panicked. I quickly asked if we could please use their restroom as my daughter was about to have an accident. The guy seemed irritated and said that their restroom was for customers only and we’d need to buy something in order to use it. I said fine and asked if I could just order a miso soup as we had just eaten and didn’t need anything. Again, he seemed irritated and begrudgingly agreed. My daughter burned her hands washing them in their restroom because their hot/cold are switched around and the blue that should have been cold was piping hot. When I got my miso soup, he put it into a thin paper cup. It burned my hands as I carried it out. I should have went back in and told him to hold it for ten seconds. Bet he couldn’t have done it. Very frustrating experience to be treated that way. He didn’t give me a receipt so I don’t know his name. It was...