Poké Chop — Restaurant in San Diego

Delicious poke bowls! We went for an early dinner on Tuesday since we heard the shared parking lot was small (it is, and it was full by the time we left, mostly from people coming for to-go orders so the seating was nowhere near full). Since we ordered a few minutes before 6pm, it turned out they had a happy hour special (3-6pm) of free avocado and a free scoop of artificial crab meat with each bowl.

I had a 3-scoop bowl with the marinated tuna, the seared albacore, and the salmon for protein. I added rice (half and half of the sushi rice and Brian rice since I couldn't decide), all of the sides, spicy mayo and sweet sesame sauces, green onion/daikon radish/sprouts/masago mixes, and crispy onion/crispy garlic/nori/furikake toppings. It all tasted fresh and amazing (and the fish had a great texture).

If I were to change anything next time, I'd probably just get 2 scoops of protein (the marinated tuna and the salmon) unless I planned to save some for leftovers since it was a lot of food, omit the shiso corn from among the sides (it was good, but I found it distracted my attention from the rest of the ingredients, maybe because I associate it with Tex-Mex food), and get only brown rice (I actually couldn't tell which type I was eating half...

It's nice to learn of a small family business like the Poke Chop expanding to new heights with this new location in Grantville, San Diego.

I decided to steer away from the poke this time and get something from the kitchen. I ordered the fried calamari and the beef curry with added chicken katsu. On yes, I asked if they could use the brown sushi grade rice in the beef curry, and they happily obliged.

The fried calamari was good. It all calamari rings and has no tentacles. It was nicely breaded, and the calamari rings inside were tender. The rings were large and came with mildly spicy sauce. I would recommend that they drain the oil a little longer before they plate the calamari.

The beef curry had very good flavor, but I did with it came with more of that tasty curry. I like my rice swimming the sauce. At any rate, it came with tender small pieces of beef, carrots, and potatoes topped with a garnish of sesame seeds and scallions. Both the potatoes and carrots were tender and tasty. I liked that the chicken katsu came with a crispy breading and tender chicken on the inside.

The service was super chill and friendly. The place was super clean and offered a trendy appeal. Only inside seating is available. There's parking...

This place rocks! I have eaten here several times and enjoyed it every time. They have a wise variety of fish (tuna, spicy tuna, seared tuna, salmon, scallops, shrimp, etc) that all always taste fresh, and their flavors are nicely customized by their variety of spicy, creamy, or tangy sauces. The variety of free additions is great, ranging from seaweed salad or garlic bits to veggies like jalapeno, cucumber, and onion.

In addition to serving high-quality food, Poke Chop employs a high-quality staff. I've walked in close to closing time (9:30) a few times, and the staff was still super friendly and made me feel extremely welcomed each time.

Overall, Poke Chop puts out high quality, customized meals prepared quickly by super friendly people....