Sam Choy's Poke to the Max — Restaurant in Seattle

Don't go here REALLY hungry. They take FOREVER to cook the food that should not take that long. I paid for a Loco Moco with two eggs($1 extra for a second egg) and my meal came out with one. When I told the cashier about it she told the chef and my plate sat on the window ledge to the kitchen for a good 15 minutes or more, getting cold, before they put another barely cooked egg on top(something that is not even cooked fully shouldn't take that long). The place was practically empty and no one else was waiting for their food but me! None of the workers are even that friendly, their random politeness seems so automated. Prices ARE NOT reasonable for everything. You can find just as good quality poke other places for cheaper with more quantity(Costco being one). GOOGLE the story of how the Loco Moco came about. It was put together because all the ingredients for it are the cheapest to make and buy(eggs,rice, hamburger patty, gravy). Sam Choys is not organic or grass fed, the patty isn't even thick or anything, so why charge so much? You're not located in Hawaii. For a while I thought this place was the best to get some Hawaii feel and local grinds. I'm a Hawaii local of 12 years and CRAVE the Hawaii local food. Of course when I found this place I was singing and dancing. I live hours away from Sam Choys, so to go out of my way to eat here should be a compliment. Let me tell you though, after bringing my other Hawaii local peeps, fam, and others here to eat, I have been let down by its limitations. I don't understand what it is about people who open up Hawaii food joints outside Hawaii but don't try to make it like Hawaii as much as possible. There are not many places us locals can find some genuine Hawaii food. I just want to be able to add things to my order and not have to pay for an entire entree price. Why can I not get Garlic chicken combined with Kalua pig or some else for that matter. Hawaiian Food places such as this, in Hawaii, always let you add or combine. It's so far away for me. I want like everything on the menu but I'm not rich. Charge a $1-$3 for add on or something. But $10 plus tax just to get garlic chicken with my Kalua pig, not cool. Hawaii has one of the highest costs of living and they don't even do that. And Sam Choys Musubis are cut and made like actual sushi not like a Musubi in Hawaii. Hawaii does not ever put potato in their Mac salad. And if you're gonna sell coconut drinks, at least let it be real. They sell coconut juice; flavored coconut with added sugar and addictive crap. Such a turn off and so pricey. I'm sure other real alternatives could be found for the same price or better. Also the Aloha juice cans with real cane sugar are far better than the high fructose corn syrup Hawaiian Sun drinks. The decor is elegant and the background music is always on point. I would recommend this place if you're dying for just a taste of something back home, but don't have too much expectation. They don't let you mix or match and still have money to survive after. Even with just two people eating, expect to spend a...

Okay so I'm originally from Hawaii meaning born and raised in Hawaii and recently transferred to Seattle because of the beautiful girlfriend's job. I was very excited to learn that Sam Choy had established a restaurant only about a mile away from where we live so it was great to be able to walk there when the weather is Pleasant. I was very excited to try his bento box which included Teri beef, spam, shrimp tempura and chicken tonkatsu. As normal it came with two scoops of rice and potato macaroni salad. The rice had two choices, either just plain white rice or what they call Hapa rice which is a mix of brown and white rice. Since I've never had a loco Moco, I opted for the $1.99 option more to include two eggs, gravy, and fried onions over the rice.

Due to covid-19 precautions, there only two seating areas inside and an outside huge tent set up in the parking lot with about for tables set pretty far apart. The weather was nice so we sat outside. The plate lunch with huge and could definitely have fed two people but I was hungry. I slowly work my way from the top to bottom: the eggs and gravy and rice, the beef teriyaki, the spam and finally the chicken katsu nuggets. I realize the only have one set of containers but this definitely needed a larger container as everything was kind of just smashed in. I get that we are in the middle of a pandemic and it's take out most places presentation was definitely lacking.

As far as taste goes it pretty much is what it is. I had some Terry beef that was sliced but not slice that well as the end fatty piece, medic one large piece that was not entirely cut up well, spam is well, just Spam, but the tonkatsu was pretty good. The two eggs, one was perfect and a little runny and the other was overdone, gravy could have used some pepper, and the onions were just good, not fantastic.

All in all, and okay to good dining experience okay because there is parking, the menu is available online, there are pictures of everything, and you get exactly what you are promised. On the not-so-great side, a whole bunch of food was crammed in to a relatively small plate and because of that your beef teriyaki will taste like gravy which will also taste like spam and your chicken katsu of course will also be covered in gravy and spam. I'm not sure if it's an option but if so, try to ask for your rice, gravy, onions and eggs in a separate container. That would have made it a much better dining experience for me. Definitely worth a try if you are missing true local...

Location: the location is easy to find. Very big and spacious, and it looks very nice.

Cleanliness: the outside and inside is very clean. There is always somebody cleaning something making sure it stays nice and tidy. Always smells delicious and clean.

View: from the outside it looks very nice and simple and very laid-back. When you walk inside you can hear the nice Hawaiian music and the atmosphere is relaxed. The menu is easy to read and understand.

Taste: overall in my opinion this is one of the best Hawaiian places I have had here in Seattle. The flavor is clean and fresh, and simple yet so complicated. The food is always delicious as can be.

Reconstructed Musubi: OMG it tastes so good. Fried spam with rice their sauce is like heaven on your palate. Definitely a must try if you go there!

Poké : all of their Poké is amazing! My favorite by far is the tuna poké. Poké is raw fish marinated and made with soy sauce, green onions and many more delicious ingredients. Definitely recommend the tuna poké.

Big Kahuna Kalua Sandwhich : kalua pulled pork, house slaw, namasu, green onions, cilantro, & wasabi aioli. Served on pandesal with a side salad. Sooooooooo sooooooooooo good!!!!

Service: their service is very good. They are very friendly and tried to be as fast as possible. If you're lucky you get to see Sam Choy himself. He is always friendly, super nice and always living on Hawaiian Time. It is great to come to such a friendly place.

Overall: so far had mostly everything on the menu and I enjoyed it so far. I think their food is very fresh and very clean. They do a great job making sure you are full and happy and enjoy your meal that you ordered. You go in hungry as can be and you will definitely come out very full. I highly recommend going to Sam Choy's Poké...