Island Fin Poké Company - Worcester — Restaurant in Worcester

As soon as I walked in, I knew I'd made a mistake.

I saw this place listed on a "top food spots in Worcester" post and decided to give it a try, but whoever was commenting on that Reddit post has clearly never had poke from anywhere, ever, before.

The décor here looks like this a pediatrician's office, with a pirate theme that caters to families with kids. There was even a pirate movie playing on the TV. That doesn't bother me, but there clearly was no intent to pay homage to poke's roots (the dish is from Hawai'i). It was the whitest poke spot I've ever seen.

Well, anyway, I was there and hungry so I decided to order. I did like that the bowl came with 3 scoops of protein, and there was a tofu option in case someone doesn't want fish (but came to a poke place anyway). They heaped on the toppings, and the bowl ended up huge and overflowing, which was fantastic. However, that couldn't change the fact that the ingredients just didn't taste good. The white rice was hard, and the mixed vegetables were cooked fajita-style, which just did not go with the flavors of the rest of the bowl at all. In fact, there were several Mexican-themed (why would you do that at a poke place!) sauces and toppings; to each their own, but I would stay as far away from those as possible as it overpowers the taste of the fish, which should be the actual star of the show.

I absolutely hate food waste and always take home leftovers, but I really couldn't bring myself to finish or box the rest of my meal. I absolutely would not recommend this spot based on the quality of the food, let alone call it one of the "best" restaurants in Worcester.

That being said, the employees were actually pretty great - they walked customers through each of the unique sauces and made recommendations for the most popular options. They also checked in as I ate, and offered me a small cup of soft serve when I was done eating. They were definitely the highlight of this place (with the very clean bathroom coming in second as a notable plus of this...

Listen, the food is great as every review here will tell you. I went to college in the area a few years ago and this place got me through finals week when I was too exhausted to cook or stuck in labs all day working on projects. But what I really want to tell you about is how amazing the staff is.

Every time I went in back in college, the staff was so friendly and helpful answering questions about the different toppings and sauce flavors, but my last visit really took it to a new level. I was just passing through the area on the way to the airport and had accidentally left my ring in the bathroom. The ring belonged to an old friend of mine who had passed from cancer. I didn't realize it until I was almost ready to board my plane. I called them, they said that someone had found it and brought it to the front. The next day, the manager called me and got my address to ship it to me and didn't even let me PayPal or anything to cover the cost. I am eternally grateful.

Good food, good vibes, good people. I'd give it a million stars if I could. I'll always stop here when I come...

EDITED FROM 3 STARS TO FIVE STARS

New Review: It has been about a year since I've ordered from here because of past not-so-great experiences. I am happy to say that it seems like they've returned to that amazing quality and flavor they had when they first opened! I ordered a bowl with almost everything on it tonight and it was delicious and the bowl was full to the rim! Thank you, I'm so glad to be back :)

Previous Review: I don’t usually write bad reviews and had previously given this place 5 stars but something has definitely changed :( the past few times I’ve gone and/or gotten it delivered it has been really disappointing. The portion sizes aren’t consistent, the rice has been mushy, and the tuna has been weirdly chewy. (Last time I ordered through Uber Eats they forgot the tuna completely). They have a lot of variety to choose from but unfortunately the flavor isn’t there like it used to be. I don’t know what changed but I hope they can get back to the same quality as when they first opened. Used to be...