Located in the heart of Fresh Meadows Shopping Center, Pokeworks has become a popular destination for Hawaiian poke bowls. Poke bowls traditionally feature diced raw fish mixed with vegetables and sauces, but Pokeworks puts its own spin on the dish by offering alternatives such as chicken, shrimp, lobster, and even fully vegan bowls.
Similar to Chipotle, a worker is behind an assembly line with ingredients organized by protein, sauces, and toppings, all of which are chosen by the customer. In case you don’t feel like picking, Pokeworks also offers pre-set meals.
Townsend Harris students can reach Pokeworks in Fresh Meadows with a quick ride on the Q74/Q88/Q17 and a 5-minute walk. When you step inside, the space feels open, and during my visit, there were only a few dine-in customers, though many delivery drivers came in and out, clearly a sign of the location’s popularity. Behind the assembly line, the walls had easy-to-read menus showing Pokeworks’ pre-set meals, drinks, and side dishes. The restaurant has a spotless and modern look, though seating is limited since most of the area is dedicated to the assembly line setup.
I decided to order the Umami Ahi preset bowl and asked the employee to make me a custom bowl based on their recommendations. I made this choice because the sheer amount of available ingredients overwhelmed me, since there weren’t any labels for the ingredients.
Umami Ahi: $15.95
Critic Rating: 7/10
The Umami Ahi bowl is composed of white rice, ahi tuna, cucumber, sweet onion, hijiki seaweed, edamame, pickled ginger, green onion, sesame seeds, surimi salad, garlic crisps, and a splash of the restaurant’s umami shoyu sauce. The employees actually let you choose what sauce you want, with the options of sriracha aioli, ponzu fresh, umami shoyu, wasabi aioli, spicy ginger, sweet chili gochujang, sweet shoyu, and classic salt. The employee recommended the umami shoyu sauce for this particular bowl. With such a large amount and variety of ingredients, I took a bite expecting a burst of different flavors. Surprisingly, and much to my disappointment, the bowl tasted more overpoweringly sweet than savory. I blame this on the sheer amount of sweet onions and hijiki seaweed that I noticed were all over the bowl.
The large amount of vegetables also made the bowl feel too crunchy at times, and the ratio of vegetables to ahi tuna made it hard to even taste the tuna at times, even though I was given a decent portion. After a few bites, I ended up adding some of my own chilli paste to the bowl to balance out the strong sweetness. This made the bowl’s flavors blend together much better, as it didn’t feel like I was being overpowered by sweet onions and constant crunchiness. Considering the restaurant actually offers sweet chili gochujang as a sauce, I’d recommend asking the employees to add some with the bowl as well as another soft ingredient if you prefer savoury flavors and don’t like overly-crunchy textures.
Now with an extra ingredient to help tie together all of the ingredients, the dish really came together. The hijiki seaweed and garlic crisps combined to make a crunchy texture that paired well with the soft ahi tuna. The tuna and umami shoyu sauce truly brought out the flavor in the bowl, as the sauce, true to its name, had a strong umami flavor that brought out a savoury flavor which worked in tandem with the ahi tuna’s sweetness. The edamame and cucumbers were perfect in adding that touch of freshness to go along with the tuna. My only other complaint was that the bowl slowly got a “mushy” texture as I kept eating, since the rice continued to get drenched in the sauce and mix of vegetables, which made the last few bites of the bowl a little unpleasant. I’d recommend asking the employee to tone down the amount of sauce if you want to avoid this.
Custom Bowl: $15.95
Critic Rating: 8.5/10
The custom bowl recommended by the workers included white rice, chicken, corn, shredded cabbage, cucumber, hijiki seaweed, cilantro, wonton strips, and a combination of the sweet shoyu and sriracha aioli sauces. Custom bowls are the same price as $15.95 as the pre-set bowls; however, the price increases if you add more proteins.
At first glance, this combination of ingredients may seem questionable, and I was skeptical too until I took a bite. The combination of the sweet shoyu and sriracha aioli sauces blended to make the perfect balance of savory and sweet, and was truly the highlight of the entire bowl. I was most skeptical of the wonton strips, bits of crispy fried dough, however it also ended up becoming a highlight of the bowl. With the soft texture of the chicken, cucumber, and corn, the wonton strips brought the perfect crunch and a faint wheat-like flavor to the bowl.
The only flaw in this bowl was the sheer citrus and sourness brought by the cilantro. While I did appreciate the addition of cilantro at first, it slowly turned into the worst part of the bowl, as it began overpowering bites of savory and sweet flavors with sourness and an unpleasant aftertaste.
As a whole, my experience at Pokeworks was an 8/10 in terms of taste, but with price in consideration, I’d bump it down to a 7/10. In total, with taxes, I spent about $33.84 for two bowls. While the portion sizes weren’t that large, the quality and variety of ingredients seemed to be the main cause for the priciness of the bowls. Despite that, $33.84 for two near-decently sized bowls didn’t seem sustainable for frequent visits.
If you find yourself with a bit of free time and extra cash, Pokeworks would be the perfect place to visit with your friends if you’re in the mood for Hawaiian-style bowls with infinite combinations and varieties.