In recent years, poke bowls have become a staple in Vancouver, and I have been digging to find Vancouver’s best poke bowls. To me, a good poke bowl is one that uses high-quality, fresh ingredients, and I would crave it every so often. And Pokey Okey is definitely on this list. It has multiple locations – Downtown, Richmond, and Burnaby (Kingsway). They offer a wide variety of poke bowls, along with protein and vegetable toppings.
You can choose from its signature bowls offerings, or simply build your own bowl. They offer their bowls in three sizes: small, medium, and large. One thing I like about Pokey Okey is that they have multiple base options, including white rice, brown rice, and spring mix. You can also choose a mixed base at no extra cost. What I normally do is order both brown rice and spring mix for a filling and healthy meal. In addition to the regular toppings, they also offer premium and unique ones, such as onsen egg, avocado, ramen egg, flying fish roe, and capelin roe.
Pokey Okey Menu
What did I Order at Pokey Okey?
Red Bowl
If you prefer a flavorful and spicy meal, Red Bowl would be your choice. It is comprised of spicy ahi tuna, spicy salmon, flying fish roe, seaweed salad, kimchi radish, imitation crab, purple cabbage, fried onions, and spicy mayo. I really enjoy the addition of kimchi radish, which adds a tangy, spicy crunch to go with the soft ingredients.
Skinny Bowl
Skinny Bowl is one of their newer signature bowls, and it is perfect for people who prefer a lighter meal. It is comprised of ahi tuna, soybeans, purple cabbage, sweet corn, cucumber, spring mix, seaweed flakes, smokey teriyaki sauce, and topped with the Pokey Okey onsen egg. I enjoyed the bowl with brown rice because mixing rice with onsen egg is such a heavenly combo. The smokey teriyaki sauce did a big part in the seasoning, so the bowl won’t taste plain.
Homestyle Ginger Pork Bowl
One of my favourites is their Homestyle Ginger Pork Bowl. It is similar to a Japanese beef rice bowl (Gyudon), but with a twist. Unlike other bowls, it is a hot bowl with pork, bean sprouts, kimchi radish, ramen egg, seaweed, mayo, sesame seeds, and rice. If you are not into raw fish but still want to get a taste of poke bowls, this is your pick. The kimchi radish adds a subtle heat to this heartwarming bowl. I also really enjoyed the slightly-oozy ramen egg.
Build my Own Bowl
For anyone who has a personal preference for specific toppings can build their own bowl like me. I chose Torched Salmon Belly (+$2) as my protein, and added sweet corn, imitation crab, kimchi radish, and cucumber. I topped it with their Pokey Okey sauce, which I think is a mix of citrusy and savoury sauce, with a subtle sweetness. You can also choose any dry toppings from fried onion, fried garlic, wasabi peas, seaweed flakes, and tempura flakes.
It is always amazing to see the salmon belly being torched in front of me, and it was fatty, delicate, and smokey. Next time, I might even add a side of ramen egg to go with this bowl.
Overall Impression
Pokey Okey is one of the local poke chains that I would return occasionally to satisfy my cravings. Their wide selection of protein and topping options are the things that attract me the most. I would recommend trying their torched salmon belly and onsen egg when you are wishing for a more deluxe bowl. Otherwise, honestly, their regular bowls taste as great, and you can definitely taste the high quality and freshness of the ingredients.
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Pokey Okey is one of my favorite poké restaurants in Vancouver. I tried their Unagi and Ikura bowl a couple of month ago, it was delicious!