AMY STOCKLEIN
A “Tropical Island” mix of white rice, ahi tuna, red cabbage, sweet corn, mango, crispy onion, tobiko, and house-made lemon ginger sauce.
People like to ask Seinfeldian questions about food trends; “What is the deal with all these fill-in-the-blank restaurants?” In Madison, the fill-in-the-blank these days is poke.
Poke Poke, a restaurant so nice they named it twice, seeks to respond to the doubters with advanced-level poke creations. If Food Fight’s Miko Poke kindled Madison’s hunger for poke, then the menu items at Williamson Street’s Poke Poke are tinder ready to make it burn.
The flavors at Poke Poke are bold and challenging and frequently reflect a Japanese influence on the Hawaiian dish. But not too Japanese. You’ll find both creamy tamagoyaki (cold, tofu-esque cubes of fluffy omelet) and thin slices of fresh jalapeño that pack a punch. Proteins move beyond familiar ahi and white tuna, cooked shrimp and chicken; think baby octopus and cooked unagi (eel), and scallops with the mantle still attached.
It’s easy to expect octopus and untrimmed scallops to be rubbery and no fun to eat, but they were surprisingly tender. Both are found in the Signature Ocean Feast bowl, along with ahi and white tuna, salmon and shrimp. It’s frankly a bit much, unless you need the protein or just really, really want to crush a whole lot of seafood.
Textural variety elevates a good poke bowl to a great poke bowl, and the white tuna and scallop-based Wisconsin Snow definitely has texture, thanks primarily to crunchy shaved carrots. Shredded cheese is an odd poke inclusion, and it contributed nothing but a visual element. When I tried it, all the ingredients (save the carrots) were white or pale brown, which definitely evoked a February snowbank, but not in an appealing way. The bowl now comes over purple rice by default, a good change. The just-hot-enough wasabi mayo sauce was excellent.
It would stand to reason that Wisconsin Snow and Hawaii Green would look nothing like each other, and indeed, the Hawaii Green is a riot of color, like a Mardi Gras parade with flower lei instead of beads. My only issue with the Hawaii Green was the macadamia nuts (specifically that I couldn’t discern their presence at all). But I would be happy to put crispy onion on literally everything I eat from now on.
I probably should have added them to the Nami bowl, which is a showcase for grilled eel and the eel sauce that traditionally accompanies it in many familiar sushi presentations. The eel was excellent, and my initial fears of an overapplication of eel sauce were quickly put to bed. Tamago cubes added a little heft, and the edamame brought a botanical pop. I tell you though, it could have used those crispy onions. It was a lapse in judgment, what can I say?
It is, of course, perfectly acceptable to build your own poke bowl, from a tidy list of toppings, sauces and rice varieties. They all play well together, more or less, so even if you’re not familiar with the poke concept, a build-your-own-bowl should still turn out all right. One recipe we tried was an attempt to mimic a beloved gaudy deep-fried sushi roll from Takumi on the east side. We chose jalapeño, corn, crispy onion, tobiko (fish roe), and chili mayo over white rice. Snow crab had just departed from the menu, but our backup protein — delicately grilled chicken — did fine.
In general, Poke Poke handles its proteins well. The cooked shrimp are large and tender — and generously applied, even when substituted for other fish. Both ahi and white tuna melted on the palate. While I missed out on the snow crab initially, I was told it may come back in June, perhaps as a special. The Poke Poke counter team, it should be noted, was exceptionally friendly on all of my visits.
Yes, I do believe Madison can handle two or three poke counters. The Gateway Mall is already a fine destination for pan-Asian cooking; a little raw tuna and crispy onion really rounds it out.
Poke Poke
600 Williamson St., 608-665-3306; pokepokewi.com
11 am-9 pm Mon.-Sat.; $9-15
