Poke in Waikiki?
 

We are a week away from heading to Hawaii for dd's soccer tournament. We are staying at Hilton Hawaiian Village. It will be me and my three teens. We will have a small fridge and would love to buy some fresh poke while we are there. Can anyone give me a good place? I know the superette out past Turtle Bay is great, but I was wondering if there is anything closer to town.

Any other suggestions for low cost dining would be great!

Not sure if it's still there, but there was a sort of "Farmer's Market" in the Ward area that consisted of a bunch of small stalls, several of them being fish markets. A friend's family used to own one of the markets (they sold several years ago) and that was always my go to place for opihi.

I usually go to Marujyu Market in Aiea for poke, but that's a little out of the way for you, I think.

Surprisingly enough, the poke is pretty good at the supermarkets like Times, Safeway and Foodland.

Safeway- their shoyu poke is great! There is a new safeway on kapahulu Ave. Go to the Diamond head end of Waikiki and turn up just before the park. Safeway is about 4 blocks up on the left. (and right near there is Ono's Hawaiian food, if you want full on Hwn food at a very casual restaurant. get there early to avoid the line))

There is a Foodland at Ala Moana Center, and their poke is good too.

Don Quixote (formerly Daiei) near Ala Moana has some greeat poke. My favorite is the wasabi poke (not too wasabi-ish, just enough to give it a little something extra). The prices are reasonable as well.

All good suggestions! Also if you know your way around a bit, specialty stores like Yama's Fish Market, Tamashiro Market, and the Poke Stop are excellent. But for the most part, I just go to Don Quixote, Safeway, or Foodland.

Food Pantry grocery store on Kuhio has it in the fresh fish section.

Not having a clue what "Poke" is, I expected this post to be something quite rude about Hawaii.

:-)

Poke (po-keh)is made of chunks of seasoned raw fish- usually wih salt, kukui oil, seaweed, and soy sauce. Best eaten with chopsticks and beer.

Like salsa, BBQ sauce, or potato salad, there are endless variations. There is actually a poke festival at one of the Big Island hotels where people compete for the "best poke" award.

Mahalo, everyone!

The Safeway in Lahaina has great poke, so I'm glad to know it is the same on the other islands. I will print this out and take it with me when I go.

I love wasabi poke, and we eat it on chips, maui-style ones, if we can find them!

Ono's was on my list of places for us to eat, as well. My boys will be on their own much of the day as I will be out at Waipio for soccer games. I'm glad to have places I can send them.

It's "RAW" fish"?!

OMG!

:-(

Tanioka's on Farrington Highway in Waipahu has good poke. Likewise the previously mentioned Tamashiro Fish Market.

nukesafe, poke and cold beer is absolutely delicious.

Gyotaku restaurant on King Street has a pupu called "Natto-chos" and "poke-chos." Basically it's won ton pi fried crisp like chips. Then it's topped with natto, poke, yamaimo, daikon sprouts, diced onion, and diced avocado. The Poke-chos are the same but without natto. Yum yum.

nufesake~ You don't know what you're missing! It's DELISH!!!

Well, if I had the choice of the kind of "poke" I might get in Waikiki I sure as hell would not take the raw fish variety.

:-)

=P~ =P~ =P~

Nuthin' better than a good poke.

Thought I died and went to heaven the first time I had it one Kauai.

And let me just add that the new Safeway on Kapahulu is fantastic and a destination in itself.

We couldn't get over the friendliness of all the staff there: I can't count the number of times staff approached us and asked if they could help us in any way. You don't expect that in a supermarket, but it happened there.

This isn't to mention their huge range of products at the bakery, the nut and "make your own nut-butter" bar, etc. etc.

We even popped into the in-store Starbucks for a quick coffee to combat the jet lag!

Granted, I moved to Australia from California about 15 years ago, so maybe I'm a little out of touch with supermarkets in the US, but this one is spectacular.

Also, in addition to Ono Foods, don't forget to go a couple blocks past the Kapahulu Safeway on the other side of the road for some fantastic Lenards Malasadas! The special when we were there in May was Mango Custard filled. YUMMM!

Please make sure the little fridge gets cold enough to keep the poke safe to eat.
I always request a fridge (or use the one in the room) and I would guess that roughly 3/4 of them do not cool adequately for food preservation. They are fine for shelf stable items, but nothing perishable.
Raw fish can been very dangerous if not prepared in the ideal environment.
Most is NOT but we don't get sick because we eat it shortly after it is exposed to bacteria. Every minute it sits after preparation, bacteria builds (ever under refrigeration) and compounding that with a fridge that does not keep it cold enough... well lets just say that it is hard to have fun in Hawaii with explosive diarrhea.
If this is something you really, really, want to do, be sure to take a little fridge thermometer. It takes no space at all in your luggage and you should have one at home anyway.
Test the temp of the fridge when you arrive.
Keep in mind that these tiny refrigerators lose most of their cool when you open them, so only open when necessary.

I thought you were talking about poke salad...

Aloha,
I agree with a lot of the posts here you can find a variety of Poke at most larger (Safeway, Foodland, etc.) stores. I must admit that Don Quiote's (SP) makes some of the best IMO. As for cheap eats in Waikiki you can always order Pizza for the girls and have it delivered to the hotel (Pizza Hut etc). Ala Moana also has a food court with a wide variety of foods at fairly reasonable prices. Enjoy your trip!!

try da wasabi poke, mmm mmmm so ono...

Hi cat111719,
Can you tell me more about the superette out past Turtle Bay that you mentioned? We'll be staying near there soon. Thanks.

Low cost dining in Waikiki:

1- Food court at Ala Moana mall

2- Blue Water Shrimp & Seafood Co. (catering truck parked) between Launiu and Kaiolu on Kuhio. Excellent fresh fish (and salads, and burgers) $6-12 range. Get the food to go and walk to the picnic area at nearby Fort de Russey park.

tpi, it's been a few years but if I remember right, (and I'm sure there are some here who know better than I), if you leave Turtle Bay, turn left on the main road and just drive a little while and there should be a tiny superette market on your left, before you get to the shopping center with Foodland. The store is very tiny and dark, and the poke is in the back. Get there early for the best varieties.

As for refrigeration, I will probably only buy enough for us to eat at one sitting, because for as good as poke is, there is nothing worse than bad poke!!!

Hey everyone! Just wanted to report back. The poke winners were definitely the Safeway on Kapahulu and Tanioka's in Waipahu. We ate at Ono's the first day, and it was really local!!! But we didn't like their poke nearly as much as the other places. And Tanioka's was right down the street from DD's soccer field so I ended up going there almost every day. Delicious!!!

Btw, DD's team came in 1st place!

Congrats to you daughter! I saw the pictures of the tournament in the paper and wondered if any of the kids were yours!

Thanks, lcuy!!! What paper? The Advertiser? I saw some of those but none of them were her. I thought they would at least list all the finishing teams. Oh well. I think we are doing a write up for our local paper. We had a few teams from our city finish in the top four of their divisions. It was a great tournament.

Did I miss a "rooroo" GTG?:-O

Poke who?

Has anyone tried the Poke Bowl in the Ward area, near the old Farmer's Market?

Wow, I'm bummed. The most exotic places we ever went for soccer tournaments were Vail and Steamboat! Glad your daughter's team won!

Okay, guys, about this raw fish??? Is it *chemically* cooked by citrus juice or is it flat-out RAW??? =-O I am going to force myself to try it SOMEWHERE during my Oahu visit in September ... sounds awful, but I've heard so much about it!

Yes, poke is a raw fish dish, and no it is not awful. It is delicious. Do you eat sushi? Sashimi? These are also raw fish preparations that are very delicious and not awful. Don't forget the pickled ginger!

I don't know the recipe, but poke is delicious.

Melissa, the one of the guys at the Starbucks in our hotel lobby (Thank God for that!!!) told me about the Poke Bowl and said it was great but it was our last day and we had no time.

Elsie, it is soooo good. The fish is very tender, just melts in your mouth. There are many different kinds though. If you go to Safeway, they will let you taste them first. Tanioka's seemed to busy to ask. Some have seeweed in them, some with Shoyu, some spicy. Depends on what you like.

I make it my own, usually for my son's birthday dinner. It isn't hard as long as you can get really fresh ahi. I just add a little sesame oil, soy sauce, green onions, chili paste and maybe a little ginger, to raw ahi, chopped into bite size pieces, messing with amounts until it tastes right.

Btw, tpi, the superette by Turtle Bay is in Kahuku. I can't remember if it is before or after Turtle Bay if you are coming from, say, Haleiwa, but it isn't far. I think it is after, but DS says it is before.

iamq, no, I have never intentionally eaten any fish raw, although a close family member cannot get enough sushi and sashimi, and laughs at me. :)

I like spicy stuff, and I like Asian flavors, so does that help you to advise me as to what to order? And I eat the pickled ginger with it? I will be at the Outrigger Waikiki and out on Kailua Beach ... sounds like I need to visit that Safeway in Waikiki, huh? One special dinner will be at Roy's, and I want to visit the best true Hawaiian food place in Waikiki ...

cat, sounds like I need to try yours! :)

Thanks, all ...

I had some poke at Oki Diner on Kauai once...

Yes...I did the Oki Poke....#-O

For a full rundown of poke on Oahu (Safeway is decent, too), check out this article in Hawaiirama.

http://hawaiirama.com/2006/07/da-per...ke-part-1#more


It's a really good Hawaii travel site / blog.

No Poke at Oki! (Or anything else for that matter)