There's another player in the still-growing Vancouver poké game. Poke Five has just soft launched, bringing their fresh bowls to Commercial Drive.
Situated near the busy Commercial-Broadway intersection and transit hub, Poke Five is in the space previously occupied by the Recharge Nutrition Bar. While outside is bustling and the air permeated with the smell of what's cooking at nearby Greek and pizza shops, inside there are soft mint-hued walls and seating for just about a dozen people.
Lindsay William-Ross/Vancouver Is Awesome
Poke Five's menu is centred on their core list of bowls, including The Drive, which features aburi-style torched ahi tuna (fun to watch from your side of the counter), the fiery Akuma Tuna accented with kimchi, and even a Vegan Buddha Bowl option.
The Simply Poke bowl showcases their fresh tuna and salmon, nicely cubed, paired with tangy-sweet Japanese pickles, a tangle of seaweed salad, a shoyu sauce, pickled ginger, and crunchy cucumber.
Lindsay William-Ross/Vancouver Is Awesome
All bowls can be built upon a base of sushi rice and/or citrus kale, though they will easily adjust the ratios, or sub in brown rice. Once your bowl is built you get your choice of "Bells and Whistles" which means the more snack-y pantry items, like wasabi peas, cashews, toasted coconut, a sesame-nori blend, fried garlic and the like.
If you prefer, you can start from the ground up and build your own bowl. Poke Five has Hoochy Booch kombucha on tap, and they also make fresh fruity drinks, like a Mango Ginger Fizz with mango puree.
The "five" in Poke Five stands for the "five senses," or five kinds of flavours, which each bowl strives to represent: Sweet, sour, savoury, texture, and umami.
Building the Simply Poke bowl (Lindsay William-Ross/Vancouver Is Awesome)
The “bells and whistles” (Lindsay William-Ross/Vancouver Is Awesome)
Lindsay William-Ross/Vancouver Is Awesome
2247 Commercial Drive (Lindsay William-Ross/Vancouver Is Awesome)
Poke Five is located at 2247 Commercial Drive, and their hours will be Monday through Saturday from 11 am to 8 pm and Sunday from 11 pm to 7 pm. Follow them on Instagram to keep tabs on their soft launch and grand opening.
Related:
- What’s new at Vancouver’s Havana is more of Old Havana itself
- DownLow Chicken Shack now open on Commercial Drive
