This year, the caf is bringing in new exciting dishes to satisfy the diverse taste buds of its student body, and in the one of the most prized dishes of this movement (to me at least) lies in the poke bowl – a classic, light and refreshing Hawaiian seafood and rice mashup. To see whether the Caf lives up to the standard and authenticity of this dish, I went in to do a little more investigation.

But first, what is a poke bowl anyway? Is it pronounced “poke” as in poking someone? “Po-kee” maybe? “Po-kay?” If you choose the last option, then I can for sure tell that you have experience with this food. 

“Poke” means “cut” or “slice” in Hawaiian, which in this dish particularly refers to the big juicy chunk of raw marinated fish e.g. salmon, tuna served over fragrant sticky rice and a selection of condiments. The whole thing is then seasoned with a sauce of your choice such as ponzu, soy sauce, sesame oil, etc. 

The Caf offers a decent selection of toppings for you to customize our own poke bowl, and that day I had my mind set on trying a bit of (almost) everything: seaweed, avocado, tofu, kimchi, pickled radish, sesame seeds, and, the star of the show – the lobster legs. 

Appearance-wise, I absolutely love how refreshing and vibrant the dish looks. A little green from the veggies, pink from the lobster and picked ginger, yellow from the tofu, and some sprinkling of white sesames on top – though fall is just beginning, this dish makes me feel like spring is coming.

The flavors of all the components work pretty well together. The brininess of the kimchi and radish is mellowed out by the creamy avocado and slightly sweet seaweed salad. The addition of sesame seeds, though in very small amounts, ties the whole dish together with the nutty aroma it gives off when mixed in with the hot rice. 

The only problem in this dish for me is the lobster pieces. Aggressively seasoned and overcooked, they become these salty, dry chunks of meat without any fresh seafood flavor that don’t really want the dissolve in your mouth the way properly cooked lobster. Additionally, I know that raw anything is a no-no in the caf, but I do really miss having big, juicy, tender chunks of salmon in my Poke bowl. Another complaint is that the rice is too dry compared to the more glutenous variety normally used in poke. It doesn’t give a melt in your mouth feel or readily soak up the flavor from the toppings and the sauce.