My love for all things poké knows no bounds. It's a staple in my diet, especially when I interned in Boston this past summer. Unfortunately for me, living landlocked in the midwest means that poké options are pretty much nonexistent—until now. At the end of October, PokeDoke, aka my new restaurant obsession, opened in the Central West End in St. Louis. I got to speak with owner Andrew Shih, who runs PokeDoke with his siblings, about everything that their new restaurant has to offer STL.
About PokeDoke
Located at 8 S Euclid Ave, PokeDoke is owned by Shih and his family. After spending this past spring break in Los Angeles where poké shops are abundant, Shih and his siblings realized that, "St. Louis needs this." The concept of PokeDoke was born and from there, Andrew shadowed a poké establishment where he learned the ropes to running a restaurant of this kind, and researched all things poké. A few months later PokeDoke opened up in CWE.
Menu
PokeDoke is the Chipotle of poké bowls. You create your own dish from start to finish, and the options are absolutely endless. First, you choose a small ($10 for two scoops of poké), regular ($12 for three scoops of poké), or large bowl ($14 for four scoops of poké). Fresh seafood is flown in every day to make these bowls a reality. In addition to the poké bowls, PokeDoke also offers a la carte items like crab rangoon, potstickers, and miso soup. They also have a variety of drinks ranging from your normal fountain drinks, to a selection of bubble teas.
Creating your poké bowl
This is where it gets fun. After you choose the size of your bowl, you get to choose your base from a selection of white or brown rice, soba noodles, salad, or chips. Next, you choose your poke—salmon, ahi tuna, spicy tuna, octopus, shrimp, tofu, or any combination of these. You can choose sides to compliment your poke (cucumber, white onion, or both), and finally, you choose how spicy you want your bowl to be.
Your poke, side, and a special poké sauce all get tossed together, before getting poured on top of your base. You're not done yet—the next step is choosing your toppings. PokeDoke offers a huge selection of toppings, such as avocado, kimchi, and ginger, and you can choose as many as you want. Lastly, a drizzle of sauce is added to top it all off.
What's owner Andrew Shih's go-to bowl? He gets just about everything. He explained that all of the ingredients compliment each other, even the things that you wouldn't expect. With a range of toppings from sweet, savory, to spicy there's no way to go wrong, and I definitely concur.
What to expect for the future
PokeDoke is still getting started, so you can expect an official grand opening in a few weeks to about a month. The amount of business they already have from advertising via Facebook and word of mouth is incredible—I went right when it opened on a Friday, and there was already a steady stream of customers throughout my meal. A website is in the works and as for the menu, Andrew is working hard on creating some more hot items, which I'm looking forward to.
Considering I've gone twice already in this past week, it's safe to say that PokeDoke is one of my favorite fast casual places in St. Louis. The atmosphere is upbeat welcoming. Everyone who works there is incredibly kind, and willing to explain the process to help you through your poké experience. Poké is finally here, and I'm addicted. Try out PokeDoke, and you'll be hooked too.