I wanted to go out with my friends after work and we all wanted to try something new. I found this place and it had high reviews in both Google and Yelp. My friend said his nephews had eaten there and enjoyed it, but he hasn't tried it yet. We all decided to go on a Wednesday evening. It wasn't crowded when we arrived. I peeked at the menu on the board and ordered the Waikiki bowl. I told them to not to have edamame. It was about 18 dollars after tips. After paying in the counter, we were given pagers and sat in an open table. The pagers went off after 5 minutes, so we picked up the food. My Waikiki bowl looked good and had scallops and ahi tuna, however without the much needed spicy mayonnaise sauce, it was pretty bland. The ahi and bay scallops wasn't that fresh, but the seaweed salad helped with flavor. Something tasted different than what I was expecting, and I found why. Instead of the edamame which I asked them not to put, they replaced it with mandarin oranges instead. So, it had a sweet citrus flavor, which was too sweet for me in a poke bowl. Also, I noticed that the krab salad that was supposed to be included in the bowl was actually absent. There was corn, onions, and carrots, but it didn't help. They may have put another sauce, but I couldn't tell what it was. Honestly, for over 18 bucks, I was very disappointed.
While the service was polite, it was lackluster. They took our order from the counter and the payment screen have an option to tip, which I did, yet we still did the workaraunt routine of picking up our food, getting the drinks from the fountain, and bussing our tables after we were done. I was not even asked what I wanted to drink. Tap water was not even offered. The dining area was small, but at least the background music had a bit of island vibe. This restaurant is near the Publix in the complex where Arcade Monsters is.
Unfortunately, this restaurant didn't give me the aloha feeling from the food and service. My poke bowl wasn't that great. I was suggested by my friends to try the cooked bowls instead next time, but even after that, we agreed that it was just maybe a step above cafeteria food at best. I really had high expectations, especially for the price for my bowl. I was ready for my taste buds to be doing the hula with a fire twirler, but instead, the leighs fell off and the fire went out when the curtain opened.
Overall: D+ read more