Wonderful little Poke place just a few doors off the west end of Pearl. We have not had a dedicated poke bowl place in Boulder before, so far from HI or even from CA.
The owner/ founder has two other eateries in the same neighborhood so when he moved his first eatery , the venerable Zoe Ma Ma onto Pearl, he transformed this cute little spot in a peek of HI, right down to genuine Dole Whip as the dessert option.
The interior has been transformed too. Clean bright beachy colors, bright light color tile with wavy patterns.
The choice of bowl is almost limitless as one category is design your own under category "mainland bowl." The other preplanned bowls are all named for HI locations. You can build with bases, proteins, vegetables, sauces and toppings. It's easy to accommodate special diets, whether vegan, dairy free, gluten free or keto. They have smaller, lower priced bowls designed for kids. Prices are good too and they don't take tips. A 15% service is collected and shared with all workers. It's a system I happen to like. It's better than raising prices so much that people might avoid choosing and more and more eateries are shifting this way.
I had a brown rice base, tuna as protein. Veggies were carrots , daikon, cucumber, shiitake, sauce was ponzu, toppings of seaweed salad, shredded nori, masago and furitake. My husband had similar choices but salmon as protein and a soy chili sauce and fried wonton strips in his topping. We both had the hibiscus iced tea ( it is slightly presweetened) and we both hade the classic authentic Dole whip dessert. I've never been anywhere where it was served, having been to the Dole plantation on Oahu and Disneyland before it was ever invented. I love that it is dairy and soy free, just pineapple and water and a food stabilizer. Tasted great. We went off hours to be sure to learn the system and to be guaranteed an indoor seat. There is more seating with this redesign of the space and in good weather, still a table bar for outside seating.
Note that the online menu is mostly set up as a delivery or pickup system but if you work through it and want to eat in, you can and be extra convenient to know the options. We certainly will be regulars. read more