Manoa Poke Shop

Cute local shop with limited seating. Their poke reminds me of Hawaii - very simple, delightful, with good portion sizes. I would especially recommend their friend chicken that comes with their sweet and sour sauce. The owner was very sweet and gave us free pineapple cake which was delicious!

I love poke, but I've never been to Hawaii, so truthfully I do not know how the poke I've eaten up 'til now compares to authentic poke. However, I heard that Manoa serves the closest I can get to authentic poke, so I wanted to check it out. The place normally doesn't open until 5pm, but this was a special week where it opened a bit earlier at 4:30pm, which is why I decided to go since I usually eat earlier. I placed an online order for 4:30pm, but my food wasn't ready until 4:40pm. The inside was very colorful with minimal seating. There were free anime stickers at the cash register! - BBQ Gohan Bowl ($15): Smaller portion size than the ahi katsu plate for the same price but still filling. I was most excited about the soy-cured egg, but it seeped into the rice by the time I got home, so I did not get the satisfaction of popping the yolk, sadly. I definitely tasted the BBQ flavor, and the salmon was cooked well (not dry). However, there was too much sauce, so I found the dish too salty, which is a common theme as you'll continue reading. - Ahi Katsu Plate ($15): Huge portion, though largely because there was a ton of rice. I don't eat this much rice, so if there were an option to order the ahi katsu a la carte or substitute the rice with other sides, I would have done so. However, the rice was cooked well. The ahi katsu was crispy on the outside and soft and flavorful on the inside (but again, I found it on the saltier side; same for the kimchi cucumbers). I liked the refreshing lightness of the mac salad. - Manoa Dip with Wonton Chips ($9): The dip tasted similar to the BBQ Gohan Bowl: thick and creamy but salty. I did not like the wonton chips; they tasted way too oily and were too brittle to actually be used to scoop the dip. - Pineapple Cake ($7): This dessert was interesting; I liked it. It was basically a sponge cake infused with pineapple syrup. Very soft and flavorful. The cake was wrapped in thin slices of fresh pineapple, but I found the taste similar to canned pineapple. Overall, the prices were decent, and the food was flavorful but just too salty for my taste. I also didn't get any poke like I had originally planned (the stuff that I ended up ordering just sounded too good; also, I thought the dip was going to be raw, but I did not read the description carefully enough), so maybe I will enjoy the poke more.

Unique, lovely

Manoa Poke is truly a Somerville gem. Love the spicy tuna and the fried chicken is out of this world. The owner is kind and welcoming; he always offers free samples of his cakes, which are the best in town. Very grateful for this spot!

I drive 45 minutes for the best, most creative, and highest quality poke I have ever had. The vibes are equally great. I feel like family every time I step in. The menu is flexible, allergy friendly, and always changing based on what is the freshest available fish. It is always worth the drive to smile far longer than 45 minutes! xoxo