25 Oahu Poke Spots: The Ultimate Poke Tour

25 Oahu Poke Spots: The Ultimate Poke Tour

Hey everybody, hope you’re having a great day. 
Today’s one is going to be a long video. 25   poke spots on the island of Oahu. There’s 
no time to waste. Let’s get to it. [Music] The first one is one of my favorites and 
go-to’s just based on convenience for me and the taste in terms of spicy ahi poke. Their other 
pokes are wonderful as well, but this is my favorite spicy ahi one. I think the sauce that they 
make is well balanced between the mayo and the heat and the Sriracha and the taste and freshness 
is good. And that is at Tamura’s. And the good thing is it’s accessible to most people on the island.  
Mostly – generally speaking anyway. There’s one in Aiea near Pearlridge, where the old Down to Earth was near Anna Miller’s. There’s one in Wahiawa. There’s one in Kaimuki and one in Waianae. So, let’s try the 
spicy ahi. This is a half pound. I think the taste is amazing. Fresh texture of the fish. You can 
tell it’s fresh. The mayo sauce with the Sriracha is balanced. Like I said, it’s always consistent 
to me. I like that it’s creamy, not too spicy, but you still taste a little bit of heat. And 
the crunch of the tobiko, which is the fish eggs on there. You can kind of see them. They’re like 
little orange fish roe eggs. Give it a pop once in a while. Another thing that I like about Tamura’s 
is that they have a wide selection of different pokes that are a little bit different from other 
people. Every shop has their own specialties, but they finally brought it back after Covid. They 
stopped making this for some reason. Probably   because it was very expensive. But they have their 
famous king crab spicy poke. And it’s the same marinade with the spicy ahi, the mayo, and the 
sriracha with the tobiko. But instead, they put real king crab in there. And it’s all deshelled, 
so it’s easy to eat. So if you’re a crab lover,   but you don’t want to break open the shells, and 
you don’t like that, this is perfect to eat. It is real king crab, and you can definitely tell. 
This one though, after they brought it back, I’ve only noticed they brought it back probably a 
month or so ago from this video time. Anyway, right now, it’s going to take me a while to 
finish this compilation. It is August 16th,   so probably in late June or July, I 
noticed that they brought it back. So, it is expensive. It’s $35.99 a pound, but if you 
just want a little sample, it’s not that bad. I got this is a quarter pound and it was 
a little over $8. So, let’s try it out. I love the chewiness of it, the meatiness of 
the king crab. So delicious, especially with the sauce. You see all the chunks of the king crab 
in there. They also have a different kind of sauced king crab if you don’t like spicy. And they also 
have crawfish if you’re into that and you’re, you know, on a budget, you still like seafood. 
Different tastes, but they have crawfish as well. And they have other sauces like wasabi 
and stuff like that. And they also have other things that are interesting such as pipikaula (Hawaiian beef). 
They have pickled mango in there and, you know, kimchi scallops or kimchi mussels, different kind 
of items. And in the fridge, you can get pickled garlic, which is one of my favorites as well. 
Some boiled peanuts, poi, and other things to grab along with your poke. But this king crab is 
so good. It goes so well over rice. Definitely a great meal. So, the next poke shop is called 
Marujyu Market. I believe that’s how you say it. They’ve been there forever. It’s on Moanalua Road 
where Maui Off-Road is, if you’re familiar. There’s a Pizza Hut next to it, a laundromat, and a 
fish like a aquatic fish pet saltwater thing. if you’re not familiar with that, it’s across 
the street from Waimalu Elementary School. And   right next door is Safeway Waimalu. So it’s over 
there in that shopping center across the street near Dave’s Ice Cream. And they sell plate 
lunches as well as poke and boiled peanuts, all kind of stuff. And I’ve done a full video on 
them in terms of plate lunch and Hawaiian food, but I wanted to include them with the poke 
because they have some pretty good poke. These   two I have not tried. Like I said, I’m trying 
to try different ones that they specialize in or might be different from another shop. So, 
this one is their own. I believe it’s their Ohana poke it was called and it looks the same as 
the other ones. They had the typical inamona one, ahi limu, spicy ahi and all that. So, I don’t know. 
It looks like a shoyu type of poke. They also had shoyu poke. So, let’s see what’s different about 
this one. So, when you first take a look at it,   you see the limu in it, which is the seaweed. 
You have some sliced onions. Looks like some chili pepper, but let’s see what’s different about 
it. It has a sauce underneath. Right off the bat, it is delicious. They have some good poke. I have 
never complained about their food. Big chunks of ahi. The onions they pick are very sweet. So, not 
your typical onion. Adds a very nice sweetness. Crunchy limu. I don’t know what’s different 
about it, though. Although it tastes wonderful, it just tastes like a very good shoyu ahi or 
like something with sesame seed oil. I guess maybe that’s different. That’s the sesame seed 
oil in it that makes it different. But overall   very tasty. All right, the second one that I have 
not seen – I’m sure it’s somewhere, but you don’t really see this. So you see the salmon version 
and of course the ahi version…is the spicy tako. So you know everybody loves spicy ahi, but you don’t 
really see spicy tako. So same thing, but just tako which is octopus. It’s got nice chunks of cut 
up tako. Your typical spicy ahi sauce and all the fish roe on there. Plenty of that. That’s 
what it looks like. Quite different, I think, because the tako is very juicy. So, the way we 
like it, if you’re not from here, it’s not cooked until it’s soft. It has a crunch to it, but when 
you crunch into it, all the tako juice comes out, which just tastes like the sea. It’s salt water, 
you know? It’s a salty taste. But mixing it with the sauce, it kind of makes the sauce watered 
down. Not that that’s a bad thing because you will taste the natural flavors of the tako, but 
if you’re expecting that spicy ahi mayo flavor, that creaminess of that sauce that you usually 
get with the spicy ahi, it’s not going to feel the same in your mouth. It doesn’t have the same 
mouth feel, not as creamy because the juices from the tako water it down, but still tasty. Very 
unique tasting. I will say it’s very different from a spicy ahi because of the octopus juice. 
When you go to Hawai’i or Oahu anyway, everybody always raves about this, including tourists. It’s 
Foodland Poke. And I think it’s just popular because they make a pretty good standard poke and 
they have different kind of flavors and options.   And it’s at a cheap price. Although, most of it is 
previously frozen, which makes it more inexpensive, but doesn’t matter if it’s previously frozen because 
it still has a good taste. Not fishy in any way and you can trust the poke at Foodland. So 
again, everybody likes their spicy ahi. I was looking for their oyster sauce one, but I 
went to the Dillingham Foodland for those that are old like me. Do you remember that being Emjay’s? 
We no longer even have Emjay’s anymore, but that used to be Emjay’s first and then it became a Foodland. 
So I really wanted the oyster sauce one. They have other ones as well, but you can find 
them anywhere else and I would like to give the other shops a try that have those ones such as the 
California roll poke and stuff like that. So, this is one that was interesting. It’s a chili 
garlic crisp crunch ahi. So, sorry you guys that don’t like spice. This one’s going to be spicy. 
But it’s got a lot of that crisped up fried garlic on there. So, I like garlic. If you like garlic, 
maybe you’ll like this, too. But let’s check it out. Look at all the garlic pieces on there. It’s 
good. I’m not making that face in a bad way. I’m just trying to figure it out. To me, it’s not that 
spicy. That’s what it reminds me of. I’m trying to think of what it reminds me of. It’s not Sriracha 
or anything like that. It reminds me of the   chili oil you get when you go to eat pho or 
you’re at a Chinese restaurant and they have that homemade chili oil. Oh, the flies are coming. 
They’re attacking me. Yeah, that’s what it is. It’s mixed with it. I like that kind of stuff. And 
when you get to the bottom, you can see all that   chili oil. So, straight up chili oil. I don’t 
really taste a sesame seed oil taste. So, it’s just that chili oil with that fried garlic in it. 
You got some green onion as well in there. I think the seasoning is pretty good. It’s salted well, 
not too overly salty. It has a good garlic crisp. That’s what it is. Like a chili crisp type 
of taste. So, a lot of garlic going on, but I wouldn’t say it’s overpowering with garlic. Garlic 
like it’s not going to make your breath stink. Something unusual about this as well is that I 
think that you would think, you know, with this much oil in there that it would be overpowering. 
I don’t feel that way. I think this has a nice clean ahi taste. So, you can really taste the 
fish. I don’t think it’s too spicy at all,   but it still has a subtle chili garlic flavor. 
So, I don’t know how they did that because you obviously a lot see a lot of oil on the bottom, 
but I think it still lets the fish shine in the dish where it doesn’t overpower everything. 
So, a good alternative if you like spice. And this is definitely a classic if you go to a 
Hawaiian home or a luau is white crab poke. And it’s a raw crab. If you don’t like raw 
crab or you’ve never tasted it, trust me, this is good. It’s not as gross or weird as you 
think, you can get this at most poke shops. And so it’s pretty much a raw crab mixed with 
different aromatics and spices to make it taste good. And this is what it looks like. They usually 
chop the crab in half. It’s a smaller crab and you got a lot of meat in the body and they clean it 
out. And you just go for broke and suck them. The meat is sweet, clean, but just a 
natural sweetness. You have taste from the sea, whether they put Hawaiian salt or not. 
It’s just got that salty sea flavor. And a little bit of spice. You see some red 
spices on the legs that they tossed it with. So, a little chili pepper in there. This Foodland one 
though is pretty much just a basic salt taste, which is fine with me. Very traditional. A little 
bit of a seasoning of heat with that chili pepper, but no sesame seed oil or nothing overpowering 
and that’s the way I like it. It’s just a   natural taste of the sea. If you’ve 
ever eaten Korean crabs that are raw, it’s kind of similar to that, but less spicy,
and more natural flavors. Just the Hawaiian salt type taste. But definitely get yourself some crab. 
They have it at Foodland. Next up is some Kaneohe staples. It’s Fresh Catch and K-Bay Brothers. 
We’re going to start off with Fresh Catch. They started off in Kaneohe and have another 
location in Honolulu. They also used to have a location in Pearl City, but that became the Thai 
restaurant that I covered recently called Broke   Da Mout. They moved out of their original 
building which is now taken over by Whiskey Smoke and they built their own big building. It has 
some nice areas to eat nice and air conditioned and very clean and open. They got all kinds of 
poke. Even lomi o’io which is delicious. I should have got some, but there was something else that 
caught my eye. Not quite poke, but something very rare to see but we’ll cover that later where 
we’ll get into the poke. So, I got, let’s see, some island tako because Chef is famous for smoking 
his own tako. And then the classic limu kohu, which is one of my favorites. It has delicious 
taste. All right, let’s start with my favorite. One of my favorites is the limu kohu, which has 
that different limu. It has the taste of the sea. To me, it gives it more taste than regular 
ogo. In this one, you see some chili pepper, so it looks kind of spicy. Sometimes they don’t 
put it in there. It’s got some onion in there and some green onion as well. Here we go. So 
good. I don’t know if there’s kukui nut on there, but so tasty. Perfectly seasoned. Just that nice 
saltiness of the sea. Such fresh fish. And such a simple yet delicious taste of just Hawaiian 
salt. Sometimes simple is more better. All right, next up is the island tako. What makes it an 
island tako rather than your plain smoked tako or their other tako poke is it has onion, 
a little bit tomato inside, and some kind of sauce. I don’t know if this one’s smoked or 
not, but pretty big pieces. Let’s try it out. Mmm. Good texture. It’s got a crunch to it. 
So, it’s not totally tender. It’s the way we cook it locally. Not like Greek or other 
cultures how they cook it until it’s soft. This is crunchy, but not tough. It has a good mouth feel 
to it. This is not smoked at all. It is just par boiled octopus or tako and it’s got a 
nice flavor. I think it works well without the smoke because you got that sauce on there. It almost 
reminds me of the old school sauce you would make or your grandma would make. Put some shoyu in a 
bottle. Put some Hawaiian chili pepper and maybe a little bit vinegar. I don’t really taste vinegar, 
but the stuff you used to shake on top of fried akule or something like that. That’s what the sauce 
reminds me of. It’s super delicious. And finally, this is not poke, but again, this is something 
you don’t really see. It’s pohole salad, otherwise known as ho’io or fern shoots. They’re made out 
of fern shoots that you can find on the island. It’s usually tossed with some kind of dried 
cuttlefish or like dried shrimp and you get tomato and onions. And the reason I’m covering it 
is it caught my eye because like I said, it’s hard to find unless you know somebody that makes 
it, but apparently they have it here at Fresh Catch. So if you’re looking for it and craving 
some, here it is. Cooked not until they’re mushy. Still has a crunch. You know, this one does not 
have any shrimp or cuttlefish in there, but you can probably throw the tako in there or whatever 
fish you pick. This one has a good taste, though. It’s a sesame seed type flavor with Hawaiian salt. 
So even though it doesn’t have any fish in there, it’s probably good for you if you’re vegetarian 
or vegan. It’s just got the sesame seed flavor, similar to a sesame seeds shoyu poke. And it’s 
got a lot of flavor though, even though it has no fish in there. Definitely delicious grinds 
at Fresh Catch. Go check it out yourself if you haven’t been to it. The new building has 
plenty of parking. Don’t go on Mondays. They’re closed on Mondays. Nice air conditioned, clean 
building and service was also friendly. All right,   the next Kaneohe staple is K-Bayay Brothers. It’s 
located on the end of Kawa Street, but that street you go to the end and it’s kind of almost like a 
dead end. There’s a shopping center to your left   and you can see Windward Mall in the background. 
Just go in that shopping center. Also has parking. It’s a small parking lot though, but I found 
some parking so no problem. The ladies there,   I will say, are super friendly. Wonderful. 
Wonderful ladies. Very friendly. Friendly, genuine service. This one I picked, you know, 
they have all your classics. All these, places have classic poke, but I got their dynamite ahi 
and their pau hana ahi. They also have a paina ahi. She said that one has a yuzu sauce. The pau hana 
one, she said, is a kimchi based sauce. So, let’s try that first. So, this one, like she 
said, kimchi based sauce, but you got cucumber   inside and some imitation crab with the ahi. So, 
let’s take a bite with some imitation crab. Oh, wow. That’s good, too. Nice kimchi flavor. 
Although, I think it’s a little suppressed, but still flavorful. It’s got furikake 
inside, too. Not sure if you can see that. But it’s also got the creaminess of the crab salad 
because it has mayo in it. So, the creaminess with   the kimchi sauce. Ooh, that’s good. And when you 
take a bite of that with the crab salad, that creamy mayo is what makes it. Okay, 
next up is the dynamite ahi. I’m not sure if that’s a spicy ahi with a different name or what, but 
looks similar, but let’s try it out. It’s got some kind of yellow sauce on top. Wonder what that 
is. The yellow things on there, but it looks kind of wet. I might be wrong, but the wetness might be 
an oil, but it’s definitely crunchy garlic. So, I’m not sure if it’s a crunchy garlic oil, but you’ll 
feel the crunch in each bite. So, the fried garlic gives the nice contrast of texture with a soft ahi, 
the fish, the creamy mayo, and then the crunchy garlic. It’s also got fish eggs in there as 
well that you see in other spicy ahis. This one is not very spicy though. It’s more mayo. So, if you 
don’t like spice and you kind of want something   similar, this is for you. For those that don’t 
like spice. The next place is called Poke by the Pound. I believe I did another video on them when 
they first came out. They’re located at the end of Kalihi Street near Nimttz Highway and Kalihi
Street towards the Makai side of Kalihi Street, not in the valley. And you can see them from Nimitz. 
There is limited parking in that little parking lot access road, but I found a parking spot no 
problem. We’re going to try the garlic poke. The gentleman I asked him what that was about, 
what was in it, and he said it’s got a umami taste with garlic and it’s got a sweetness to it 
as well. And he said that older generations or purists of poke will probably not like this, but 
it’s geared more towards the younger generation. They tend to like the different sauces mixed into 
it. So, let’s try it out. And I also got a tako poke because we want to eat a traditional tako poke 
in this video. So, let’s dig in. The good thing is about these poke places, well, this place 
anyway, Poke the Pound, is the gentleman was very   nice. And if you want to sample something and 
you’re not too sure, he will gladly give you a sample before you commit and buy something. So, 
that’s a good thing. Here we go. This is what it looks like. It’s an ahi. Most are all ahi fish
in this poke series. Most people will use ahi, but you can find marlin and other kinds of fish. 
It’s definitely sweet. So, if you have a sweet tooth or you like your savory and sweet, this 
is for you. It kind of tastes like oyster sauce but with a little bit more sugar added. And even 
though there’s a lot of chili pepper flakes in it, it’s not spicy to me. It’s more on the sweet 
side. So, if you like things…it’s definitely not like teriyaki, but something similar where 
it’s savory but sweet like teriyaki sauce, this is a poke for you. I do feel the crunch of 
garlic. It tastes like fried up garlic chips, but I don’t really to be honest taste a garlic 
taste. Next up is the traditional tako poke that everybody knows and loves. It is tako, which is 
octopus, the limu, which is the seaweed, usually Hawaiian salt, maybe sesame seed oil, depends on 
the place, but pretty simple. Nothing too fancy. This one has lots of chili pepper, too, which I 
don’t mind. They make nice slices of the tako and lots of chili pepper on here. So, let’s see if 
it’s spicy. This one is it. Definitely fresh chilies in here versus the garlic one. It looked 
more like chili pepper flakes that are dried. This looks like fresh chilies. It’s quite spicy, but I 
like it. I like the crunch of the limu. And I like how it’s thinly sliced. The way it’s boiled and 
seasoned with Hawaiian salt is nice as well. The seasoning and the salt is through and through the 
poke. And it has that nice texture, but plenty plenty chili pepper. So, if you don’t like spicy, 
you probably won’t like this. But it’s a pretty   traditional taco poke. All right, our next stop 
on our poke tour is at Monarch Poke. I did them before, so I will put the link in the description 
box if you’re looking for a full review on them. Absolutely enjoyed their poke. Went there when 
they first opened up. I’m glad they’re still in   business, going strong. And they are located in 
the Pearl Kai Shopping Center. If you’re not familiar, lots of parking in there. They have 
quite different pokes as well. Very creative, smaller selection but creative pokes as well as your 
regular Hawaiian limu poke and spicy ahi. But they have interesting ones as well. So that’s the ones 
I picked. And they have some desserts and other side dishes, kimchi and stuff in case you’re 
wanting something extra to eat with your poke   bowl or your poke. And I got their California 
poke. I had this the last time in the video. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think if I remember 
correctly, it has the tobiko in there. It has, you know, the fish eggs, the green onion, some 
regular onion, some imitation crab, and cucumbers. The cucumber gives such a fresh crunch. It is a 
little bit spicy, kind of like a spicy ahi sauce, that mayo sauce, but I really like the addition 
of the cucumber and the imitation crab. And they give pretty big chunks of the imitation crab and 
lots of the different toppings – the fish egg, lots of cucumber. Almost like every bite you get 
cucumber, but they’re chopped up small, so it’s   not like a huge piece, so it kind of fits in your 
mouth with the crab and the ahi. This is so good with rice. It really does remind me of a cross 
between a spicy ahi and a California sushi roll. And finally from Monarch Poke, we have their 
wasabi poke. So it looks pretty plain, almost like traditional. No fancy sauces on there. So I’m 
not sure how they infuse the wasabi in here because it’s very plain, almost like a traditional poke. 
Like I said, just the onion, limu from looking at it visually and green onion looks plain, but it’s 
full of flavor. Definitely slapped the wasabi on there and soaked in the skin of the fish or 
something or the meat of the fish, excuse   me. Wow, that’s delicious. Almost like a sashimi 
taste. All you need is a packet of shoyu. Dip it in there and it’s just like eating sashimi except 
you have a little bit of green onion and the limu. The limu gives it a crunch too. And the onion. 
A lot of these all have lots of yellow onions that are chopped up in here, but I like it. It gives 
it so much flavor. The next stop is Off the Hook Poke. And this is in Manoa Valley, right across 
from the Safeway and the shopping center here, so you can’t miss it. The only thing is there 
isn’t much parking here. You see a lot of people parking in the shopping center and running 
across the street. But, I can’t condone that because if your car gets towed away, that’s 
up to you. But it is a very popular poke spot and it is past lunchtime and there is still 
a crowd outside. So these do look small, but I only got their quarter pound just to sample 
and show you since I’m going through so many poke spots. So they are known for their unique poke. And 
one of them, which I found very creative is their cold ginger garlic poke. And that’s almost 
similar to that ginger sauce you would find on a Chinese Cantonese style chicken, the cold 
ginger chicken. And I like that kind of sauce. And you can definitely see that sauce on there. 
So, they’re pretty generous with it. All right,   let’s take a taste of this. I’ve had this before, 
I believe, in that other video I did. It’s got some onion in there and all that sauce. If you 
like that cold ginger chicken type taste, this sauce is definitely hitting the spot. I like it. 
I think it’s very unique and a very great idea to mix it into poke. I think the fish is fresh. 
The taste is on point. Not too salty. I like it. So, this one doesn’t have any limu or any seaweed 
in it, but it’s got some green onion in there and some actual round onion or yellow onion slivered 
in there. Very good taste. And my apologies. Actually, it’s a cold ginger ahi. So, no garlic in 
there. And for a person that doesn’t really care   for ginger, I don’t find it strong at all in 
there. It’s perfectly balanced. I don’t like raw ginger at all except in oxtail soup. So, that is 
not bad. And very balanced flavors. It’s not gonna like burn your mouth or anything like that. 
It’s not a strong flavor. It’s just very, very tasty and savory and has all the aromatics that go 
well together with the fish. And the last sample I got from Off the Hook is their Japanese Deluxe. 
And on their website, it says it’s got sweet miso, ginger, shiso leaf, and has an elegant Japanese 
profile. So, I thought it was different. Something you can’t get anywhere else. You can definitely 
see all that miso glaze tossed into the ahi. You can definitely taste that sweet miso. 
It’s not like super strong or hits you,   but it’s definitely the main flavor in here. Don’t 
really taste too much ginger again in the way that it’s too overpowering. It’s perfectly balanced 
again. So, all the seasonings for the two pokes I had were well balanced. Where it’s not too 
overpowering and everything just melds together. A lot of people don’t know that Nico’s Pier 38 
isn’t just a fancy restaurant. It’s near the piers obviously by Nimitz Highway. And it’s not 
just a fancy restaurant. It is a great restaurant to eat at if you’ve never been. But if you go on 
the side door, they have Nico’s Fish Market,   which sells poke and they make poke bowls as 
well if you want their rice. But you don’t have to get their rice. It’s just like any other poke
shop. They have numerous items – different kinds   of poke. They have lots of smoked fish options 
even smoked salmon belly. They have smoked or dried ahi. They have dried opah. And they 
also have slabs of fish for sale and lots of slabs of ahi that’s freshly caught every day. They had 
some interesting options that are not always found in every poke spot. You can usually get 
these kind of shrimp pokes at most major grocery chain poke seafood sections, but they had a 
garlic shrimp poke. Not traditional poke, but has been around for a while. So it’s for 
the people that don’t want to eat raw fish. You can have this. It’s cooked. It’s lightly blanched 
shrimp and they toss it in whatever sauce they have. So this is a garlic one. Oh wow, that’s 
good. If you’re not from here and you’ve never tried this kind of poke, it tastes like pretty 
much a delicious shrimp cocktail type of consistency. It’s not boiled or blanched too much 
where it’s too tough. The shrimp is super tender and it’s served cold. Obviously, this one has 
a nice buttery garlic taste. So, it almost tastes like a shrimp scampi because it’s buttery, very 
garlicky, but it’s got a little green onion on it and also some chili pepper seeds and sesame seeds. 
This one’s really good. I’d get it again. So, this one is the Ultimate Poke. That’s what it’s 
called. And I asked the lady behind the counter, what does that exactly mean? But it’s their 
special house poke. It has a mixture of ahi and salmon. Wow. So, both of my favorite fishes to 
eat raw. So, that’s both the salmon and the ahi. Everything looks fresh. It’s got some onion 
in there, inamona, she even said, which is the   kukui nut, sesame seeds, and some furikake. 
That’s a very unique, interesting flavor. Even though they’re common ingredients in pokes, the 
furikake gives it a slight sweetness and you know that nutty sesame seed, but there’s extra 
nuttiness from the kukui nut. You can definitely taste it in there. It’s really fresh. It’s lightly 
seasoned, which I like. It’s not too salty, and it’s really nice. It’s different. It’s more 
of a nutty flavor. So, since I was in the Kalihi area   near Nico’s on Nimitz Highway, I went straight 
to the iconic Alicia’s. Alicia’s Market serves poke, and they’ve been doing it for many, many 
years. They did have a tragic fire for a while, so they only reopened in this small spot. Now 
it’s opened again, although the store looks like it’s like half open and they made the back 
like storage and stuff like that. So, it’s not as big as it used to be, but it’s in the 
original space. They tried to make some of it look like it used to. I know they have great limu poke 
and everything like that, but we’ve been showing that for a while, so I wanted to get something 
different from there that I’ve never tried before.   This is their sweet onion tako poke. And of 
course we’ve done pokes with tako prior to this, but this one has sweet onion. So I don’t know. 
Let’s see what it’s about. That is very sweet and it’s not from the onion. It’s definitely 
added sugar, which is kind of disappointing.   I don’t really like sweet things in savory 
dishes. I just think if they didn’t add the sugar, it would probably be better with the natural 
sweetness of the supposed sweet onion. So,   let’s take a taste with the onion as well and 
see if the onion’s actually sweet. To be honest, it’s just a regular yellow onion with added 
sugar in this mix. I can tell. And it’s smells a little fishy. So, I don’t know how 
fresh this is. That’s kind of disappointing. They have the lomi o’io, which is kind of hard to find. 
Sometimes you can see it. I’ve seen it at Fresh   Catch when I went there, but didn’t get it because I 
thought I would get it somewhere else. So, I was lucky to find it here. If you don’t know what 
it is, it’s pretty much a mashed up fish of o’io, which in English is the bone fish. They take out 
all the bone, so it’s really hard work and almost like fishcake pretty much. This one seems like 
it’s got the limu in there. I’m not sure if that’s dried shrimp and then I don’t know if that’s 
tomatoes. I see some red stuff in there. So, let’s take a taste. I’m not sure if my 
chopstick is tainted, but this also tastes sweet, which is odd. It’s not not supposed to be 
sweet, but I taste the onions and the shrimp and the limu and tomato. I have a brand new pair 
of chopsticks. So, let’s taste it again. Yeah, that’s strange. That’s also sweet, too. Which 
to me is not…no sugar in lomi o’io, please. But you know, some people might like it.
I think if it didn’t have that sugary taste… it’s overly sweet actually….and just 
leave the traditional ingredients in there,   the dried shrimp, the limu, and the onions 
and the tomato, it would be solid. But, overall, kind of disappointed in my visit 
today. But like I said, just stick to the traditional poke and don’t veer off like me. The 
next poke spot is called Ryder’s Poke and Shave Ice. I did a full length showcase on their shop 
when they first opened up. You can see the link above if you’re interested in the full length 
show on that restaurant. And I went back there again to show their poke. So, just like Off 
the Hook Poke, they have a ginger type poke, but this one’s a little different. It’s the 
ginger avocado poke. I’m not sure if it’s the same type of poke like Off the Hook or like 
a cold ginger chicken type of sauce on there, but it looks similar. It’s got the green in 
there. This looks like some onions, sesame seeds, and I’m not sure if the avocado is mashed in 
there because I don’t see any chunks of it. Maybe over here there’s a little bit. Oh, wow. That’s 
a different flavor. You can’t compare it to the Off the Hook one. This one has a slight ginger 
taste. Of course, still palatable to me, my taste buds. I don’t like ginger. Like I said, that 
it’s too strong for me. But this one’s just the   right hint or amount of it and it’s pleasant to 
me. Very good flavor. Sort of like a cold ginger chicken sauce, but a little different because it has 
the avocado in it. The avocado is creamy, smooth, and cooling. All the fish is ahi, so the fish is 
fresh. It’s got a good texture to it. The onions aren’t too strong, so I’m not sure if they soak 
it prior to mixing it, but it doesn’t have like a very strong funky onion flavor where it gives 
you bad breath. It’s mild sweet onion. I like the cooling effect of the avocado. Actually, this 
one’s really nice. I really enjoy this one. And   it is popular because there was only a little bit 
left. I was lucky enough to get a quarter pound of it just to sample. And the seasoning is nice as 
well. Not too salty, but still has flavor. I would totally recommend this. This would go super good 
on a poke bowl with rice. Next up is the oyster sauce poke. I was looking for this at Foodland, 
but for some reason on that day, never have. So, at Ryder’s, they have it. So, pretty much an 
oyster sauce type of flavor going on. The Chinese oyster sauce. It looks like there’s some 
onion, sesame seeds, and green onion as well. This one is very strong and heavy in taste with 
the oyster sauce. So, this would go really good with rice. If you were to get it alone like 
this, kind of can be overwhelming because the sauce is kind of on the salty side. But if you like oyster 
sauce, this is really good. So, if you like those   Chinese flavors and a more saucier poke, this 
one is for you. Our next stop is at Tanioka’s and they have wonderful items from snacks to bentos 
grab-and-go items like musubis and ahi patties which are delicious but they also have a wide 
array of poke. And some things are quite different and some things are traditional. So I grabbed 
the furikake salmon poke, which is different. You see it here and there at different other 
poke spots, but I decided to get it because   it’s a little different from the other ones 
I’ve shown. This is a quarter pound cup. So, you’ve got the green onions in there. Lots of 
sesame seeds from the furikake. Mmm. That’s good. Good seasoning. Not too sweet, but it has a 
slightly sweet sauce, but they balanced it out nicely where it’s not too sweet. Don’t really like 
too sweet things. It’s more on the savory side. There is a hint of nuttiness from the sesame 
seeds. There’s a lot of them in here, which gives a nice different touch. And I like the fattiness 
and the taste of the raw salmon. Gives it a different taste other than just always having 
a nice texture, too. That’s a little different. All in all, very good. Next up is something that 
you can always find, but it’s one of my favorites. I don’t know. There’s something about the mayo 
base and the spicy Sriracha sauce that I like. It’s spicy ahi. The quality of the fish right 
away. Super yummy. Fresh. Nice texture. Can tell it’s fresh. This spicy ahi sauce is a little 
different from like Foodland’s or my favorite is Tamura’s. Not as mayo, more on the spicy 
side. So, if you don’t like too spicy things, you might not want to get theirs. I don’t mind 
the spiciness. It’s a little bit more hot and not as creamy with the mayo. Our next shop is called 
Kahiau Poke and Provisions. Very tiny shop. So, sorry, don’t have much B-roll. Literally, right 
when you walk into the door, the fridge is right there. There’s very little room for standing 
space. They have a very small selection of poke, but they do it very well. So, they have a 
taco poke, a spicy…sorry, excuse me, spicy ahi. They have a crab potato salad, which 
was interesting and unique. And they also have their Kahiau Special and cold ginger ahi, which is the 
same as Off the Hook and other places that make it. But they were actually making it around the 
time Off the Hook poke made it and then it became popular and other people started copying. So 
they’re kind of one of the OGs as well. This one   is interesting though. Even though it’s marked as 
ahi, the meat is very light, almost like a marlin, but they said it’s cold ginger ahi. It’s even on 
here. So, let’s take a taste. I’ve had it before. I really enjoyed it. And you might say that I’m 
showing the same thing. I try not to, but if it’s good and I remember it was good, I try to compare 
it to the other ones that were good to see if   there’s a difference in flavor because everybody 
always, you know, has different recipes and uses different amounts of ginger and scallions, etc. 
All right, let’s try it out. This is the cold ginger ahi. This one is much more pronounced in the 
ginger flavor, although I did state before I’m not a fan of raw ginger. It’s still pleasant. This 
really reminds me of a cold ginger chicken type sauce. Literally what you would put on the 
Chinese dish. The other ones were a very subtle taste, which I still enjoyed. But if you’re a 
fan of the authentic cold ginger chicken sauce, this is it. This hits the spot. In terms of cold 
ginger poke or ahi, this would be my favorite that I have tasted so far. Let me know if there’s 
something else that I didn’t try or another place that also serves cold ginger poke. Next up is 
the Kahiau Special. I asked her what was in it. It is just a regular type of traditional poke 
with limu and shoyu, she said. So, let’s dig in. You can see the chili pepper, the onions, 
the green onion, plenty of limu, and the ahi. Interesting. This one does look like ahi. The 
color is the same as what we expect compared to the other one. I like how there’s plenty of limu 
on it. It’s a good portion or ratio. Anyway, fish is fresh. Not too much shoyu, just enough. Not 
salty, just the right amount of seasoning. Love the crunch of the limu because they’re generous 
with the limu. Even though it’s chopped up small,   but there’s a lot that coats each cube of fish. 
You get the crunch and the taste of the sea. And what makes Kahiau special to me anyway and most 
other people is their hapa poi. And I know you’re saying this is a poke thing. Why are you showing 
poi? But I’m telling you, since we’re here, you   got to get it. It’s kalo poi (taro) mixed with 
Okinawan sweet potato. So that’s why it’s a hapa poi – half and half. It is amazing. And the trick is 
to dump some of your poke into the poi and enjoy a scoop. Nothing beats it. Oh, I haven’t had this 
in a long time since I went last time. It’s so good. I’m telling you – faka is mean. Very good. 
Fort Ruger Market is a small mom and pop shop located right at the foothills of Diamond Head. 
And if you go in there, they have awesome food. Again, I covered them as well. So, you can get 
awesome Hawaiian plate lunches. You got lechon,   kawali or a roast pork type of deal thing. 
They have that. They have all kind of snacks, pickled mango, all kind of things in their 
freezers. But they also do poke. What’s unique about Fort Ruger Market is they don’t have a big 
selection, but they have a lot of aku options, which is skipjack tuna. Ahi is a yellow fin tuna. 
So, I like aku. I like dried aku as well. It’s a different kind of fish to make poke with. You 
don’t really see it too much. Ahi is more popular.   So, I got their Fort Rugericious. I can’t say it. 
Fort Rugalicious Poke. And he said the difference between that and their other Fort Ruger Special is 
I think the Fort Ruger Special has inamona and limu in it and the Rugalicious has chopped taegu, which is 
what I got. That’s very unique. Other pokes appear to be very red and spicy. So doesn’t seem like 
there’s mild options there much. Interesting. Not sure if I’m going to like it, but they did 
not skin the aku. So, you have that aku skin on there. Can be very strong in flavor and  
gristly. But, let’s take a taste. Yeah, really tough to chew. I had to spit it out. The skin is 
too tough to chew. So, would be nice if they would pay attention to detail and cut off some 
of the skin. But overall, the fish is very fresh. It is kind of on the spicy side. Not too spicy to 
me, but I can tell for those who don’t like chili pepper, it is quite spicy. It’s got a little bit 
of green onion on top, sesame seeds, and you can see the little bits of taegu in there. Overall, the 
fish is very fresh. You can tell by the texture. It’s very good. And I like the little pieces of 
taegu in there. So, with each bite, you kind of get a little piece of taegu on top the poke. Also 
a positive note about their poke is their blocks and chunks of poke are pretty big size. And the 
second dish I got from them was a spicy shoyu aku. And again everything spicy it seems there. 
It’s soaking in the shoyu. Got the green onion, a little bit of diced onion, lots of chili pepper. 
Okay, let’s taste this one. Dip it in the shoyu. That one I like better. I like the shoyu flavor. 
Not too salty, but it’s got that flavor mixed with the chili pepper and the onions. So, it’s 
not just a straight salty flavor. And overall,   it’s a great flavor. It is spicy, but I 
thoroughly enjoyed that one. And same thing, the fish is very fresh and the texture is nice. 
The next poke shop is Ali’i Fish Market off of South King Street, right across from the Old Stadium 
area, and it’s in that little shopping center if you go all the way in the back. If you want 
further details, you can check out my full video   that I did on them most recently. They have 
some interesting poke selections. Their blue fin tuna with the jalapenos was bomb. I remember 
that. Unfortunately, they didn’t have that today.   I went late right kind of near closing. They 
close at 3 pm, so I went after work. This one I never tried before. This is a yuzu masago poke. Oh, wow. 
What a fresh, very strong yuzu flavor. Almost like calamansi. So yuzu is a Japanese citrus. Very fresh 
and gives it such a nice brightness. And the pop and little chew of the little fish eggs. Super 
ono. And the green onion give it so much flavor. It’s ahi, so it’s super fresh fish. This is super 
good. I would get it again. Really refreshing and a different kind of flavor for poke. It goes 
really well. The next dish at Ali’i Fish Market was their creamy ahi spicy poke. So, actually, it’s 
creamy garlic ahi. So, it’s got a lot of things going on in there, but a lot of limu, which is a 
plus. And you do see some orange spice to it. So, that’s the spicy part. Let’s see how garicky and 
creamy it is. I don’t taste too much of a strong raw garlic flavor, but there’s definitely fried 
garlic chips in there that give it a nice crunch.   So, it’s not something again that would give 
you bad breath or something because it’s not raw garlic. It’s got a good creamy flavor to it. I 
wouldn’t say it’s too spicy, but you do feel a little heat to it, but it’s different from a spicy 
ahi, a typical one. This has more of a different kind of taste. It’s also got like sesame seed 
oil or something in there that makes it a little different, but it’s very tasty as well. Okay, if 
you go right across the street, literally in a diagonal fashion from Ali’i Fish Market on the Young 
Street side, the back side, you will come across Yama’s Fish Market. They are famous for Hawaiian 
plates. They have local snacks, haupia desserts, but they also serve poke. They had some 
baby spicy scallops. So, let’s try this out. The scallops are super meaty, but I don’t know 
if these are pre-brined because they’re super salty. It’s really, really salty, but it’s meaty. 
And very you can taste that it’s not fishy or it’s not something sitting around. It’s 
fresh enough, but I don’t know why it’s really, really, really salty. But the spice is there. 
It’s almost like a kimchi spice, but if they could tone down the salt a little bit, it would 
be perfect. And the last poke dish from Yama’s is their masago wasabi poke. So, let’s try it out. 
It’s very, very generous with the fish eggs and you can see a little bit of furikake in there. 
So, that’s different. The generous portions of the fish eggs are wonderful. Gives it kind of a creamy 
texture, even though I think they added mayo to this, but super delicious. I like the pop in your 
mouth of the fish eggs, but the furikake does give it a little bit of sweetness, but not too 
much. There is a slight wasabi taste. It’s not too straightforward, which is a good thing because 
it’s not going to burn your nostrils, but it’s   there and it’s pleasant. I think it’s balanced 
well with the creaminess of the mayonnaise and the fish is really fresh. I think it’s a fabulous 
option if you are craving something with wasabi and this is really good with rice with all 
the sauce in here. It would really make a great meal. So I like this one. This is really good. 
Next up is Ono Seafood, which is very popular with tourists on Kapahulu Avenue. However, I tend to 
go to the one in Kalama Valley near Hawai’i Kai due to the abundance of parking. If you go to the one 
on Kapahulu Avenue, parking can be very tight and slim. I did film this place a long time ago – a 
full video of it. And I recall I like their spicy ahi. So, we’re going to try that out. I did not 
like the rice they served. I can still smell it coming from the restaurant. They tend to serve 
jasmine rice on poke bowls, which is interesting, instead of regular Calrose rice. So, 
but I did recall liking their poke. So, let’s try it out. Oh, yeah. I remember I really 
did enjoy their poke. It’s coming back to me now. Their poke is packed with flavor. Gives a gives 
you a real punch in the mouth. It’s not too spicy, but it’s got something in there that makes it more 
umami than the other spicy ahi’s I’ve tasted. Again, Tamura’s is my favorite, but this is up there as 
well. It’s just really flavorful, really creamy with the mayo. It’s got the onions and green 
onions as well to give it flavor. But there’s   something else in there. And you can tell in the 
sauce it’s a darker sauce that gives it a very, very good flavor, but it’s more on the seafood 
side. So, I’m not sure what it is, but it’s   amazing. And another one of their dishes that I 
thought caught my eye that is different from other places, although there is other places that we 
showed that have a miso type ahi. This is their miso ahi poke. I believe the other one I did 
after this or before this was Off the Hook. So, let’s try this. This one doesn’t have shiso or 
anything else in it. Says plain miso, some onions,   and green onions. So, pop it in my mouth and see 
what it’s about. This one has a very pronounced miso flavor, which is good because that’s what you 
would want if you order this. It’s got a savory   and sweet miso flavor. Each bite has enough 
miso covering the cubes of poke. I will say for both pokes, the cubes are pretty good sized. 
As time goes on, just like McDonald’s Big Macs, you see that things keep getting smaller and 
smaller, they are smaller than I remember when   I was a kid or when I was younger anyway. But 
this one compared to other places that are slicing it smaller and smaller. It’s pretty standard. So, 
a good amount. I like the sauce. It’s good with rice, the miso. So, if you’re a miso fan, this 
one’s good. Not too salty, not too sweet. It’s just balanced flavors of the savory and sweetness, 
and I like the onions and the crunch of it. The next poke featured is from Paradise Poke. They 
have a couple of shops around the island, but this one is in Nu’uanu, in the shopping center 
where O’Reilly’s is right across the 7-Eleven from Nu’uanu Avenue and North School Street on that 
corner. It’s where if you’re super old school on the side where the old Hungry Lion used to be. So 
I went with the yuzu mayo Japan bay scallops. If you take a look inside they have some black sesame 
seeds, some onion, some green onion, and some cucumbers and a mayo type sauce with yuzu, which 
is the Japanese citrus. If you take a look at the scallop, they’re pretty big size. So that’s good 
to know. That’s good. You can see pieces of the yuzu inside, which is that citrus. It does have a 
bright citrus taste, but not too strong. And it’s creamy and mayo. And it’s very meaty, the meat of 
the scallop. So, it’s very fresh and tasty along with the delicious onion. Just like a refreshing, 
you know, bright mayo creamy type of taste. Very interesting. I enjoy it. Not bad. I like the 
scallops as well. And this is the dish they’re most famous for. I’m not sure what it stands for, 
but it’s their wasabi truffle ahi poke FTW. To me, FTW means “for the win”. So, I can already smell 
the truffle oil, which I enjoy. You can see…I don’t know what kind of fish eggs those are. It 
looks like almost like black caviar and some sea asparagus in there and also some kelp pieces and 
onion. So, let’s try it out. You get the crunch and pop of the fish eggs or whatever it is – caviar. 
And it’s a strong truffle oil taste, which I enjoy mixed with the sea you know the taste of the 
sea with the sea asparagus and the saltiness of the konbu or the seaweed. Interesting, but wow all 
these different kind of new styles of poke that you don’t usually get traditionally, but this one 
works. I would say this ranks high up there from all the ones I’ve tried so far as a very tasty 
top five. The next shop for poke is in Pearl City. It’s called Poke on the Run. And going there, 
if you’re not from there, it’s kind of hard to find parking. There’s only a few stalls of street 
parking right in front of the building. There is street parking, but most of them are filled up. 
But I was lucky. I found a spot and if you go   a little later after lunch hours, there are spots 
open. Although I didn’t really film the inside because it was packed. I was kind of shocked. It 
was packed with people eating inside. So they have a couple tables where you can eat inside. They are 
known for their poke, but they also have other dishes. So the poke they have are only two flavors 
though. It’s kamikaze and spicy ahi. So that’s what I got. But if you’re interested, I took a picture 
of their menu. Hopefully you can see. If not, you can Google them and look at Google reviews or 
Yelp and see pictures that people took of their   menu. So, this is the kamikaze and you get the 
unagi sauce on the side. That was nice of her. So, you can dip it inside or pour it on top. Smells 
really nice, though. It just smells like a typical   poke with a little sesame seed oil. Oh, yeah. 
That’s good. Good flavor. I wasn’t expecting to like it much because reading the description kind 
of doesn’t really excite me. It says it has a oyster sauce based sauce again just like the other 
ones I’ve tasted and thought it was going to be drenched in the sauce, but I think there’s a good 
balance in this poke. I honestly feel out of all the ones I’ve tasted so far that have oyster 
sauce, this is not drenched in oyster sauce. Everything else just seems like they just tossed 
in the oyster sauce from the bottle and just   drenched the fish with it. This has a balance 
of flavors. You taste a little bit of it, but you taste some sesame seed oil. It’s not 
too salty and it’s got some onions in there and very little green onion, but everything marries 
well together. Okay, up next is the spicy ahi. Their version of it looks like it’s got a lot 
of sauce coating around the fish. This one is not as spicy and very very mayo. On that mayo side 
more than Sriracha or the spicy sauce. So, this would be best for people that don’t like spice, 
but want to try what spicy ahi poke tastes like, but it’s not your traditional spicy ahi poke
that I’m familiar with. It just tastes more like mayonnaise. Very interesting. Quite different from 
what I’m used to. It just tastes pretty much like a mayo base. So if you’re a fan of mayo, you 
might like it. I will say all the fish I’ve tried is very fresh. The texture is good. If I were to 
choose out of the two that they offer, the kamikaze was much better than the spicy ahi. Now, the 
next place is something a little bit different,   but the reason I went to it is it’s been raved 
about by many people. They first started, I believe, in Ohana Hale Marketplace when it used 
to be off of Ward Avenue, which has now been torn down to build a condo. They moved to the South Shore 
Marketplace, which is also in the Ward area. It’s in that area where you can park for TJ Maxx and 
there’s a couple of other stores in there. So, of course, like I said, the reason I picked it 
is people rave about it and they have different   types of poke that are not quite traditional, 
but people are very interested in the taste of the new style of poke. This place does not 
sell poke the traditional way where you would ask for a quarter pound, half pound, or one pound 
of py. This place does poke bowls. I tried to stay away from poke bowl places that don’t sell poke 
on the side the traditional way, but like I said, people rave about it. So, I honestly never been 
here. I passed by many times when they were in Ohana Hale Marketplace, but never did try it. 
So, they have lots of torched items. I believe I’ve showed a couple of places that do it as well. 
So, this is a torched type of poke where they kind of hit it with a flame for a little bit. 
This is a torched garlic butter ahi poke bowl. And it’s got garlic, mayo, masago, butter, green 
onion, and unagi sauce. Oh, and on a side note, it was really random, but I went after work and 
once I walked in, I noticed other YouTubers, Michelle and Jose, they’re back in town and they 
were sitting there when I walked in. So, I said   hi to them. What a coincidence. They were ordering 
a poke bowl as well. Mmmm. I can see why people rave about it. You do taste that torched caramelized… 
I’m guessing the mayo got caramelized, but it’s a good flavor. And the fish is fresh. They didn’t 
hit the torch too much where the fish is cooked. Still raw like a poke should be. Just gave that 
mayonnaise topping a nice flavor of the flame. The next poke spot is Maguro Brothers. They have 
two locations now. I believe there’s one in Waikiki and the original in Chinatown. However, the 
original used to be in Kekaulike Market and now they are in the Maunakea Marketplace in the food 
court. So, they have your traditional poke, chirashi bowl, sashimi and other plate lunches. 
But I just got their poke. You can get their poke if you don’t want the rice by the half pound and 
the pound. This is mentaiko poke, which I found unique. Trying to find different ones you 
can’t get anywhere else. So that struck me because I like mentaiko, which is a fish egg. Interesting 
enough, they have a slice or a wedge of lemon in there. I’ve never had it with poke, but we’ll try 
it with that after trying it without the lemon and just as is. Oh, interesting. Inside looks like 
I’m not sure, raw squid or something. So, let’s take a piece of that and eat it with the fish. 
Very strong mentaiko flavor, which I like. I don’t know how to describe it. It’s just very oceany, 
salty. Not too salty, but you know that taste of the sea. I like the very small pieces of 
green onion gives it flavor. And the chewiness of the squid, the ika, it is confirmed it is ika. 
It has a nice texture contrast with the soft fish. Let’s squeeze some lemon on here. I don’t want 
to squeeze it all over it because I don’t want   it to cook all of my fish. I just want to taste 
what it tastes like with some lemon juice on top since they provided it. Interesting. Bright lemony 
flavors of course, but I think once you put it on there, this is just my opinion, really kills 
the flavor of the fish and the mentaiko even. So, it just becomes mute in a way. So I don’t 
prefer to put the lemon on there. And for the last poke I chose at Maguro Brothers, it’s their 
ume poke. Looks quite dark, so I’m not sure. I see some green stuff on there. Not sure what that 
is. And some sesame seeds. Very strong ume flavor. It’s a very pronounced Japanese plum flavor. 
It’s very pleasant. I think I think it’s very unique and goes with the fish. Something very, 
very unique that you won’t taste anywhere else.   The leaves are shiso I believe. So it gives it 
another interesting flavor. I like it. The fish for both of them. Both the pokes are very fresh as 
well. And I think it’s pretty simple. It’s just a straightforward ume taste. I say it’s strong, 
but I wouldn’t say it overpowers the fish. It’s just strong as in if you expect ume, that’s what 
you’re going to get. Versus, you know, sometimes you get something where they describe it as such 
and you don’t really taste it and it’s very not pronounced. This one, it is as advertised. It 
is ume. So, if you love ume, you would like this. It’s actually really good and something totally 
unique. A place that is famous for their Hawaiian food and poke and other goodies is Young’s Fish 
Market. They were originally on Liliha Street right next to Jane’s Fountain a long, long time ago. 
They don’t have much of a poke selection, but they have all your classics. There are some that I 
have not tried. I believe there’s only three choices. A limu kohu, which is the only one I’ve 
tried, and a shoyu with onion poke, and a spicy ahi now that they make. They never used to have 
that. That’s kind of a new thing because it’s a newer sauce. But usually they always have your 
traditional kind of poke. So, since I never tried the spicy ahi, let’s try it out from here. I only 
got quarter pounds again just to sample. That’s what it looks like. Here’s a closeup of the fish. 
Pretty big chunks. I’ll say that’s pretty good. I like the sauce. This one is quite spicy though. 
I can feel it in my mouth and my throat and it’s   starting to burn, but I think I can handle. But 
if you cannot handle spice, that’s pretty spicy. It’s spicy. To me, it’s not that creamy, but 
you still get that creaminess. Not as mayo heavy. You got the fish eggs in there, some green onion. 
Tastes like there’s some sesame seed oil in there,   but just very little bit just to give it a little 
bit of a different nice flavor. Okay, I haven’t had this in a long time, but I remember this was 
really good. Just a really fresh traditional kind of poke taste. Their limo kohu poke. And 
again, pretty big chunks the way they cut the poke. If you’re not into traditional poke and you’re 
only used to the newer style of poke with all the heavy sauces and stuff, you might not like this. 
But if you’re a purist, you know what I mean. This   is super ono. Very fresh. You can taste the 
distinction between the limu and the fish. It’s just simple Hawaiian salt. No sesame seed oil, 
none of that. It’s just Hawaiian salt, the fish, and the limu kohou, which gives it a nice
kind of like a iodine taste in a pleasant way, like the taste of a the sea. Similar iodine taste 
to something from a sea urchin or something like that. Really just pronounced flavors of the 
ocean and just very natural. Okay, I zoomed all the way to the North Shore to try the most famous 
poke in the area or on the island actually. Ry’s Poke Shack has been mentioned and featured 
in Netflix and has gained a large following. I was lucky enough to come a day after they came 
back from California. They were away for most of September because they had opened a poke shop 
in California near Huntington Beach, I believe. So I picked stuff like I said you can’t 
find anywhere else. So they are have Lao style poke from Laos. So it looks very good. I see 
some chili pepper in there, some onion, cilantro. The chili pepper looks pretty fire, so I’m hoping 
it’s not too spicy, but I like spice. I’m not sure if that’s lemongrass or what, but there’s chunky 
stuff on top. I’m excited to try it. Smells good. Oh wow. I know it’s Laotian, but a lot of 
people have not tasted real Laotian food. Similar to Thai flavors, I want to say for those 
who never tried that it is delicious garlicky, hot, spicy, but good to me spice. Onion, maybe some 
lemongrass, I’m not sure, but it’s got that kind of fish sauce taste. And the banger at the end is 
the cilantro. I love cilantro with the little bit green onion. Wow, that explodes in your mouth. 
And the more I eat it, there is no lemongrass, those chunks are garlic. And it’s a garlic lover’s 
dream. But of out of all the other garlic pokes I’ve had, very different flavor. And I think it’s 
due to the fish sauce that just explodes in your mouth. It’s so much umami in there. I asked 
Ry, “What else is on your menu that is different that you can’t get anywhere else?” And I was going 
to pick some shoyu dish, but it looked different, but he said, “No, no, no. You need to get the 
Cajun poke.” And I was like, “What?” And he said, “Yeah, you I’ve never seen a Cajun poke.” 
And by the way, Ryan, his wife, is super nice, super nice people, man. Really, really 
friendly. Talk story, very humble people. So, go check out their stand here in Kahuku. If you 
ever do like a island circle drive or something, even if you’re local, just take a drive around 
the island if you have time on a weekend or what not.   But he made it all pretty for me. He’s so funny 
because he didn’t want to put the cover on because like he made it pretty for the video and he did. 
So, you got sprinkles of dried chilies on there. I see cilantro again. Points in my book. See like 
crab or something. Is that crab salad? And you can see the red seasoning, which I am assuming 
is like a Cajun seasoning in there. Okay, let’s dig in. That tastes good, but it’s 
confusing. I taste a creaminess. I taste a crab salad. That’s good. And then you taste the Cajun 
seasoning. Not confusing in a bad way, but it kind of like plays with your brain like what are you 
tasting? Interesting. So, if you like crab salad, it’s in there. It’s mixed in there. Look at 
these big chunks of the imitation crab. You   have the big chunks of ahi in there. All his pokes 
are ahi. Very fresh. I like the cilantro. It just like plays with your mind in a good foodie way. 
Just confuses you. You got the mayo creamy sauce, the Cajun seasoning. You wouldn’t think it 
goes well together, but it actually works. But   something I’ve never tasted before. And I don’t 
know if it’s too spicy. To me, it’s not. I just had the Lao style one, so my mouth’s on fire. 
But you do see a little bit chili in there. I don’t think it’s as hot as the other poke I had 
though. Usually I only buy two pokes from each place or one if there’s not much choice because this 
is going to be a long video. But Ry’s Poke Shack, they were super nice and on the house they gave 
me their yuzu poke, which they really wanted me to   try. So we’ll show that off. Nice and pretty. It’s 
got some furikake on there, some onion, the masago and a little bit limu I see in there. Interesting. 
And you see the sauce on the bottom. Let’s give it   a try. Again with any kind of yuzu flavored thing, it’s got a 
nice bright citrusy flavor. Very fresh. If you’re wanting something bright and fresh, especially on 
a hot day, this one is a good flavor to have in a poke bowl. And since I’m in the area, I went right 
next door to Kahuku Superette. They’ve been around a long time and they’re known for their poke. I 
got their limu. I just figured after all those flavory saucy ones that are new school, just 
stick with the old school. And they’re an old school institution, so I’m sure they do the old 
school limu style poke correctly. So, we got some limu in here. Small little cubes, but they’re 
uniformly chopped up or diced up. Little cubes of ahi, some sesame seed. You can smell the sesame 
seed oil, and some green onion. You can tell this is probably frozen, but it tastes fresh. It’s not 
fishy or you know that it tastes good. It’s not bad tasting at all. It’s a little just 
firmer. That’s different from the fresh kind of texture. But I like the flavor. I wasn’t expecting 
too much. It looks kind of, you know, plain, but it’s got the crunchy limu. The seasoning is 
on point. It’s salted just enough where it’s not too salty and not too undersalted. The sesame seed 
oil, usually not a fan of it if it’s too heavy, is just a touch and it’s to my liking. Just a little 
bit to accentuate the flavor. Got sesame seeds in there for texture. The green onions 
are good. With the limu, you can’t go wrong. Traditional at its finest. And simple is better 
sometimes. And to end this video with a bang, for me anyway, my opinion, my favorite place to 
go for poke is Tamashiro Market in Kalihi. And a lot of people don’t know if you’re not from 
here or Kalihi and you don’t come this often, I’ve seen comments saying they would love to 
go to Tamashiro, but there’s no parking. And   in the front of the market, there is very 
limited parking, but people don’t know you can park across the street at the church here. 
It’s always been that way since I grew up. My dad used to park on this side, my grandma, 
too. And to confirm it, to make you feel better, there are signs saying it is for Tamashiro Market 
parking, but only limited to 30 minutes. So, I’m sure you can get as much as you can. You’re 
not going to stay there for more than 30 minutes,   I don’t think. But I like Tamashiro Market because the 
fish is obviously fresh. They’ve been in business for many, many years, even while my grandma was 
a kid. And this is where she grew up as well. And you can get your fresh, fresh fish here. They 
also always or usually have different types of fish other than just ahi pokey. They have aku, 
which they did not have today unfortunately. But I saw something that caught my eye that was 
a little different. This is a ahi poke in a crab sauce. So it’s got real crab in there. They also 
had a different crab one as well. So interesting. And it has a little bit of fish eggs in there. 
And I’m excited to try it. Got some onion in there too and um green onion, limu, and the fish 
eggs. This one is a little bit different. I didn’t ask the guy what kind of fish eggs was inside, 
but it’s a little bit more of a yellow tinge. Different though, a little bit sweet, the sauce 
with the crab. I’m not sure what’s in it, but it’s   got an interesting flavor. Flavors of the ocean 
again. Fresh limu. The fish is fresh. The ahi… don’t really taste the crab though, but whatever 
sauce the crab’s tossed in has a sweet taste. Like a sweet shoyu taste. As I’m going through it a 
little bit more, I’m starting to see a little bit of furikake inside. So maybe that’s part of the 
sweetness because sometimes some of those mixes   have a little sweet flavor that when you put it 
on your rice, it gives it more flavor. So maybe that’s from that the sweetness of the sauce. 
And this is some of the crab pieces in here. I’ll try to taste again, but I didn’t really taste much 
crab. Definitely crab, but I think the sauce kind of overpowers it. But you get pretty good chunks 
of crab in there. Overall very tasty though. And here’s some more crab. So pretty fair amount 
of crab. And I don’t know, it’s depending how he scoops it because he just scoops it out of the 
container. So hopefully when you get a scoop, you get some good meat inside. But it’s kind of like 
a creamy sauce mixed with mayo, maybe some oyster sauce as well. So typical Asian flavors, but very 
unique, different taste from other poke places. And it’s a great finish to this video. So, the guy 
gave me what I thought was inamona, which is kukui nut, but when I put it on the poke, it was 
not to my dismay, but it’s like a sweet cracker crumb crust. Interesting, but not my thing. But I 
guess it gives it a different texture. And like I said, we’re going to end off with a bang. 
And I haven’t had this in years. Probably since   the last video I made years ago at my dining room 
table when I first started, is opihi. And that’s when I did the Tamashiro Market video and I 
ate opihi that was probably the last time I ate it. Opihi is a sea limpet if you’re not from here 
and you have to take it out of the shell. But they always have opihi it seems. Every time I go 
it’s available and it wasn’t too bad. It was   $16.95 a pound. Of course the shell is factored 
into the weight, but the poke here is about $27 a pound for fresh poke. So if you’re 
comparing it to the fish, not bad for something that we don’t get to eat often. So I’ll try to 
get it out with my chopstick. But the rest I’m   going to eat at home where I can get a little 
bit more of a plate and eat it the right way, but this is it. Some people don’t like it. It’s 
one of my favorite things and you eat it raw and   it’s delicious. It tastes like the sea to me. So 
good. I will say though, because they’re all together and the shell isn’t really cleaned. It has a 
little bit of sand in there. So, it’s good to   take it home, give it a little rinse, and that 
way you don’t have some gritty sand in there. If you’re wondering and you’ve never eaten 
it before, has a crunchy texture just like   abalone. If you’re a fan of abalone, this is 
like little ones and they’re crunchy and inside is gooey and it’s like a burst of seawater. So good. 
And so yeah, that was my poke compilation. I know there probably is many other places. I tried 
to grab and film the ones that are most popular around the island of Oahu. So hopefully you 
enjoyed it and you can find something that you   like in your area to have some awesome genuine 
poke. And everybody has their own favorite and I hope you find yours and thanks for joining me 
and watching and press the like button. Subscribe if you’re new if you found this helpful. And I’ll 
see you next time on another food adventure. Take   care everybody. Have a happy Aloha Friday 
and a great weekend. Peace out. Aloha. 🌈✌️🤙🌴

This is a very long video, but is a showcase of mostly all the popular poke spots on the island of Oahu. Which one is your favorite place to grab poke?

0:00 Intro
0:31 Tamura’s
4:04 Marujyu Market
7:48 Foodland
12:38 Fresh Catch
7:08 K-Bay Bros.
19:26 Poke By The Pound
22:31 Monarch Poke
25:13 Off The Hook
28:15 Nico’s Fish Market
31:05 Alicia’s Market
34:05 Ryder’s Poke And Shave Ice
36:45 Tanioka’s
38:38 Kahiau Poke & Provisions
42:26 Fort Ruger Market
45:16 Ali’i Fish Market
47:15 Yama’s Fish Market
49:09 Ono Seafood
51:46 Paradise Poke
54:05 Poke On The Run
56:49 Ocean Taste
58:52 Maguro Brothers
1:01:59 Young’s Fish Market
1:04:26 Ry’s Poke Shack
1:08:48 Kahuku Superette
1:10:07 Tamashiro Market

Tamura’s Fine Wines & Liquors
98-129 Kaonohi Street Suite 6003
Aiea, HI 96701
(808) 488-7444

Marujyu Market
98-820 Moanalua Road
Aiea, HI 96701
(808) 486-1883

Foodland Dillingham
1505 Dillingham Boulevard
Honolulu, HI 96817
(808) 832-2080

Fresh Catch Kaneohe
45-1002 Kamehameha Highway
Kaneohe, HI 96744
(808) 235-7653

K-Bay Bros. Fish & Ice
46-028 Kawa Street
Kaneohe, HI 96744
(808) 235-0858

Poke By The Pound
322 Kalihi Street
Honolulu, HI 96819
(808) 744-1222

Monarch Poke
98-199 Kamehameha Highway Suite B10
Aiea, HI 96701
(808) 762-3232

Off The Hook
2908 East Manoa Road
Honolulu, HI 96822
(808) 800-6865

Nico’s Fish Market
1129 North Nimitz Highway
Honolulu, HI 96817
(808) 540-1377

Alicia’s Fish Market
267 Mokauea Street
Honolulu, HI 96819
808) 841-1921

Ryder’s Poke
99-016 Kamehameha Highway
Aiea, HI 96701
(808) 707-5631

Tanioka’s Seafood
94-903 Farrington Highway
Waipahu, HI 96797
(808) 671-3779

Kahiau Poke & Provisions
1164 Smith Street
Honolulu, HI 96817
No telephone number

Fort Ruger Market
3585 Alohea Avenue
Honolulu, HI 96816
(808) 737-4531

Ali’i Fish Market
2320 South King Street
Honolulu, HI 96826
(808) 892-1299

Yama’s Fish Market
2332 Young Street
Honolulu, HI 96826
(808) 941-9994

Ono Seafood Kalama Valley
501 Kealahou Street
Honolulu, HI 96825
(808) 200-3772

Paradise Poke
1613 Nu’uanu Avenue
Honolulu, HI 96817
(808) 260-4580

Poke On The Run
909 Lehua Street
Pearl City, HI 96782
(808) 455-4502

Ocean Taste
1170 Auahi Street (South Shore Marketplace)
Honolulu, HI 96814
(808) 636-0877

Maguro Brothers Chinatown
1120 Maunakea Street (Maunakea Marketplace Food Court)
Honolulu, HI 96817
(808) 259-7100

Young’s Fish Market
1286 Kalani Street
Honolulu, HI 96817
(808) 841-4885

Ry’s Poke Shack
56-565 Kamehameha Highway
Kahuku, HI 96731
(808) 387-6599

Kahuku Superette
56-505 Kamehameha Highway
Kahuku, HI 96731
(808) 293-9878

Tamashiro Market
802 North King Street
Honolulu, HI 96817
(808) 841-8047

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