Pokeway

I'm not sure if I was discriminated or they just didn't like me for some reason but they were giving me attitude for no reason and I feel like their attitudes affected my portion size today. As I was checking out and the lady was almost pressuring me to tip her on the tip menu and as I pressed none I believe she said something bad about me in her language to her coworker. KEEP IN MIND that this was my FIRST time here and last time as I was told by many people that this place gives you a packed bowl and as seen on yelp pictures you can see the bowls filled to the top. If this was based off discrimination I am honestly ashamed of this place that discrimination still exists.

Took a picture this time!Went later, 1ish. So all the fish was ready this time!Still got exactly the same thing as i always do. Sushi rice. Romaine. Ahi. Hamaci. Salmon. Yuzu wasabi sauce. Ocean salad. Masago. Ginger. Yum!!

I always pass this place during lunch and decided to try it since I was craving a poke bowl. I got a spicy ahi bowl with salad and just 3 toppings. The ingredients they used were fresh and the spicy ahi was good, but the portion is small for the price and I was still hungry after lunch. The customer service is ok. Maybe I'll try the Pokeway on Bishop st for a better experience.

Things to consider when ordering lunch from here. Please have all staff wear gloves when serving food. I came in today and ordered a medium two choice bowl. The lady who helped me had no gloves on and was clearing the compartments of extra toppings hanging off the sides and throwing in back in to the bin with her bare hands. At this point, I said, "Don't do that." Then she did it again for another topping that I wanted. I then said, " I really wish you wouldn't do that."The other lady next to her was wearing gloves, I really wish I got her to make my bowl.

This is a review for the Pokeway located at Pioneer Plaza on Fort Street Mall. My coworker and I picked up lunch from this location and I was going to post my pics but I couldn't find a Yelp page for this poke shop (only the other [original] location at Bishop Square in Pauahi Tower. When we got to the Pioneer Plaza Pokeway, we were the only ones in line. There were two ladies at the counter ready to take our order. I ordered the two choice poke bowl with spicy ahi and shoyu salmon. The cubed fish pieces are not pre-mixed and sitting around in the sauce. The ladies behind the counter took the plain poke pieces and mixed it with the sauce that you choose (so the ahi was mixed with the spicy mayonnaise sauce and the salmon was mixed with shoyu sauce) and is placed on a bed of rice. You can choose your rice (I chose sushi rice), your salad (I chose Spring greens) or you can pick all rice or all salad. You then select 3 toppings. I chose edamame, imitation crab salad and ogo (seaweed). Lastly, you can pick smaller toppings like furikake (dried seaweed), tempura bits, garlic chips, etc. I added the tempura bits and garlic chips on top my poke bowl. The ladies were friendly and they put together my poke bowl really quick! There are tables and chairs near this Pokeway location, so we grabbed the table that's adjacent to this shop to enjoy our lunch. My coworker ate his poke bowl section by section. I, on the other hand, mixed everything together and ate my poke bowl that way. The salad and toppings tasted fresh, the sushi rice was cooked well, the poke pieces were soft and easy to eat (not stringy like some of the other places in downtown), and the spicy sauce and soy sauce went well with the fish, rice and greens. The crab salad, ogo, tempura bits, and edamame added additional crunch and texture to the poke bowl and the garlic chips kicked up the flavor a notch. Note: do not add the garlic chips if you have an afternoon meeting because you'll have garlic breath all afternoon! Ha ha. This (relatively new) Pokeway is a great addition to the existing and growing list of restaurants and food counters at Pioneer Plaza. The recent addition of Seoul Kimbap to this downtown food court makes it great choice when you and your coworkers can't decide where to eat. You can choose from sandwiches, local plate lunch, Korean, Chinese, Italian, bentos, Vietnamese. Recommend this location of Pokeway for a quick and tasty alternative to a heavy, coma inducing plate lunch. Ha ha :)

This franchise reeks of deception, but this location takes the cake. They are shamelessly cheap here. The scoops of fish are laughably small, they deliberately turn the scoop away from view so you cannot see how little they are giving you. They pile your bowl with an absurd amount of rice to compensate for skimping on everything else. I watched in disbelief as the server pinched the smallest amount of green onions into my bowl and then returned the rest to the bin. When I confronted them about the lack of fish, I had to repeat myself endlessly because the manager suddenly forgot how to speak English, despite having spoken fluently with me before. I stood there awkwardly until they finally gave me what I paid for--appalling service. Do yourself a favor and go to the Bishop Street location instead. Pro tip: ask for half the rice to balance out the portions. Extra pro tip; Don't come here at all... go to the poke spot in Maunakea market instead. Quality and portions blow this place out of the water.

Beware this locations gift certificate expires after only 6 months. Most gift cards don't expire at all, and if they do it's 1-2 years....they won't honor it even if it's just a few days past the expiration date so it's best not to buy them for gifts...Besides the workers at the Pokeway in Pauahi are waaaayyy more friendlier than the staff here, and you can't use the gift certificate at the other location (unlike subway franchises).