Blue Whale Poke Bar & Grill

Large selection of Asian fusion food to choose from - Hawaiian, Japanese, Korean.Great staff and good quality of food. Coming back :)

Smallish servings of fish but fresh and tasty Poke bowls for the $15 you pay. In fairness, they have to cover the crazy rents here I suppose, plus inflation these days. The vibe? Clean, casual modern food court vibe in the upscalish all-new (a few years new) food court annex of Hillsdale Mall.Indifferent service but they get the job done. I ordered the 2-scoop Poke bowl with Hawaiian style tuna and salmon with a base of mixed greens and brown rice. The scoop of tuna was small, so perhaps the pro tip here is to just spend the extra $2 for the larger 3-scoop bowl. I did not like the fact that you have to pay $2 extra for seaweed! Uhh.. no.. not this time.I normally go for the Mexican place here in this food court, so this was still an okay alternative for something different.

This is an Asian fusion place right? They should get the rice stuff perfectly. There are so many videos out there on how to cook sushi rice perfectly and check the consistency of the rice. My last several visits over the last year have been nothing but disappointment. When I approach the restaurant I got confused with the restaurant's menu. I get that they need to make money but when this restaurant first opened, their poke was outstanding. Now that Blue Whale became a variety fusion restaurant their poke quality has gone down. Each time I order from Blue Whale whether it's via UberEats or in person, the rice is either too crunchy or too gummy and soft. How can you be an Asian restaurant and not get the rice cooking correct and consistent in the last near decade or so? The poke, especially the spicy poke mix tastes old. The fish tastes very fishy and it has been sitting in the freezer for a while. Sometimes it's slimey. The service has gone down too. They keep changing staff and while they are not over the top rude the workers there lack people skills. I really want to like this restaurant at times. But almost no one goes there when I stop by. Maybe it s a bad sign. Hopefully Blue Whale will assess their entire restaurant operations before it's too late. I really hope they change and stay around. They are the only place that serves spicy mayo and spicy poke mix that I know of.

This restaurant was a complete disappointment. The service was incredibly rude - when we asked for food recommendations or clarifications, the staff member simply told us to "read the menu." We should have left then, but hunger and exhaustion won over.We ordered two bibimbap bowls, and the wait time was absurdly long. When the food finally arrived, it was cold and utterly flavorless. We couldn't even finish our meals and ended up leaving most of it on the table.Save your money and go elsewhere. This place is not worth your time or your appetite.

The Blue Whale Poke Bar and Grill in Hillsdale Shopping Center is a great place to take a lunch break. Service was quick. The flavors of the Philippines, Hong Kong, China and Korea are showcased in their offerings. I enjoyed the Beef Bulgogi Bibim-Bap, freshly cooked to order. Lots of table seating indoor and outdoor. .

Sure, I get it - reviewing a mall food court eatery feels a little silly. If you're out shopping and looking for something to eat, you're going to go with what looks good or whatever you're craving, not whichever spot has the highest ratings on Yelp. However, it's not like we're talking about Panda Express - that staple needs to no review/introduction at all. However, for a place that's a bit more unique to Hillsdale's airport terminal-esque food court? Feels like fair game to me, especially when their prices are comparable to stand alone restaurants out there. What happened to cheap food court meals? Sigh...Seemingly tucked away in a corner of the food court (it's opposite the main wall/row of eateries), Blue Whale doesn't seem to have the same long lines as some of the other eateries during peak meal times/weekends. The menu is also decidedly atypical from most of the other spots here, featuring primarily poke bowls and sushi, though they also have a variety of hot foods made up of Asian and Hawaiian favorites, like Chicken Katsu Bowls, Musubis, Adobo Pork Belly Bowls, and Bibimbap. The Loco Moco with Galbi, in particular, looked really tempting, but I already knew I had to try their poke bowls.With three different bases to choose from (White Rice, Brown Rice, and Mixed Greens, four basic toppings (Crab Salad, Cucumber, White Onions, Mac Salad, Cucumbers), two premium toppings (Avocado and Wakame are +$2 each), nine types of poke (Classic Hawaiian Tuna, Ahi Tuna, Salmon, Sweet & Spicy Shrimp, Salmon Furikake, Garlic Tuna, Spicy Salmon, Spicy Tuna, and Vegan Tofu), six toppings (Green Onions, Edamame, Ginger, Pineapple, Corn, and Jalapenos), five sauces (Housemade Ponzu, Chef's Sauce, Spicy Mayo, Cho Chili, and Sweet Maui Onion Mayo), and three seasonings (Furikake, Fried Onions, and Sesame Seeds), Blue Whale actually gives you a decent number of ways you can customize your bowl!For my order, I opted to go with the THREE SCOOP POKE BOWL ($16) with Classic Hawaiian Tuna, Furikake Salmon, and Salmon with Cucumber, White Onions, Crab Salad, Mac Salad, Wakame (+$2), Green Onions, Edamame, Ginger, Fried Onion, Furikake, Sesame Seeds, and their Chef's Sauce (Ponzu and Sesame Oil) over White Rice. All together, this made for a pretty decent bowl. The mac salad wasn't that great, but the rice wasn't overcooked like how I had feared, the cucumbers were crisp, and the crab salad wasn't overly dressed. As for the poke, all three were pretty fresh, but the Classic Hawaiian was easily my favorite. As for the Furikake Salmon and regular Salmon, they actually weren't far behind either; they just didn't really stand out.While I would give my poke bowl THREE AND A HALF STARS based purely on taste, I feel like they're a little closer to three than four. Even though it's not terribly skewed, the portion size felt lighter than others I've had and there aren't quite as menu options/choices here (other places offer more types of poke, like octopus, hamachi, etc.). Still, you can certainly do worse, for both a poke bowl and for a place to eat inside Hillsdale.

Located in the Hillsdale Shopping Center. Blue Whale serves a great poke bowl. Fresh ingredients, generous portions, nice location to enjoy the poke bowl.Service was fast, friendly and efficient.

Craving poke and since I was in the mall my sister and I decided to give this spot a try. Expensive for the amount you get and overall dry. Desperately needed more sauce and the toppings tasted like they were still being thawed out. They gave barely half scoops of everything and the rice was rock hard. The spicy salmon had a good marinade and was the savior of this meal. Disappointing.

The food was average for poke but did the job. The service was friendly and helpful. The ambiance is casual since its inside the mall. Would just come here for a quick fix.

My cashier Yanet, was so sweet everything made sure to tell me what everything was since i didn't know. She had a smile on her face all the time. Everything was so fresh! Thank you for everything Yanet