Matt Garnica / Daily Nexus

Matt Garnica / Daily Nexus

PokeMee, a new fish-based restaurant, opened last month in Hollister Village Plaza near Smart & Final. This Hawaiian-inspired restaurant was created to serve poke (raw cubes of fish in a rice bed accompanied by varying ingredients). With its Subway-style serving method, PokeMee is perfect for those who want to get their healthy fix of protein and omega-6 fatty acids personalized to their preferences.

The restaurant also contains a boba teahouse just a few steps away from the poke bar. The combination of umami fish and sweet tea brings a fantastic mix of flavors.

The restaurant contains two options for bowl size: regular, in which you can choose three proteins, and large, offering five different proteins. Each bowl begins with a base of sushi rice, brown rice, white rice, chips or salad. Customers can also choose to half-and-half their base.

Next, customers decide an appropriate amount of proteins based on their bowl size. Some proteins available include tuna, albacore, salmon, shrimp and yellowtail. Toppings like seaweed salad and masago (fish eggs) can also be added to the bowl.

Additional sides like avocado and crabmeat can be added for an additional charge. To finish, sauces like wasabi mayo, house original and miso can be added to give an extra flare to the poke bowl. The total cost came to $12.50 for the large bowl and $10.50 for the regular bowl.

My regular-sized bowl of salmon, octopus and yellowtail rewarded me with a smooth and tender texture. The firm and sticky sushi rice provided a strong base to contrast the raw fish. Toppings like seaweed salad, nori and masago provided unique tastes that blended well with the rest of the meal. The house sauce added a sweet and salty taste, making the poke bowl a complete and fulfilling meal.

The Sno-Crave Tea House across from the poke bar contained a wide variety of boba teas and desserts. Their milk teas and Asian-style desserts ended the PokeMee experience on a high note.

The overall quality of PokeMee was excellent. Verbally choosing every ingredient in my bowl made my experience more personable and fun. The raw seafood that I ordered was fresh and tasty. Although the sizes of the bowls seemed small at first, the amount of total food left me full and satisfied. With excellent customer service and an affordable price, be sure to stop by PokeMee for a delicious raw-fish meal.

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