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Join us on Saturday, July 22 for some lakeside munchies at the second annual OnMilwaukee Food Truck Fest. Choose from a menu of 20 trucks and enjoy the live music, games and entertainment. It's the biggest gathering of the best food on four wheels.
This weekend I went to Aloha Poké, a Hawaiian inspired cafe at 220 E. Buffalo St. in the Historic Third Ward. They also have two other locations in Wisconsin including a location in the Wauwatosa Village and at the Mequon Public Market.
"Poké" means diced raw fish. It first originated in Hawaii in the 1970’s and started with Japanese fisherman. Aloha Poké serves a menu of healthful modern poké bowls with both raw and cooked, vegan, vegetarian, paleo, gluten free and pescatarian proteins to choose from.
I had the honor to meet one of the co-owners Brian Wang. He owns the restaurant with his brother Tom. They opened their first restaurant four years ago in the Third Ward. They wanted to bring healthier Hawaiian inspired food to the area. Poké is very popular in Hawaii, Japan, Chile, Vietnam and Thailand.
This Aloha Poké location is decorated with photos of the beaches in Hawaii. They have a wall with lots of grass on it that lights up and says "I wish you were here." There are surf boards in the restaurant as well to represent the surfers in Hawaii. The restaurant is very clean and organized.
Brian mentioned that all their ingredients are freshly made and prepared right at the poké cafe. They cut up all the ingredients every single morning. They believe in fresh food, but sustainably. Their meat has no antibiotics in it, and their fish is pole caught.
This was my first time trying poké, and I ordered their Crunch Bowl which had toppings such as jalapeño, cucumber, scallions, edamame, tobiko, crunch, spicy aioli and samurai sauce.
It was a very light meal. It had so many different flavors with the jalapeños, cucumbers, edamame, and samurai sauce. At the top of the bowl was some fish eggs, also called roe or tobiko.
On the menu there are different meats to choose from including chicken, shrimp, tuna, salmon. They also offer tofu. They also have many toppings and sauces such as maui onion, pineapple, seaweed, wasabi, spicy aioli. You can choose from three different size bowls; small, big, and kahuna.
I would highly recommend trying their crunch bowl because it had a a lot of flavor with all the different ingredients. You won’t be disappointed. Also, it’s a great restaurant to go to because they cater to many different diets and food restrictions. They also offer cooked meats like chicken and shrimp too. There is something for everyone here.
Dominic the Food Reviewer is a teenage writer and student at St. Francis High School who began sharing his passion for food by posting positively-focused restaurant reviews on Facebook. Since he created his page in 2019, he has been featured by multiple media outlets including Fox6, CBS58 and TMJ4. Dominic says his goal is to inspire other kids with special talents to find their own voices and passions.
