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Of course the best poke is that made by Aunty with fresh catch, but where is your go-to spot for the best poke takeout in East Hawaii? I'm on the hunt. Could be any kind place, grocery store, fish/poke market, good restaurant or plate lunch, food truck, whatever.
We've always done Suisan for the freshest and delicious, but since the mom retired, the prices are sky high and portions lower. KTA has a fresh ahi option now, with the frozen fish a few dollars less per pound. I've heard all the other grocery stores use frozen fish from Thailand. After all of these years, I've never tried Poke to Your Taste, since that busy intersection is always a clusterf*** with almost no parking.
LOVE good poke!
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05-21-2022, 04:40 PM
(This post was last modified: 05-21-2022, 04:42 PM by Obie.)
Wherever it comes from the Poke at Malama Market in Pahoa is excellent.
Poke
"Our new sixteen-foot poke counter features 40 varieties of freshly made poke including ahi, tako, salmon, crab and more."
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05-22-2022, 02:48 AM
(This post was last modified: 05-22-2022, 03:29 AM by AaronM.)
Best Poke Eastside? SUISAN!
Best Poke Westside? SUISAN!
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Agreed. And interestingly, the timing of this thread is quite fortuitous for me. I'm not a huge poke fan but we have friends visiting who are, so of course I took them to Suisan. On Wed. When it's closed. I didn't want to back to Hilo just for that so I thought about going to Malama but didn't quite trust them until I read Obie's post. They loved it. Good second choice.
Certainty will be the death of us.
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Malama is owned by Foodland, a Hawaii Company.
They advertise fresh Poke. Ir certainly tastes fresh to me and with Poke it's pretty easy to tell.
https://www.foodland.com/our-stores-poke
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Agree that Malama is a good alternative. I go there when in Pahoa. The display is impressive with so many choices, like poke eye candy. They've done a great job with their various food courts. (but there is a marked taste and mouthfeel difference compared to using fresh fish)
I was hoping someone has tried Poke to Your Taste. Whenever I'm sitting at that busy intersection (Kanoelehua and Leilani in Hilo) and watch the comings and goings there, it stays busy and it's mostly local males patronizing the place. (Could be mostly men since the area is surrounded by industrial and mechanic shops.) I've always believed a place must be good if it's busy and locals are there. Maybe I will just have to park down the road a bit and walk in to try it.
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Poke to Your Taste is the best. I miss the olden days when they had trucks that sold poke by the roadside, there was usually one parked at the corner of 130 & Auli'i.
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Oh, great to know! Thanks Kalakoa. Will try.
