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Saucy bowls await at SeaSide Poke
Kimberly Park

Where to Eat the Freshest Poke Bowls in Houston

The combination of raw fish, fluffy rice, and tons of veggies makes for the perfect warm weather lunch option

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Saucy bowls await at SeaSide Poke
| Kimberly Park

A major food trend a couple of years ago, poke bowls have officially become engrained into Houston’s culinary culture.

For the unfamiliar, poke restaurants generally follow a pretty similar formula. Diners choose a base (usually rice or salad), then add a few scoops of their protein of choice (ahi tuna, salmon, or even tofu) that has been tossed in a sauce like ponzu, soy, or spicy mayo. The bowl is finished with a variety of garnishes like a scoop of crab, furikake, masago, or avocado, among others.

Looking for the city’s best poke bowls? These 14 restaurants serve up an endlessly customizable selection of bowls, including gluten-free and vegetarian options. Go forth, and consider this the official raw fish bucket list.

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Izakaya

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This Houston favorite is known for its excellent Japanese small plates, and Hawaiian poke bowls still fit in quite nicely on the menu. A variety of bowls are on offer here, ranging from the traditional Hawaiian combo (big eye tuna, avocado, green onions, and rice) to a salmon bowl with a sprinkling of tempura crunch.

SeaSide Poke

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SeaSide serves up a more refined take on this originally rustic sushi bowl. The signature Kani Bake bowl, mixed with spicy aioli, breakfast radish, and masago is a solid choice, as is the spicy tuna, tossed with gochujang, shiso, and puffed rice. Prefer to pick and choose toppings? Build a DIY bowl and add in as many free mix-ins as desired, including cilantro, serrano pepper, Thai chili and masago.

Ono Poke

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The combinations at this pop-up that transformed into a permanent poke destination are more playful than classic, like a bowl of salmon or tuna tossed in spicy mayo and shoyu, then topped with seaweed and crushed Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.

Diced Poke Houston

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This Midtown hangout is a one-stop shop for poke burritos, Spam musubi and mochi ice-cream, but don’t sleep on the poke bowls — available in regular and large sizes. Signature bowls like the truffle tuna or yuzu yellowtail are loaded with ingredients like fried onions, masago, cucumbers and wonton chips, but DIY bowls are also an option. Choose from bases like spring mix or bamboo rice and liven things up with fish, scallops or shrimp, sauce and crunchy toppings.

U'Maki Sushi Burrito

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Sushi burritos and delicious poke bowls make natural allies, and U’Maki brings that dream team together. Create a custom bowl piled high with fresh fish and crisp veggies or go for one of the bowls on the menu, like the Wild Cajun, made with crawfish and crunchy tempura flakes, or the Deep Diver, with spicy salmon, spicy tuna and unagi sauce.

Okome Don

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This Bellaire Boulevard shop serves up hearty poke bowls that can be customized in countless ways. Choose from three or five scoops of fish, depending on your hunger level, then add on a slew of veggies, sauces, and other garnishes. Mochi ice cream makes for a sweet finish.

Steak 48

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More of a poke sampling than a bowl, Steak 48’s Hawaiian poke combines fresh ahi tuna or salmon from the coveted raw bar with cucumber, Thai chili and togarashi sauce for an excellent balance of color, texture, and flavor.

Hungry's

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Serving up a fresh take on the traditional poke bowl, the ahi tuna poke at Hungry’s begins with organic brown rice and ginger-glazed Brussels sprouts. It’s garnished with 

Persian cucumbers, scallion, and avocado, then finished off with a peppery chipotle chili drizzle for a healthy mix of flavors.

Liberty Kitchen & Oysterette

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Go fish — or not — with a poke bowl from Liberty Kitchen, which offers both seafood and vegan options. The “Oysterette Bowl” combines big-eye tuna, fried oysters, edamame, scallion and onion with warm rice, while the vegan poke bowl features seared tofu, spicy vegan crab, edamame, avocado, scallion, and apple with rice.

Loch Bar

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Loch Bar’s elegant take on a traditional poke bowl brings together yellowfin tuna with avocado, chili oil, scallion and radish, and is then completed with a savory soy ginger dressing — a splurge at $23.

At trendy Japanese sushi house Shun, get a fish and rice fix with one of two loaded donburi bowls. The chirashi bowl offers a parade of proteins, boasting salmon, blue fin tuna, sea bream, sweet shrimp, yellowtail, Hokkaido scallop, and snow crab with sushi rice, while the indulgent OMG bowl brings together uni, scallop, toro, ikura and snow crab atop a bed of sushi rice.

Pokeworks

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This full-service poke bar allows diners to create their own bowls with a ton of protein and topping options. Treading lightly into the world of raw eats? Have your poke torched and get a seared portion of protein.

Local Poke

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At Local Poke, it’s simple to go the easy route and choose a signature bowl like ahi tuna and salmon with a sweet chili sauce, but you can also produce an impressive DIY creation thanks to this shop’s bounty of ingredients, including vegetarian options, and sauces like honey-wasabi and the spicy volcanic mayo.

Poke in The Bowl

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There are no rules at Poke in the Bowl, where each dish is fully customizable and made to order. Choose from a base of white or brown rice, seaweed salad and spicy crab meat, then top away — proteins include classic or spicy tuna, scallop or organic tofu and toppings that range from cucumber and red cabbage to tobiko and kizami nori.

Izakaya

This Houston favorite is known for its excellent Japanese small plates, and Hawaiian poke bowls still fit in quite nicely on the menu. A variety of bowls are on offer here, ranging from the traditional Hawaiian combo (big eye tuna, avocado, green onions, and rice) to a salmon bowl with a sprinkling of tempura crunch.

SeaSide Poke

SeaSide serves up a more refined take on this originally rustic sushi bowl. The signature Kani Bake bowl, mixed with spicy aioli, breakfast radish, and masago is a solid choice, as is the spicy tuna, tossed with gochujang, shiso, and puffed rice. Prefer to pick and choose toppings? Build a DIY bowl and add in as many free mix-ins as desired, including cilantro, serrano pepper, Thai chili and masago.

Ono Poke

The combinations at this pop-up that transformed into a permanent poke destination are more playful than classic, like a bowl of salmon or tuna tossed in spicy mayo and shoyu, then topped with seaweed and crushed Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.

Diced Poke Houston

This Midtown hangout is a one-stop shop for poke burritos, Spam musubi and mochi ice-cream, but don’t sleep on the poke bowls — available in regular and large sizes. Signature bowls like the truffle tuna or yuzu yellowtail are loaded with ingredients like fried onions, masago, cucumbers and wonton chips, but DIY bowls are also an option. Choose from bases like spring mix or bamboo rice and liven things up with fish, scallops or shrimp, sauce and crunchy toppings.

U'Maki Sushi Burrito

Sushi burritos and delicious poke bowls make natural allies, and U’Maki brings that dream team together. Create a custom bowl piled high with fresh fish and crisp veggies or go for one of the bowls on the menu, like the Wild Cajun, made with crawfish and crunchy tempura flakes, or the Deep Diver, with spicy salmon, spicy tuna and unagi sauce.

Okome Don

This Bellaire Boulevard shop serves up hearty poke bowls that can be customized in countless ways. Choose from three or five scoops of fish, depending on your hunger level, then add on a slew of veggies, sauces, and other garnishes. Mochi ice cream makes for a sweet finish.

Steak 48

More of a poke sampling than a bowl, Steak 48’s Hawaiian poke combines fresh ahi tuna or salmon from the coveted raw bar with cucumber, Thai chili and togarashi sauce for an excellent balance of color, texture, and flavor.

Hungry's

Serving up a fresh take on the traditional poke bowl, the ahi tuna poke at Hungry’s begins with organic brown rice and ginger-glazed Brussels sprouts. It’s garnished with 

Persian cucumbers, scallion, and avocado, then finished off with a peppery chipotle chili drizzle for a healthy mix of flavors.

Liberty Kitchen & Oysterette

Go fish — or not — with a poke bowl from Liberty Kitchen, which offers both seafood and vegan options. The “Oysterette Bowl” combines big-eye tuna, fried oysters, edamame, scallion and onion with warm rice, while the vegan poke bowl features seared tofu, spicy vegan crab, edamame, avocado, scallion, and apple with rice.

Loch Bar

Loch Bar’s elegant take on a traditional poke bowl brings together yellowfin tuna with avocado, chili oil, scallion and radish, and is then completed with a savory soy ginger dressing — a splurge at $23.

Shun

At trendy Japanese sushi house Shun, get a fish and rice fix with one of two loaded donburi bowls. The chirashi bowl offers a parade of proteins, boasting salmon, blue fin tuna, sea bream, sweet shrimp, yellowtail, Hokkaido scallop, and snow crab with sushi rice, while the indulgent OMG bowl brings together uni, scallop, toro, ikura and snow crab atop a bed of sushi rice.

Pokeworks

This full-service poke bar allows diners to create their own bowls with a ton of protein and topping options. Treading lightly into the world of raw eats? Have your poke torched and get a seared portion of protein.

Local Poke

At Local Poke, it’s simple to go the easy route and choose a signature bowl like ahi tuna and salmon with a sweet chili sauce, but you can also produce an impressive DIY creation thanks to this shop’s bounty of ingredients, including vegetarian options, and sauces like honey-wasabi and the spicy volcanic mayo.

Poke in The Bowl

There are no rules at Poke in the Bowl, where each dish is fully customizable and made to order. Choose from a base of white or brown rice, seaweed salad and spicy crab meat, then top away — proteins include classic or spicy tuna, scallop or organic tofu and toppings that range from cucumber and red cabbage to tobiko and kizami nori.

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