Could this be the turning point for poke, the Hawaiian raw fish dish, that up to now has played second fiddle to sushi? Let's look at the evidence: Costco in Tustin at The District is selling it on weekends, and new joints like PokiNometry in Anaheim are popping up and dedicating their entire menu on these marinated cubes of fish.
Now there's yet another. Kawamata Seafood just opened in Dana Point and what it calls seafood is mainly poke. A regular bowl constructed of rice and your poke of choice costs $8.50 and can include ahi, salmon or octopus, or all three.
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In terms of flavors, Kawamata keeps it simple: original blend (which I assume means sea salt and limu), shoyu, wasabi and spicy mayo…which are pretty much the same flavors Costco offers.
For those who can't stomach raw fish, there's the other popular Hawaiian islands treat: Spam musubi.
26881 Camino de Estrella, Dana Point, CA 92624
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Before becoming an award-winning restaurant critic for OC Weekly in 2007, Edwin Goei went by the alias “elmomonster” on his blog Monster Munching, in which he once wrote a whole review in haiku.