Buena Park: Poki Yaki

Can’t decide between Hawaiian Poke or Teriyaki? Get both at this place.

This little tiny restaurant is located a stone’s throw away from Knott’s Berry Farm, behind the Chase bank located off Beach and La Palma Avenue.  The place is tiny, with about 6 tables, so chances are you’ll be eating on the curb or taking the food to go.

We came here on a Tuesday at 5:30 pm, and already there was a line. What I didn’t realize is the line is for the Poke.  If you want Teriyaki, bypass the line, and walk to the right and order your Teriyaki at the other counter.

Karen ordered a regular size Poke with just tuna and the mild shoyu sauce for $8.50, while I ordered the Tokyo teriyaki plate, which is chicken or beef teriyaki over white rice, 2 gyoza (pot-sticker / fried dumplings) a salad, and a drink for $7.29.

The Poke is made to order, where you tell the girl what ingredients you want in the bowl.  If you’ve been to other Poke places like Pokinometry or North Shore, you know that it can take a while if people don’t know what they want.  A regular bowl gets 3 scoops of fish, a large gets 5, and it comes with the Krab, cucumber and seaweed. It was faster to order the teriyaki, and I received my order about 10 minutes before Karen.  The teriyaki was very good.  The sauce wasn’t overly sweet, and it was not too thick or gooey like some sauces are.  I wasn’t thrilled when I got some gristle in my chicken.. especially since the chicken was hacked into small pieces.  Oh well.

I took a bite of Karen’s Ahi tuna.  It was ok.  You can definitely tell it was previously frozen, as it had a squishy consistency, and a bit of a watery taste.  With 100’s of Poke places popping up all over the place, its not surprising that there are some places better than others.  This place was overall a decent place, but not my first choice for Poke.

I heard parking can be tough, so if the regular lot is full, either park on the side street or park in the Chase bank parking lot and cut through the bushes.