During my vacations, I genuinely set a hard rule on myself that no matter how great a food establishment is, I vowed to only go there once and try somewhere else but this place that I found during my stay in the the Big Island in Hawaii was simply too good to only go once. This place has serves killer fresh Poke bowls! If you don't know what "Poke" is, it's a Hawaiian verb for "to cut/slice/section" and it's usually consists of cubed fresh Ahi (Yellowfin Tuna) sashimi marinated in some soy sauce, sesame oil, onions, and some chili pepper for some heat. There are usually many variations of marinate you can use with the Ahi. A Poke bowl is simple Ahi with a side of rice. It sounds very simple but it's bursting with flavor and full of deliciousness. This one place had 8 kind of flavors. The nice server allowed us to sample each one to see which ones we would like and let me tell you they were ALL delicious!!! It was so hard to pick one flavor! Sometimes it's great to go with friends so you can share!
These were the flavors they had for their Poke:
Pele's Kiss (spicy), Dynamite (avocado aioli), Shack Special (sweet), Sesame (oil and seeds), Shoyu (soy sauce), Hawaiian (traditional), Wet Hawaiian (inamona), and Spicy Garlic Sesame
I also tried two of their Hot Lunches which were the Kalua Pork (slow roasted pork) and the Lau Lau (steam pork and butterfish). I wanted to taste authentic Hawaiian meals and let me tell you that these two items are legit and well worth to try. Both were absolutely delicious! Just let your mouth consume anything here and you'll thank me later for this recommendation! I think I drooled a couple times from eating at this place because it was just so good. Words could not describe my happiness eating here, I just kept saying "MMmmmmm....Mmmmmm" and repeat. The Kalua Pork was so tender and full of flavor. I think this may be one of the best if not the best slow roasted pork I ever had. Good luck finding anything close to it outside Hawaii, the Hawaiians have simply mastered it.
With the Lau Lau, I had no idea what I was going to order but when it came out, I was a little confused at first at how to consume it, it was wrapped in some leaf and inside the leaf were the steamed pork and butterfish along with seaweed. It felt like a traditional Chinese "Zong" or sticky rice dumpling. It's wrapped in some leaf and steamed for some time so the contents inside infuse the flavors from the leaf as well as trap the aromas and flavors of the contents inside.
Alright enough with all the teasing, this place is called "Da Poke Shack". You can get a great meal for about $9.50 USD dollars. It's well worth that price if you ask me. Just so like it doesn't seem like I'm exaggerating with the whole praising of this establishment, Yelp (renowned food review community worldwide) has listed this place as the #1 place in the top 100 of places to eat in the USA! There is no doubt that if you in the area, you MUST and I repeat MUST come eat and try their food or you'll be missing out BIG TIME! They are super nice and very generous in portions! Mahalo!
Yelp #1 in Top 100 Places to Eat in USA
Name: Da Poke Shack
Address: 76-6246 Ali'i Dr, Kailua-Kona, HI 96740
Phone:
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| Store Front |
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| Sides you can choose: Kim Chee, Clams, Seaweed, Calamari (Squid) |
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| Lineup of Poke Flavors! |
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| Sweet Hawaii Poke with Spicy Clams as my side |
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| Kalua Pork with Squid as my side |
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| Menu for today, Chicken was SOLD OUT :( |
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| Poke Bowl - Pele's Kiss, Shack Specil, with Seaweed and Clams as sides |
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| Lau Lau - steam pork and butterfish |
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| Unwrapped Lau Lau |
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