By Ava Stryker-Robbins
Imagine an assortment of fresh tuna, tropical mango, seaweed salad, and crunchy tobiko eggs tightly squeezed by a seaweed and rice blanket. As the warmer weather persists, there is nothing more refreshing than a fresh pole bowl in burrito form! Hula Poke functions like a Chipotle in that you get to choose a burrito or bowl (or salad!) and add whatever ingredients your heart desires, but it differs in that it is Japanese. As an extreme sushi lover, having a sushi burrito that I could put all elements of a poke bowl into is a serene gift.
Everything about Hula Poke is tranquil, from the aesthetic setup of their wooden tables to the bar at which you order your meals, and the gorgeous brick walls. Food takes approximately two minutes to order and acquire, and tastes beyond delicious. You have the option of choosing between one to three proteins (or more for an additional $3), including tuna, salmon, tofu, eel, chicken, and more. There are also an arrays of toppings, such as cucumbers, carrots, edamame, ginger, mango, and far, far more. And there are various sauces—that you have the option of adding — truly allowing all flavors of the dish to morph together as one beautiful entity.
My go-to order is an Ahi Tuna sushi burrito with cucumber, mango, seaweed salad, corn, and tobiko eggs with teriyaki sauce (shown above). The delicacy of each individual ingredient is immense, but combined, this sushi burrito is nothing short of earth-shattering. And all for the reasonable price of $15.
The Restaurant: Hula Poke – 1028 Amsterdam Avenue, between 110th and 111th Streets
646-476-6463
The Dish: Sushi Burrito
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I’ve walked by this place a few times and now will def try it. But note that the Hula Poke link above goes to a chain restaurant in Barcelona! Seems like our Hula Poke doesn’t have a website. Better to link to the Yelp entry?
Thank you! Added the phone number.
There is such a thing as too much of a good thing. I’m not sure if a sushi burrito qualifies but it might.
I, for one, am becoming bored with the trend toward mixing cuisines. The NYT featured a recipe recently for Kimchi Carbonara, with linguine, fermented cabbage, Parmesan cheese and lord knows what else. To my mind, fusion equals confusion, gustatorially speaking. Sushi is lovely, burritos are delicious. Smashing them together equals what my Jewish grandmother, of blessed memory, would have called ungepotchket. Okay, rant over. 😀
I’m intrigued. Will definitely try this.
They have always been empty when I walked by. I wondered why? Bu prices were a bit high I thought and with so few people I wondered how fresh the raw fish would be.