Hailed as “not just another poke restaurant” by Paper City in 2017, SeaSide Poke has, in fact, opened another poke restaurant.

And the new location at the Marq’E Entertainment Center in the Spring Branch Management District is getting high praise.

“This is the best poke in town. Yes, even better than the location in Eado,” one reviewer wrote on Yelp.

Poke, a traditional Hawaiian dish of raw fish cubes marinated and tossed with sauce and served over rice or salad (or both), has exploded in popularity. With many places to choose from in Houston, landing at the top of someone’s favorites list is no small feat.

A frequent diner named Selina said the toppings and sauces are her favorite at SeaSide Poke, where the owners offer nontraditional bold “textures” like fried shallots and puffed rice and sauces like the pungent gochujang and truffle shoyu, a Japanese white soy sauce aged with truffles.

The word “poke” means “to cut” in Hawaiian and, any way you slice it, fans of high-quality poke are loving having a SeaSide Poke in the Spring Branch District.

“I’ve been going to SeaSide’s original location in east downtown and downtown from years ago and am so glad they opened this location in Spring Branch,” one customer said online. “The fish is super fresh and their topping choices are excellent.”

SeaSide Pole opened the location at 7670 Katy Freeway in August with a grand opening featuring music and lion dancing.

“We decided to open in Spring Branch because we personally live in the area and love the neighborhood,” said Co-Founder Kristy Nguyen. “It’s such a great and growing community, we wanted to be a part of that.”

So far, Nguyen said, the reception in the Spring Branch District has been great. She said they have been especially excited to partner with local schools for fundraising.

“One of our tenets is community so we hope to partner with Spring Branch District and the residents in any way we can,” Nguyen said.

For those new to poke, you can choose from a list of signature “bowls” or put together your own by picking from a list of ingredients including a base (rice and/or lettuce), proteins (salmon, tuna, yellowtail, tofu or kani) and various vegetables to mix in. Then choose your sauce, toppings to add texture and flavored oil.

The flavor combinations are seemingly endless at SeaSide Poke. So, every visit can be a flavor adventure.

“We originally got into this business because we love food, and there was a great opportunity to bring poke to Houston,” Nguyen said. The owners started the project in December 2015 and opened their first brick-and-mortar location in June 2017.

Years later, Nguyen said they still love what they do and are learning new things all the time.

And just like frequent customers say about the menu at SeaSide, Nguyen says about running the business: “We’re not bored yet!”

SeaSide Poke
7670 Katy Freeway, Suite 80
www.seasidepoke.com

— Dorothy Puch Lillig