Hawaii’s famous raw fish dish is taking Dallas by storm with poke places popping up all over the city. If you haven’t heard of poke (which rhymes with okay) before, it’s super fresh raw fish tossed with veggies and typically served over rice. If you like sushi, you’ll like poke. A huge poke fan myself, I was ecstatic when Mockingbird Station’s Poke O invited me to come in and sample their menu.

I felt like I had walked into Amsterdam. The incredibly well designed poke place had sleek furniture with a Dutch aesthetic, flowers on every table, and eye-catching art hung on the walls. The art in fact will change out every month and will showcase various artists’ work, which is transferred to enormous canvases. When Poke O opens their second location in Chile, this month’s Dallas art will be moved to the other location. Am I even cool enough to eat at such a trendy place?

My cute friend Tara came with me for her very first poke experience. If you love fashion, be sure to check out her blog The Daiquiri Diaires here.

Though the space is small, there’s a good sized patio out front with comfy couches plus a few tables so that you can people watch and dine al fresco.

Refreshing spa water is readily available. I can’t think of one other restaurant in Dallas that has spa water. Beer, wine, and sake is also available at the casual counter-service restaurant. I walked into Poke O thinking that I did not like sake and I walked out realizing how very wrong I had been.

Poke O’s Mike introduced us to Kikusui and I thank him for it. It’s super smooth, almost like a light white summery wine. It paired beautifully with the poke.

Poke O’s menu is not entirely set yet – they’ve only been open for a week! – but they do have several signature dishes along with a whole bar of goodies you can order from to build your own bowl. One of my favorites was tuna with crunchy garlic, edamame, and spicy ponzu. I don’t usually gravitate towards spicy dishes but man, this was packed with flavor. I could toss that crunchy garlic on anything and everything!

This next bowl is a great option for health nuts who want to pack in a ton of veggies. This bowl had kale, bell pepper, albacore tuna, carrots, green onions, and cucumber atop a bed of rice served with wasabi sauce, which is not nearly as spicy as it sounds.

One of my favorite combos really showcases what an outside the box poke place Poke O is. The Mediterranean bowl has couscous, avocado, pineapple, green onions, bell pepper, yellow radish, sesame seeds, white onion, mint, and chunks of the freshest salmon. We got the sweet chili sauce with this one and man oh man, is that stuff good. The only downside is that couscous doesn’t stick together like rice so you’ll want to use a spoon with this one.

You don’t have to do rice as a base. Some of the dishes had spinach and one had no base at all: just chopped tuna and salmon, pineapple, edamame, black seaweed, and green peppers.

Whatever combination you choose, expect the freshest ingredients tossed with flavorful sauces served with a smile. Alex and Mike are ridiculously nice guys. We so enjoyed their warm demeanor and thoughtful attention to detail. Poke O is located at 5321 E. Mockingbird Ln just underneath the Angelika and is open every day from 11 am – 10 pm. If you go, be sure to tell them The Rose Table sent you!

Happy dining,

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Disclaimer: Dinner was hosted. Opinions are my own. If I don’t like something, I don’t write about it. I only tell you about the best!