Poké with a Canadian twist

Salar Madadi and Jeannie Crawford opened Pokeh in November.

By Bill Tremblay

HAMILTON, Ont. – A Hawaiian staple is now on the menu at the Hamilton Farmers’ Market. 

Salar Madadi and Jeannie Crawford opened Pokeh in the market’s food court in November. The eatery features poké, a Polynesian raw fish salad bowl, comparable to a bowl of sushi. 

“People aren’t really scared of raw fish anymore. It’s not like it was,” Madadi said. “If you like sushi, you will like this.”

Poké is a popular go-to meal in its native Hawaii, found nearly everywhere from grocery stores to gas stations. 

At Pokeh, a poké bowl offers a raw tuna, salmon or tofu, mixed with a selection of toppings such as enoki, wakame, nori strips or spicy sesame seeds, served on a bed of rice. Bowls cost between $10 and $13. Although similar to sushi, poké delivers bolder flavours and larger cuts of fish. 

“It’s more savoury in the seasoning and the sauces,” Crawford said. 

While the dish originated in Hawaii, the mainland United States has embraced poké, particularly the West Coast. 

That’s where Madadi and Crawford first sampled the dish, during their honeymoon in the Venice Beach neighbourhood of Los Angeles.

“We kind of randomly stumbled on it when we were walking down the boardwalk,” Madadi said, noting he has yet to find a Canadian poké bar. “We tried it there and it was awesome. Anytime we went to the states after that, I tried to find a poké place.”

With a lack of Canadian poké options, Madadi noted an opening in the foodservice market. He created the Pokeh concept, which allows customers to select a protein as well as 20 toppings and sauces. 

“With the toppings, I really want to have whatever is in season and always have new and different things,” Madadi said. 

Pokeh is a change of pace for Madadi. He first entered foodservice with the MeatVentures Meat Wagon, a food truck and catering company specializing in house-cured, hardwood-smoked carnivorous menu items.  

Pokeh, however, isn’t a move away from the flavours that won Madadi numerous barbecue competitions as well as the title of Canadian National Bacon Champion in 2014. The new venture highlights Madadi’s diverse culinary interests.  

“I’m Filipino and Iranian; I grew up eating everything,” Madadi said. 

“With cooking, and the stuff I like to eat, it’s all over the place.” 

Pokeh will allow Madadi and Crawford to work in foodservice throughout the winter, helping to retain interest in their offerings. 

“You can’t just go away and expect people to remember you when you open in the spring,” Madadi said. 

The new venture is also opening the doors to new customers with its vegetarian options. 

“It gets people you may not have reached out to before,” Crawford said. 

“The Meat Wagon is not known for the place to get vegetarian food.”

Comments

1 comments

Jerry

I just tried this place for the first time yesterday. So good! I will definitely be back. Came across your website looking at some other restaurant news, nice to see this couple and their restaurant be featured on here.