Ahi poke: Aloha Hawaii

The rave about poke bowls hit Lebanon and it is more than welcome. The fact of customizing your plate like a salad bar is very genius and it was introduced discretely in menus like Le merou and Eat Sunshine or in a bar dedicated to this concept by that I mean Malolo.

However, in his small outlet in Mr Mkhayel next to Joe Penas, Ahi poke stood out with a genuine service, decent portions for the price paid compared to its competitor.

The decoration is fresh and goes well with the concept; few tables and one bar facing the busy street as well as an open kitchen where the preparations are done under your eager eyes.

The concept is simple and easy; they give you a paper like sushi restaurants and you pick:

• The size
  • small (13500 lbp) ,
  • medium (18000 lbp)
  • Large (22500 lbp)
• The base either glass noodles or rice though if you prefer mixed greens you pay extra charge
• The protein (Salmon, chicken or tofu) and again more charges for other items such as Ahi tuna…
• four add ons
• 2 toppings
• and one sauce

If you are lazy you can always pick from their signature bowls!

I enjoyed a  late lunch with my friend where we composed our bowls to suit our tastes! We had two medium portions and they were enough to satiate our hunger.

Mine was based on glass noodles, topped with zucchini, carrots, kale, nori and takuan (which is basically pickled radishes) with salmon and ginger. I tried the teryaki and the roasted sesame sauces. I loved the mix!

My friend opted got rice base, carrots, mango, pineapple and avocado topped with scallions and tobiko with the same sauces and was satisfied too!

One comment  was regarding the blackened avocado, and the different chopping methods of the veggies between julienne and slices where I would have preferred them the same.

The manager was so sweet, he took the initiative of sending one of the staff to buy lemon so he can serve me the sparkling water with lemon juice as I like it, I was really thankful!

I recommend you to go and explore a fresh cuisine with great service!

La Petite

XoXo