Ok, full disclosure-- it is a chain, but still, I was excited by a poke place finally that wasn’t downtown or in Hamilton county—it’s the kind of thing I crave for lunch, but don’t necessarily want to drive really far for—you know what I mean. This one is in Ironworks so recently the kids and I headed over to check it out. It was so new as you can see, the sign wasn’t even up yet.
Anyhow, I found out about this place from a flyer we got in the mail. They just do one size bowl (but you can add extra proteins if you want). Also, I really like that they don’t count tofu as a protein (it’s a free topping) so I don’t feel like I am “wasting” a protein on a cheap ingredient like some other places do. And I really like tofu in my poke bowl to add a little creamy texture.
Anyway, if you haven’t been to one of the poke places yet—you get a bowl, pick your base (white rice, brown rice, or greens, or a combo of two) and then just go down the line and add what you want. Lots of veggies and fruits to choose from. Most of the toppings are unlimited except avocado, mango, masago, and seaweed salad which have a little upcharge. The bowls end up costing between $10-13 or so depending on what you get.
For proteins, they have the raw fish (salmon or tuna, seasoned or unseasoned, shrimp, chicken, or spicy chicken). I went with the marinated tuna as my protein and added avocado, tofu, edamame, masago and green onion. I do half rice and half greens. They top everything with soy sauce (they call it “OG sauce”) unless you don’t want it. Then you can add additional sauces. I added a little of the Sriracha aioli and a bit of ponzu to try and get a little acid. It was maybe a little too sweet but I liked the spicy mayo.
My other favorite thing about this place is that you can add various crunchies on top for texture variation—they offer sesame seeds, tempura flakes, crispy onions, crushed cashews and wonton chips. I went with some tempura flakes and some wonton chips. I was a little nervous for my son who is allergic to cashews about cross-contamination, but luckily they had the containers right behind the counter and were willing to give him some that hadn’t been on the bar.
My kids got similar variations to me with slightly different veggies, although my son got salmon and tuna. We all enjoyed it and they are certainly generous portions. The fish was fresh and tasty and I didn’t get any of those awkward fatty bites. All in all, I wish I had a locally owned option nearby, but I will likely eat here again as close as it is to me. And I am all about the free tofu.
Poke Bros.
2727 East 86th Street Suite 148
Indy. 46240
317/875-1699
https://eatpokebros.com/
