The Hawaiian cubed-fish dish: sashimi-grade ahi tossed with shoyu, sweet onion, sesame oil, limu seaweed and inamona kukui-nut salt. Eaten by the pound at counters and over two scoops of rice as a bowl.
Poke (Hawaiian for 'to cut crosswise') was pre-contact reef-fish scraps tossed with limu salt at the shoreline. The dish came onto the modern Hawaiian table when Foodland and Tamashiro Market in Kalihi began selling prepared shoyu-ahi poke from the 1970s. Maguro Brothers Hawaii in Chinatown's Kekaulike Market formalized the sashimi-grade fresh-from-the-Honolulu-Fish-Auction version in 2014. Foodland Farms Ala Moana now runs a 20-variation poke bar; Ono Seafood in Kapahulu sells the most-affordable two-scoop bowl in the city.
4 editor picks for Poke in Honolulu, ranked by editorial score. All Honolulu signature dishes · Poke across every city.
Maguro Brothers Hawaii Chinatown ★ 4.6
chinatown · 1120 Maunakea Street, Honolulu, HI 96817
Maguro Brothers Hawaii in Chinatown Honolulu is the Kekaulike Market poke counter that brothers Junichiro and Ryojiro Tsuchiya stock from the Honolulu Fish Auction at dawn.
Ono Seafood ★ 4.5
kapahulu · 747 Kapahulu Avenue, Honolulu, HI 96816
Ono Seafood in Kapahulu Honolulu is the family-run poke counter that fishes shoyu ahi, spicy ahi and tako preparations from the refrigerated case for grab-and-go bowls.
Off the Hook Poke Market ★ 4.5
manoa · 2908 East Manoa Road, Honolulu, HI 96822
Off the Hook Poke Market in Manoa Honolulu is the takeout-only poke counter at the foot of Manoa Valley that draws University of Hawaii students for two-scoop shoyu bowls.
Foodland Farms Ala Moana ★ 4.4
1450 Ala Moana Boulevard, Honolulu, HI 96814
Foodland Farms Ala Moana in Honolulu is the flagship of the local grocery chain that calls itself Hawaii's Home for Poke, with a 20-variety poke bar and prepared food hall.