Let’s think Chipotle, but elevated with fresh-from-the-sea fish and so many more combinations. I discovered Poke Crew’s grand opening through local food media company, Boozy Burbs, and I don’t think I had ever been so excited for a local restaurant opening up until that point. I had always wanted to go to Hawaii, not only because of its gorgeous landscape, but because of its rich culture that I would certainly love to explore one day.
Pronounced “poh - kay”, poke means “to slice or cut” in Hawaiian and is typically marinated meat and seafood chunks. The two creators of Poke Crew come from a Michelin-star, NYC fine-dining background, but were excited to establish this casual dining concept in Bergen County. It may not be the first poke restaurant in Bergen County, but Poke Crew is definitely one of the most popular and high-quality here.
Although Poke Crew does have pre-set bowls for people who want to make fewer decisions in a day, everything is made-to-order, so custom bowls are endlessly possible. Once you walk past the Polaroid-adorned walls, you can go to the starting line and pick-up a laminated menu, where you can then use a marker to choose the items you’d like to put in your bowl. They have so many seafood options, ranging from the popular salmon and tuna (both cubed & spicy tuna) to scallops, but also non-seafood options, like Berkshire pork belly, chicken teriyaki, tofu, + more.
After picking your protein, you have a choice of 6 toppings, 2 sauces, and 4 garnishes. They have 20-ish toppings, 16 sauces, and 15 garnishes to choose from, so you’ll definitely have some have some decision making to do.
My typical order at Poke Crew is a white sushi rice, lettuce-based bowl with either chicken or salmon, corn, inari (sweet tofu), mango, pineapple, pickled ginger, scallion, wasabi yuzu soy, either honey pineapple mayo or yuzukoshō (fermented chili-yuzu paste) mayo, crispy shallot, candied walnut (one of my favorites), nori, and finally, everything bagel spice. Every topping adds a different dimension to the bowl. Chicken may be untraditional, but their chicken is not just a boiled or grilled chicken breast tossed with sauces. The chicken is Searzall-blowtorched for caramelization and extra flavor, making this not your average pulled chicken bowl.
Another reason I love Poke Crew is their transformation of popular dishes, like honey walnut shrimp, to poke bowls, where they use cooked shrimp, honey pineapple mayo, and glazed walnuts. They also have an “El Taco” bowl with white tuna, sweet corn, jalapeño, chipotle mayo, tortilla, & more, and all of these preset bowls can be substituted based on your preferences.
You don’t have to be a seafood fan to come here. Even just trying out the tofu or chicken bowl first is a great stepping stone into opting for the seafood here. If you enjoy chains like Cava or Chipotle, there’s no reason why you won’t love Poke Crew too!
See you soon,
Carissa 😊