Recently, the Missus sent me to National City an urgent mission to get an ahem, "essential item". So off I went. I really don't get to the area as much as I used to….you know, when we used to complain about gas being $3.50 a gallon? Since my destination didn't open until 11, I decided to pick up lunch….but the question was where? It was a rather warm day for November and I decided that a revisit to Poke Etc. would be in order. I knew I hadn't been there in a while; but man, it had been over 7 years since my last visit! Time sure has flown by, hasn't it?
I was surprised to see the parking lot only half full….on a weekend! It looks like they've refreshed the sign since I last visited and now even call themselves a "Hawaiian Restaurant". Hmmm…..
Well, at least from what I remember, they aren't one of those "Chi-poke" places…you know 2 ounces of poke and all kinds of other "stuffs" for twenty bucks….
I just went with the "create your own bowl" priced at $14.95. I'm glad the guy working asked me how many scoops of rice. I only wanted/needed one scoop. I got my plate and headed on home.
I saved the seaweed salad for the Missus, not a fan of the stuff. The rice was moist and cooked decently.
I had checked out the poke and ordered the Spicy Garlic Ahi and Ahi Limu.
The ahi in the spicy garlic was really chewy and tough, not great quality fish. It was however, decently spicy, so much so that I really couldn't make out any garlic.
The quality of the fish in the ahi limu was better, though not great. But at least it didn't have too much "sugi" (connective tissue). I love the crunch and the oceany with a slight touch of salty-iodine flavor of good ogo. I do wish there was more of it. The seasoning wasn't overly salty; I could taste a bit of sesame oil and of course shoyu. Overall this was not bad. I'll put the place in the "etc" category.
My curiosity abated; it's back to HFS at Centerpark Labs for me.
Poke Etc
916 E 8th St
National City, CA 91950
Current Hours:
Mon – Sat 10am – 730pm
Sunday 10am – 7pm
It did seem like my sandwich was sticking "its tongue out at me"……perhaps mocking me? To use a single word to describe this would be "light". From the slightly crusty, yeasty-airy bolillo to the filling. Other than a good amount of heat from the jalapenos this was quite light. In my mind, it could have used a bit more salt (when was the last time I wrote that?), tomatoes, and onions. Still, it was a decent breakfast and the price was right.
This came on a by-the-book, yeasty telera roll. The chorizo was nice and smoky, with a hint of spice. The jamon was a rather thin slice and was made irrelevant by the chorizo. The gooey cheese was the glue (no pun intended) that added a slight milky flavor to things. There was a bit of jalapeno for some zip, but I could have used more beans on this. I think I'll have the papas con chorizo version of this next time.
But upon parking my car and walking over, I was relieved to see the sign that said "same owners, same menu, same flavors." I guess it was time to reacquaint myself with the Arepa Pabellon.
First thing I noticed was that the arepa was super soggy and actually started falling apart. I like my arepas on the crisper side…Congress Cafe was already teetering on the edge of too soft for my preference, so this kind of pushed it over the edge. There was perhaps a bit too much cheese on this, but the folks here had really gotten the proportions down the last couple of times I visited. There's the seasoned beef, with nice pungent flavors and was very tender if a bit greasy; the sweet and starchy plantains, the black beans, mild garlic, cumin, smokiness, though this was a bit on the salty side. The tangy, but not very spicy salsa verde helps cut the salt and richness.
Still the mushy arepa was hard to manage and enjoy. No wonder the included a fork in the bag?
No, this wasn't cheap, but the meat, while being a tad more chewy than I prefer was quite beefy, the broth had a nice beefiness, was decently rich, with good five-spice tones, not overly salty, with a mild spice to it.
The dumplings were quite large; the wrappers too brittle and chewy. The filling for the jiaozi were very beefy, with nice celeri tones, seasoned quite well, but quite tough. We were surprised that the black vinegar-soy dipping sauce was not half bad. This was our least favorite dish of the meal.
Before my ramen "took to flight" I dug in. As with my previous visits, the tamago was perfect, still warm, with a runny yolk. The firm noodles were indeed that, good stretch, slipperiness, and chew.
There was one thing I quickly noticed when my bowl arrived; the portion size seems a bit larger than before. Also, the sauce was a lot "redder" in color and while it had a decent savory-nutty – pungency, was also saltier than I recalled. The beef was not quite as nicely velveted and was on the chewy side, though I've had that happen on previous visits.
