Ah yes……as we flip the pages of the calendar and the weather turns warmer, it's time for poke again here. I just checked and noticed I hadn't been to HFS at Centerpark Labs in over a year! How the heck can that be? Well, I think that two trips "home" got me my poke fixes. Though my recent visit to Makai Sushi had me wondering how HFS at Centerpark was doing. So, it was time to head on over……old habits kicked in and I arrived 5 minutes before opening, time enough to beat the lines.
By five minutes of opening; there were already a dozen people in line.
As per my usual habit; I ordered a Medium Bowl with brown rice, which is still priced at $19 with the "Kilauea" and the Wasabi Ahi; mainly for the Missus, while I got a half pound of Shoyu Poke ($26.99/lb). Since I'd be taking this home, I asked that the poke and rice be separate. The nice young ladies working separated things and even put the fish on ice! Such great service. And of course, taking this home meant that the Missus needed Her "typical" poke set-up. Luckily, I had gone shopping earlier in the day and was prepared.
Man, that brown rice was nicely cooked, firm and so nutty-earthy in flavor!
The Shoyu Poke was good; the fish of decent quality….like I tell folks here….HFS is about Foodland quality; while not top of the line "back home"; it's about as good as it gets here in San Diego. We really didn't need the shoyu sauce, which is provided on the side.
As for the other poke…the Missus really enjoyed the Wasabi version this time….I also thought the quality of fish in the wasabi was better. While it was a mildly "sinus clearing", the pungency did not overpower the poke. The Kilauea was mildly spicy and the fish of decent quality as well.
I detected a bit of a different flavor profile in the Kilauea….I'm wondering if they've started using a chili crisp in it?
Anyway, this hit the spot. And as the weather turns warmer, I'll probably be going more often. I know that HFS has opened a new location in Poway; but after my experience with the Liberty Station location, I'll probably just stick with the Centerpark Labs location. So, apologies in advance if you start seeing more HFS posts as things heat up!
HFS at Centerpark Labs
6835 Flanders Dr.
San Diego, CA 92121
Current Hours:
Daily 10am – 8pm
There was a good amount of decently cooked rice. I could have done without the "wasabi aioli" and the overly sweet unagi sauce. I guess I just wanted some good shoyu poke? The fish danced close to the edge of being over-sauced, but avoided falling off that cliff. I did enjoy the creaminess of the avocado and the mild sour-spice of the cucumber.
The fish looked not bad. As I looked at the seaweed salad and surimi salad, then had a taste of the poke, I got full on 
It might have been a bit much, but was really not bad at all. What was bad was the brown rice which was severely undercooked and hard. Not good eats.
My first thought when I opened things up was "what's up with the mac nuts?" The half nuts were just too big for this. The shoyu wasn't overly sweet, but was used quite sparingly. The quality of the fish, while not bad, wasn't to my liking. Too much "sugi" – rubbery connective tissue. The rice was cooked nicely….I forgot to ask about brown rice. I might have been traumatized after my visit to PB Poke House.
The portion size seemed on the smallish side, but still isn't bad compared to the "manini" 2 ounce portions I've seen at the chi-poke places.
Good lord, this looked totally like "saku", Carbon Monoxide treated fish. So much sugi, so dry looking, I was kinda not wanting to eat this. I tried a piece and it was mushy, yet chewy, with a metallic tinge. Yikes. 
This is what I unpacked at home. There was also two small containers, one with extra "shoyu", with very little shoyu flavor for that version of poke, I ended up not using it as it would have watered down the flavor even more. And the second, when I first looked at it, I asked myself "what the heck is Mul Kimchi doing here? This ain't a KFC place". Then I opened it and the fragrance hit me. I cracked up; it was haupia! A nice little touch.
The fish was decently, not overly coated, the quality, while not as good as HFS was fine. Not too salty, a decent version of Shoyu Poke.
The texture of the ahi was good. Not too much connective tissue. The fish was highly sauced, and the sauce was on the sweet side. There wasn't a huge amount of limu and the sweetness of the sauce pretty much overshadowed any of the briny-oceany flavor provided by the seaweed, though the textural crunch provided much needed contrast. The fish was of decent quality and nicely prepped.
As I walked back to the car, I realized I forgot to ask the folks the burning question about the place I had in mi cabeza. Sigh! Anyway, on this visit, the Spicy Garlic Ahi, wasn't particularly spicy, nor was it garlicky, at least to me. The fish was on the chewy side but decent. As with my previous visit the Ahi was swimming in sauce.
This time, I didn't forget that question, you see, that "fish mash" brought me back to a place that won the 
