POLA POKE BOWLS
ADDRESS: 3594 W Plumb Lane, Suite A, Reno, NV 89509
WEBSITE: https://polapokebowl.com/
Sunday rolled around, and that meant it was the end of the Lake Tahoe weekend trip already. My flight out of Reno didn’t leave until 6:30PM later that night, so I had a good eight hours or so to fill on my own, since the majority of everyone else was departing in the morning. I decided to go check out a movie (Everything, Everywhere, All At Once, which was an amazing film) and then pick up a late lunch afterwards.
It was scrolling through Google Maps that I stumbled across Pola Poke Bowls. I had been in the mood for sushi for some time, but none of the sushi places I had looked at would have been open by the time the movie got out. But Pola would be, and all the flavors of sushi would practically be right there in the bowl. So I didn’t think twice and took the quick 10-minute drive over after my movie was finished.
Pola Poke Bowls is situated in more of a neighborhood area, in a smaller plaza bordered between a financial office and a physical therapy office. The restaurant itself contains both indoor and outdoor seating; with how nice of a day it was, I opted to stick to eating outside during my meal. The interior, however, is also pretty spacious, with numerous tables spread out in an open space. Large windows on the walls also helped to let in a lot of natural light.
As with many other poke places, the progression through your bowl construction was very straightforward: size -> base -> protein -> sauces -> toppings. I opted for the regular size, which comes with two scoops of proteins. My base was half mixed greens and half white rice, with protein choices of salmon and tuna. Honey-pineapple teriyaki sauce and sesame shoyu went into the mixing bowl with the two types of fish, along with sesame seeds, cucumber, and scallions. After that got mixed and incorporated onto the main bowl, I also got the add-ons of seaweed salad, spicy crab, masago, avocado, and edamame put on top, with a finish of furikake and crispy garlic.
My poke bowl, even with the avocado up-charge, ended up being just under $15, which I thought was a really great price for what you got. There was not only a pretty generous amount of fish but also a good portion of the other toppings as well. Everything tasted fresh and bright, especially the salmon and tuna. The combination of all the flavor profiles in the bowl, which were a mix of sweet, savory, and a bit of umami, really hit the spot and was exactly what I was looking for. The half mixed greens / half white rice combo also helped me to make more room in my stomach for all the other add-ons, so I wouldn’t feel like I needed to roll back to my car afterwards.
I’ll admit that when I went to Reno for the weekend, I was not expecting to leave finding a pretty solid poke place. It’s really low-key, located right in a neighborhood-type area, and pretty unassuming from the storefront. But even at 2:00 PM when I stopped in, there was still a line of five or six people waiting to get poke; I could definitely see the reason why. The bowls have generous portions, the ingredients taste really fresh, and the flavors are really clean and great. If all of that sounds like what you’re looking for when it comes to poke, then don’t hesitate to take a stop in at Pola Poke Bowls.
Let’s now take a look at the Pola Poke Bowls Dish Spotlight. Asterisks (*) below mark my recommended dishes.
** Salmon and Tuna Regular Poke Bowl **
Half mixed greens, half white rice base, with salmon, tuna, sesame seeds, cucumber, scallions, honey-pineapple teriyaki sauce and sesame shoyu. Topped with seaweed salad, spicy crab, masago, avocado, edamame, furikake, and crispy garlic.
~><~
And finally, here are my rankings for Pola Poke Bowls:
Food: 4.5 / 5
The large spread of toppings available to customize with your proteins and sauces means that there are plenty of combinations to try on subsequent visits. All of the ingredients tasted really fresh and the portions were plentiful.
Atmosphere: 4.25 / 5
The inside dining area seemed pretty casual and laid back, with plenty of windows to let in the natural light. The outdoor patio dining area was also a nice place to sit outside and enjoy the weather while eating your poke.
Service: 4 / 5
The woman who helped me with my order was friendly and also worked through constructing my poke bowl pretty efficiently.
Price: 4.5 / 5
It was a good amount of food for the price of $15, and one that I would gladly pay again for another bowl like that. The quality of the ingredients really made it worth it.
Overall:
17.25 / 20
(86%)
Categories: Nevada, Restaurants
Chu On This 