First things first: it's pronounced "poh-kay".

You probably have a vague impression of it, because a more hip and happening friend of yours shared a photograph of this on Facebook.

If you are going to write this off as another passing food fad like churros or anything with salted egg in it, well, give it a chance first?

What is it?

A poke bowl is basically a bowl of sushi rice with cubes of raw fish on top, plus seasonings such as green onions, soy sauce, and sesame oil, among others.

Before you go "isn't that just a chirashi don?", most places, however, sell it with toppings such as avocados, carrots, nuts and seeds. The dish originates from Hawaii (which explains the Asian influence in ingredients).

The poke refers to raw fish, while the bowl refers to the, er, bowl of rice.

So yeah. That's basically all the background information you need. Now on to more important things:

Where to get poke bowls in Singapore

Since we're all noobs here, here are a few less expensive ones to get our feet wet in the world of poke bowls:

1. Aloha Poke

The poke bowls here comes in three sizes: Lil’ Swell has 75g of poke ($11.90); Standard Nalu comes with 150g of poke ($15.90); and Big Kahuna has 225g of poke ($19.90).

Get your pick of tuna or salmon, choose your seasoning (original, wasabi mayo, spicy, or seasonal), then end your order with a base of your choice (white rice, brown rice, mixed, or salad).

A bowl also entitles you to two toppings (almonds, raisins, cherry tomatoes etc.) and a superfood (e.g. avocado, chia seeds).

Address: 92 Amoy Street Singapore 069911

2. A Poké Theory

A regular bowl (100g) with tuna costs $11.50 while a large one (150g) goes for $15. As for bowls with salmon, they are priced at $12.50 and $16.50 respectively.

Seasonings available are (for tuna) original shoyu, spicy garlic sesame, and (for salmon) spicy mayo, avocado miso. There is a vegan/vegetarian version of the poke bowl her that uses avocado instead and it is priced at $11.50.

As with Aloha Poke, pick your base - there's their signature sushi rice, brown rice, romaine lettuce, and lemon herb quinoa.

End it off with toppings like furikake, nori flakes, or even crispy salmon skin (+$2).

Address: 27 Boon Tat Street, Singapore 069623

3. Sweetfish Poke

Their servings come in two sizes: hungry ($9) and starving ($14).

Choose from five seasonings - Hawaiian original, wasabi mayo, roasted sesame, sweet yuzu cream, or kimchi - to complement your salmon and tuna sashimi bowl.

The bases here include Japanese rice, red brown rice mix (+$1), or chopped romaine (+$1).

Address: 13 Stamford Road, #B2-30 Capitol Piazza, Singapore 178905

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