It’s no joke and it doesn’t rhyme with it, either: Groton’s Pokémoto is fresh and delicious

July 05, 2023 11:55 am • Last Updated: July 05, 2023 1:25 pm

By Rick Koster
Day Arts/Features writer

A build-you-own poké bowl at Pokémoto in Groton (Eileen Jenkins)

A signature bowl at Pokémoto in Groton. (Eileen Jenkins)

It probably doesn’t do a lot for my job insurance when, as a food writer, I acknowledge that a lot of trends in cuisine float past me like Tom Sawyer’s raft while I doze on the bank with my hound dog, a fine beast I’ve taught to hum Randy Newman songs.

Please note the summery imagery of the above paragraph for, indeed, it IS summer, and it’s starting to warm up. Given that we don’t have central AC in Stately Koster Manor, a slight sense of discomfort is creeping in.

It was in that context that my wife Eileen had an interesting suggestion.

“Why don’t we go to Pokémoto for dinner?”

“Uh, sure. Can you just tell me what that is?”

She said, “It’s in Groton. It’s a chain, I think. They serve Hawaiian poké bowls. They’re tasty and very good for you and also very cool and refreshing.”

“Oh, right!” I said. “Poké. I thought it rhymed with ‘joke.’”

“No. That’s why there’s an accent over the ‘e’.”

I nodded. She was right. “Now I’ve got it. Plus, I remember we saw a show with one of those Bobby Flay people on location in Oahu. He was watching a hippie in a food truck, chopping up pineapples and a huge fish and dumping it all on bowl of sushi rice.”

“Exactly. Only it was Guy Fieri. And don’t try to tell me you get them mixed up because that’s impossible.”

I shrugged. “Let’s go get some poké.”

A small franchise joint

That’s how we discovered Pokémoto, which is a tiny spot sharing a building with a giant liquor store just on the sub base side of I-95. Turns out, Pokémoto IS a franchise that serves Hawaiian-style poké — and it was started in New Haven, of all places, by a former resident of Hawaii who bet it all on the idea that a lot of hungry and/or stoned and/or nutritionally aware Yale students would become regulars.

He was correct.

There are now Pokémoto franchises in 15 states across the country and, if I’d initially thought I wouldn’t think poké was interesting, I was wrong.

I really like this place.

The idea of poké, as only barely hinted above, is that chopped, marinated raw seafood is mixed with sushi, white or brown rice, diced vegetables and a variety of toppings and sauces. Typically, this is served in a bowl, but Pokémoto expands the concept to include burritos (with roasted seaweed) and salads (with mixed greens).

It’s tricky at first

The initial visit can be a bit overwhelming simply because there’s a lot to consider in the construction of a bowl. First, the customer must select a protein (Ahi tuna, salmon, chicken, lobster seafood salad, shrimp or tofu). Next comes “mix-ins,” which include everything from sweet onions, cilantro and edamame to mandarin oranges, fresh jalapenos and two types of seaweed.

Follow up with your “flavor” of choice from 10 very islands-esque possibilities like chili garlic oil, fresh Ponzu (a citrus sauce), creamy miso, sesame ginger and wasabi aioli. On to toppings: more choices from avocado, black caviar and carrots to pickled daikon, radishes and Kani salad.

Finally, add “your crunch” via another vast array including tempura flakes, toasted rice puffs, shredded nori and furikake.

Yes, you might well have to ask the staff — which has been happy and helpful on both of our visits — what some of this stuff is.

BUT! Just like you get a learner’s permit before a drivers license, the Pokémoto wizards understand your possible confusion. That’s why they offer five different Signature Bowls ($13.99) with pre-selected ingredients. They’re excellent and representative samplers and individually feature wild caught tuna, Miso salmon, sweet and spicy shrimp, Pokémoto tofu and sesame ginger chicken. That’s how we started.

E chose the tofu with sushi rice. It boasts organic tofu, sweet onions, edamame tossed in Pokémoto Chojang, topped with green onions, toasted rice puffs and sesame seeds. It was a lovely combination of flavors and textures: the rice is warm, and the toppings spice-up as the ingredients mingle in the bowl. The flavor (AKA sauce) is a take on Gochujang, the sweet, tangy, spicy Korean red chili pepper paste that we keep in our fridge.

I tried the sesame ginger chicken and sticky, tasty sushi rice along with shredded carrots tossed in the titular sauce and tossed with avocado, cashews and tempura flakes.

Here’s what we immediately learned about the philosophy of poké: the idea is for each bite to explode with e’er changing flavor combinations. Too, the freshness of the ingredients and sauces is instantly obvious.

It’s sort of a kaleidoscopic experience, really.

The next visit, we graduated to customizing our own bowls ($13.99-$15.99), step by step with our patient server encouraging us gently. Eileen again based her bowl on tofu (she IS a vegetarian), adding corn, edamame, cucumber and a sauce called “Aloha Trio” (spicy mayo, creamy miso, chili garlic). She topped with cabbage slaw, seaweed salad and roasted cashews.

“So good,” she said, crunching in as dignified a way as possible. “It’s soft and crunchy, creamy and crispy, mellow and spicy ...” she ran out of adjectives and took another bite.

I customized with Ahi tuna, cilantro, mandarin oranges, Pokémoto Chojang, pickled ginger and toasted rice puffs. Again, it was delicious. There were elements of sudden heat, tang, sweet and sharp orange ... Once more: it’s hard to single out any one taste because of the washing machine cycle flavors effect.

Just so’s you know, there are sides ($2.99) including Miso soup and, well, a lot of the ingredients that go into the bowls, and beverages include Hawaiian sodas and milk teas and fresh brewed teas in many varieties. For dessert, try a Dole whip ($4.99) a soft servey pineapple treat.

We used to dream of moving to Hawaii. Now, we just drive to Groton and Pokémoto. It’s a beautiful thing, and I expect to run into Guy Fieri there any day.