It seems like there is a new poké place popping up every day in San Diego.
Recently, a new poké restaurant has opened in the College Area called Pokedon.
Located right under the BLVD63 apartments on El Cajon Blvd., the shop is in a great location for San Diego students.
If you are not familiar with poké, the Hawaiian dish consists of small cubes of raw fish topped with various toppings like soy sauce and green onion.
It is also enjoyed alongside some rice or seaweed salad.
A couple of weeks ago, a man was walking around campus passing out promotional cards advertising Pokedon.
I glanced at the card and saw that it also acted as a $5 credit to the restaurant.
I was ecstatic mainly for the fact that poké has been one of my favorite foods lately and who doesn’t love a discount?
All the other poké places that I’ve been to usually price their bowls based on scoops of fish.
At Pokedon, the pricing is based on size. A third of a pound is priced at $11, while a half-pound is priced at $14.
Customers have the option to create their own bowl, reminiscent of build-your-own restaurants like Chipotle or Subway, or choose from one of Pokedon’s signature bowls.
All signature bowls come with roe, radish, seawood and cucumber salad.
Similar to other build-your-own poké restaurants in San Diego, the first step after choosing a size is to choose from one of the three available proteins: tuna, salmon or tofu.
Next, customers choose from the nine available toppings: white and green onion, corn, cilantro, jalapeno, cucumber, garlic, sesame seeds and edamame.
After customers choose from one of the 10 sauces, including spricy mayo, miso mayo, gochu jjang, aloha sauce, ponzu, soy sauce, sriracha and sesame oil.
Lastly, customers can choose their base of white rice, brown rice or organic spring mix salad.
Customers can also choose to add additional items such as furikake, avocado, masago, spicy crab, spicy tuna seaweed and cucumber salad to their bowls for a higher price.
One of their options is the “state bowl,” which includes salmon, cucumber, edamame, corn, white onion, cilantro and their “aloha sauce,” which was on the sweeter side.
This seemed to be a favorite among the customers, however I opted to create my own bowl.
I ended up getting a one-third pound bowl consisting of salmon, white onion, green onion, cilantro, cucumber, garlic, edamame, spicy mayo, ponzu sauce, white sushi rice, salt and pepper and avocado.
After the $5 discount plus the additional 20 percent student discount they offer, my boyfriend and I were able to get both our bowls for less than $20 total.
Overall, the food and staff were both great making it a good choice for longtime poké fans or first timers living in College Area.
Pokedon is open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
