Poke Bowl in Melun - Fresh & Homemade

The poke bowl traces its roots to Hawaiian culinary tradition, where fishermen would cut their fresh catch into cubes and season it simply with sea salt, seaweed and kukui nut oil. The word "poke" actually means "to cut into pieces" in Hawaiian. This humble, nourishing dish crossed the Pacific to win over food lovers worldwide.

What makes the poke bowl so closely linked to Japanese cuisine is the Japanese-American community of Hawaii, which profoundly influenced its evolution. Soy sauce marinades, vinegared rice, toasted sesame, wasabi and nori seaweed are all contributions from Japanese cooking to the traditional poke bowl. At Yoki Ramen in Melun, we fully embrace this heritage by offering poke bowls rooted in our Japanese expertise: precise knife cuts, sushi-grade fish, and seasonings prepared according to authentic Japanese methods.

This fusion of Hawaiian tradition and Japanese technique gives rise to bowls where the freshness of each ingredient shines without artifice. Every component is chosen for its flavour, texture and harmony with the rest of the bowl. This is what sets an artisan poke bowl apart from a mass-produced raw fish salad.

You might wonder why you should choose a Japanese restaurant for a poke bowl, a dish of Hawaiian origin. The answer can be summed up in one word: fish. Mastery of raw fish has been at the heart of Japanese cuisine for centuries. At Yoki Ramen, we work with salmon and tuna daily for our sushi, sashimi and chirashi bowls. That expertise carries directly into our poke bowls.

The quality of a poke bowl depends largely on the freshness and cutting of the fish. In a Japanese restaurant, the cold chain is managed with absolute rigour. Japanese knives, designed to slice fish without crushing the fibres, produce clean cubes that retain all their texture and flavour. The marinades rely on authentic Japanese ingredients: naturally brewed soy sauce, real wasabi, quality sesame oil, pure rice vinegar.

Furthermore, our expertise with sushi rice guarantees a superior base. Vinegared rice, an element often overlooked in fast-food poke bowls, is actually fundamental: it carries the entire bowl. Poorly cooked or under-seasoned rice can ruin the experience. At Yoki Ramen, the rice in our poke bowls is the same as in our sushi — and we devote the same attention to it.