Pokeman

For a while, pizza and burgers were the latest trend. Now poke bowls and sushi burritos seem to be all the rage. New restaurants are sprouting up all over the valley offering these delights. I recently tried the newly opened Pokeman. Located just minutes from the strip in Chinatown, Pokeman shares the same owner as the neighboring late night tapas favorite, Izakaya Go. Only a couple months old it's already established itself as a lunch hot spot. Parking is limited and the lines can be long so keep that in mind if you're short on time. Pokeman offers a menu of several sushi burritos, and custom poke bowls in three sizes: single, double or triple scoops of protein.

I'm familiar with sushi burritos so I decided to opt for the bowl to try something new. I admit I was a little nervous about choosing a bad combination, but I went with what sounded good at the time... I was pretty hungry so I chose the medium bowl ($10.95) with yellowtail and spicy tuna. You also have your choice of white, brown or sushi rice. I had the latter, then selected lettuce, cabbage, cucumbers, salsa, cilantro, and scallions. Plus, the bowls include surimi crab and seaweed salad. I also had the spicy mayo drizzled over the tuna and the yuzu aoli on the yellowtail. When I dug in, I was pleasantly surprised how well the bowl melded together. It had bold flavors, different textures and it was extremely fresh. I get into lunch ruts regularly so I'm thrilled to have a new option nearby. And with endless combinations, it will take forever to "catch 'em all."