Whenever someone asks me what my favorite food is, my immediate response would be sushi. It was only a few years ago when I had poke for the first time, and since then, sometimes I would actually prefer poke over sushi (although I would still consider both to be my favorite food). Of course, just because they’re my favorite food doesn’t mean that I would want to eat it for every meal though – it depends a lot on my mood too. It’s kind of difficult to eat something cold for every meal, especially during the winter, because sometimes you just want something that can warm up your stomach. Whenever that happens, I usually opt for Chinese food.
If I had to choose between getting sushi vs. getting poke, it would be sushi for all-you-can-eat, and poke for a regular meal. When I’m at a Japanese restaurant and only get to order one roll, I’m usually unsatisfied and want to order more. The cost would then come out to be almost the same as paying for AYCE, so why not just pay a bit more to do AYCE and get as many rolls and nigiri as I want? The downside is all the rice you end up consuming – it’s usually a lot more than the amount of fish you’re getting, and the fish is what I really want more of.
With poke, you usually get to build your own bowl and have a few scoops of different protein, with sides and rice or salad included too. It’s a good portion and won’t give me the chance to order more than I should eat, and it’s enough to satisfy my cravings and give me a taste of the freshness that I want! Unlike sushi, you get to decide how much rice you want to eat with every piece of fish, or you can even choose to get it with salad instead of rice. The price is usually pretty reasonable for a meal, typically $10-$15 depending on where you go.
Here are some places to check out for poke and AYCE sushi!
Poke
Whether you’re eating alone or with friends, poke is a great option!
Pisces Poke & Ramen
Pisces Poke & Ramen is not your typical poke place where you get to build your own bowl. Try one of the signature dishes that Chef You has spent over a decade perfecting! Check-in on Yelp for a free drink too. My favorite is the Truffle Salmon poke plate – hang tight for another post about this poke place!
Poke Bar
Build your own bowl at Poke Bar! The portions are reasonable, and I usually get a small bowl with half white rice/half spring mix with 2 scoops of protein – it’s surprisingly enough to keep me full until dinner. You can also add as many toppings as you want, plus the choice of two sides (crab meat, cucumber salad, or seaweed salad). One thing about this place is that there isn’t that much space in the bowl to mix your protein with your sides and base. Other than that, it’s a satisfying meal for under $11 if you get a small bowl!
Poke Me
Don’t poke me, but let’s go to Poke Me! Build your own bowl with a few more options for sides. The last time I came here, I noticed that the size of the fish is cut into larger pieces than other places I’ve been to, so if that’s your preference, give this a try! The protein and mix-in are mixed very well together, creating a very well-blended taste.
All-You-Can-Eat
Getting all-you-can-eat sounds like such a high school or college thing because you can just pay for one meal and not be hungry until a few days later, but sometimes, you just love eating something so much, it makes more sense to get AYCE. From all the times I’ve been to AYCE sushi, it seems like having a party of 4-6 people is perfect – some plates come with only 4 pieces, so you can all just try one piece! Make sure to pace yourselves though, because you can quickly get full (and not get your money’s worth)!
I typically like to start off with some baked mussels, seaweed salad, a lot of nigiri, and 1-2 rolls in the first round, then move on to some more nigiri and baked rolls in the second round. After so much cold food, an order of miso soup will warm your stomach. By the third round, I’m already pretty full, so I would just finish it off with my favorite nigiri orders. Some AYCE places have low-carb rolls too, and those are pretty yummy, and perfect for people who don’t want to be eating so much rice (although…why are you at an AYCE sushi place if you don’t want to eat too much rice???).
We all probably have that group of friends that we would invite to go to AYCE with every time because you all know how much each other can eat. It really makes it easy for ordering too because right when you sit down, everybody knows not to waste any time and just start ordering and eating since there’s a time limit. One thing I learned over the years is to double check to make sure that the people in your party eat raw fish too, because I once went with someone who actually does not eat raw fish…
Sushi Damu
Great place for AYCE sushi! The food is fresh and yummy, and the orders are usually not too big, so you’re not stuffing yourself with just one roll. They also don’t give you too much rice when you order the nigiri – the ball of rice is much smaller than the fish! Sometimes, there’s uni and salmon collar available for AYCE, and there’s also ice cream or mochi for dessert! My favorite place for AYCE sushi so far.
Sushi Me
At Sushi Me, you have the option to do the regular AYCE or the roll AYCE (you can only order appetizers and rolls). It’s a $5 difference, but I’ve only ever done the regular AYCE. It doesn’t seem worth it for me to do the roll AYCE because what I like is the nigiri and the premium items that they have (their premium items include carpaccio, bluefin tuna, halibut, salmon belly, and uni!). My suggestion is to try out the carpaccio and share it with your friends first before you all order it, because the flavor might be a bit strong. Overall, another good place to try for AYCE!
