Introducing… Island Poke

Even with a flourishing foodie scene like the one we have in Newcastle, it’s quite rare for something genuinely novel to hit the streets and it’s exciting when it does. Which explains why there’s quite a buzz in advance of the opening of Island Poke, the first UK branch outside London of a small chain offering poke bowls to discerning diners. We spoke to owner James Gould-Porter about his obsession with poke, born from a formative childhood experience.

“I came across poke bowls in Hawaii at a pretty young age, about 9 years old,” James explains, “because my father is from Southern California and travelled in that part of the world. I stumbled across this curious dish of raw fish and rice in a beach hut in Maui – this would have been in 1999 or 2000. It was interesting, these white-haired beach kids going for this mysterious dish whereas back in the UK kids were going for McDonalds.” James explains that poke – pronounced POH-KEY – literally means slice and dice in Hawaiian, and it takes a strong influence from the Hawaiian-Japanese community, and from sushi in particular. 

James didn’t expect to get involved in the food business – his History of Art degree led to a job in an auction house – but working there, he became aware of how monotonous the office food culture was. “Everyone was having the same boring lunch every day,” he says, “it was very clear to me that the three pillars of the West End London lunch scene were salads, sushi and sandwiches. Nobody was doing anything interactive in the sushi sense. So I had this eureka moment where I remembered that time in Maui and I could see that poke was the obvious move. I could also see how it was getting more popular in California and it was just a matter of time. I was conscious that I wanted to put my own twist on it, and when we started we were explaining it as ‘deconstructed sushi’”.

James says Island Poke focuses on being more interactive. “It’s far more personal in that you can add whatever toppings you like. We have more ‘licence to play’ and our ingredients are more inventive and recipe-led. It’s not just basic ingredients, and we’ve collaborated with other restaurants. We like pushing the boundaries of poke conventions.”

The Island Poke website claims there are more than 50,000 possible bowl combinations but James explains that by the time you factor in all the possible toppings, sauces and sides it’s probably nearer a million! And like any successful new food business these days, Island Poke takes its ethics very seriously – using high welfare salmon, line-caught tuna, no additives or E numbers. They’ve already started connecting with local suppliers in the North East, and will be offering an exclusive Life Kombucha at the Newcastle outlet.

The Island Poke outlets – the staff call them ‘islands’ – are also big on an energetic, buzzing atmosphere, something that grew from James’ early experiences selling poke bowls. ”When I started off doing street food it was just me in a van going from Billingsgate Fish Market to a couple of residencies, and beyond having a couple of kitchen jobs I had no preconceptions about behaviour in these places. At the beginning it was just me and some friends from university, and the energy and rapport we had with each other was felt by our customers! We make it personal and create a genuine connection with a high energy service,” James explains. “We keep the music pumping, we centre the experience around all five senses!”

Island Poke has more than a dozen London branches, and a similar number in France (“beyond baguettes, French lunchtime food is more centred around sushi, and an opportunity came up”) but the Newcastle branch is the first outside the capital and we wondered why the city appealed. As is so often the case, it was about location – in this case, the distinctive corner site at the end of Grainger Street right opposite the Monument. “I saw that location – wow! What a landmark, what a place to start. It was a no-brainer!” He also credits the ever-more vibrant Newcastle food scene as a factor and the fact that locals are open and engaged with new ideas.

We finished by asking James what he’d recommend to a poke bowl virgin entering Island Poke for the first time. He didn’t hesitate in recommending the Classic Ahi Tuna – slow-marinated ahi (tuna), on sushi rice with shoyu dressing, pineapple chilli salsa, wakame seaweed salad and sesame seeds.

Island Poke is due to open later in May and judging by the success of the brand elsewhere and the fact that the food looks so damned tasty and exciting, it's sure to be a big hit in Newcastle. So head down to Monument with an empty belly and an open mind and get stuck into some poke!

Island Poke will be open later in May at 150 Grainger Street.