Poke Bar Fish Restaurant

January 2023
The best finds in life are serendipitous. If you have any doubt about this, here's what happened to us..
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It was too nice a day to stay in so we decided to go out to lunch. Let's get something easy, fast, not expensive yet healthy.
How about a Poke Bar lunch? and so it was.

Poke bowls are a meal in a bowl. A small bowl for NIS 49 at one of Raanana's Poke Bars buys you a very full healthy fast-food lunch. This was the meal we anticipated, but this was not to be.

There are two branches of Poke Bar in Raanana. We chose the branch on Ahuza near Kazan. When we got there, we discovered that the restaurant has launched a new fish menu. No longer just a poke bar, the Ahuza restaurant is now a full fish restaurant with starters, main dishes, sinful desserts and cocktails served all day from lunch till late night.

Aha! we exclaimed. At last, a fish restaurant in Raanana. A good fish restaurant is so missing in this town. We've been waiting for ya! .

Moving cautiously we opted to share one starter, which turned out to be just enough to encourage us further. The Salmon Pasticcio: balls of fish and rice on a tangy sauce won us over. We went on to enjoy a bowl of Sea Bass with rice and a lot of wonderful vegetables flavored with curry. I loved the Thai salad with salmon, more sweet than savory. We also tasted the tempura fish & chips which were hot, crispy and exactly the way I like them. The menu also offers grilled Sea Bass, Salmon and more. The dishes were all beautifully presented and professionally prepared by their in-house chef, precise and delicious. Success!

Cocktails! in the middle of the day? You only live once. The selection is limited but nice. We shared a fruity rum-based drink called Shortsqueeze. Next time i want my own.

"How did they get from poke bar to fish restaurant?" I asked myself. It's a story.
Turns out that the Poke Bars are part of a larger enterprise that starts with the La Criee Israel fish store. The fish at Poke Bar, which is the star ingredient of the bowls, is sourced from the La Criee. Take one giant, creative step out of the box and you have the Poke Bar Fish Restaurant.

The story begins in Milan Italy. The family patriarch imported fresh fish to his Italian store from Morocco, parts of African, Asia, Norway, etc. Some 15 years ago the whole family came on Aliya including their fish enterprise. In Israel they established two La Criee Israel fish stores in Raanana with beautifully displayed fresh fish imported daily. This is a family enterprise, with son David running the fish store, Nadine in customer support, mom filling online orders and son Asher, Mr. Poke Bar.

Both Raanana Poke Bars are under the baton of Asher, the handsome young owner and concept driver. The branch on Hanesiim St is mostly for take away poke bowls, with some outdoor covered seating. Only the Ahuza branch has evolved into a full fish restaurant. You can still order Poke Bowls at Ahuza, which are an inexpensive alternative to the more elegant dishes from the fish menu. There are a few inside tables, but many of the tables are outdoors. Outdoors is pleasant in good weather, but you will want to sit inside in cold or inclement weather.

Creating Your Poke Bowl: Step right up to the counter and construct your meal. Just tell the server what you want, and he/she will add it to your bowl. A small bowl is NIS 49 and the large bowl is NIS 59. Of course the large bowl holds more so you can either choose a larger variety of foods or get a larger quantity of the foods that you choose. Now you have an all-in-one meal; a carb base, a protein, vegetables of your choice, crunchies and sauces. Eat it at the tables of the Poke Bar or take it out. As you like it. Enjoy! More about Poke Bar Raanana