Seattle C-Store Serves Poke

Traditional Hawaiian dish is resonating with customers in a non-traditional location.

June 02, 2016

SEATTLE – A recently opened Seattle convenience store is putting poke, a traditional Hawaiian dish, on the mainland map. 

Poke, chunks of tuna marinated in soy and sesame, is near ubiquitous in Hawaii, served everywhere from grocery stores to gas stations, surf shacks and beyond, notes BonAppetit.com. At the 45th Stop N Shop & Poke Bar in Seattle, tucked in the back of the shop, “behind the racks of candy bars and chips, is a poke and sushi counter that's driving fans wild,” writes Eater.com.

"It comes with complimentary sides like guacamole, crab salad, seaweed salad, some ginger, some fish roe and edamame,” John Chung, who co-owns the Stop N Shop with his parents, told King5.com. He attributes the store’s speedy success to social media posts from satisfied customers, noting that hundreds of photos were posted online during April, the store’s first month of operation.

The Chung’s family recipe keeps a steady stream of customers coming for poke. “[I’ve waited] 45 minutes, and then sometimes an hour,” one frequent customer told King5.com.

The store receives a delivery of fresh fish each day, which is then prepared by hand every morning. Sometimes the poke runs out before the end of service. While raw seafood at a c-store isn’t common in the United States, the combination is obvious to the Chungs.

"My dad had owned a Japanese restaurant back in San Francisco a number of years ago, and we had owned a small grocery store in Portland, so we're kind of joining the two businesses,” Chung told the news source.

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