Ono Poke Bowl random review: Does it make the cut?

Editor’s Note: Reviews are based on a single, unannounced and anonymous visit. Your experience may differ from what is presented here.

When it comes to food, I enjoy the comfort of familiarity.

Texture issues paired with an overwhelming need for consistency in both quality and presentation make trying new things difficult. And, like everyone, I have a budget to stick to. If I spend my precious food money on something I end up not liking, it sort of ruins my day.

So, during those fleeting windows of time where I feel adventurous, I have to act before the window closes and I retreat to the safety of the same meal I’ve eaten every day for the last week.

I have known about Morganton’s Ono Poke Bowl on North Green Street for a while. Unsure if I’d like it, I thought little of trying it until last week, when my uncertainty turned to curiosity and I found myself at the restaurant’s door.

THE STAFF

It was about 11:30 a.m. The restaurant had just opened that morning, and I was the only customer there — already ideal for a solitary soul such as myself.

No, that isn’t a formal part of the review. It would be silly to grade a business based on this, and I’m actually glad to say more people started coming in within 20 minutes. More on that later.

I went up to the counter and told the two young ladies it was my first time eating there. Their faces lit up with bright, friendly smiles, and they walked me through the menu and how to go about ordering.

Neither of them batted an eyelash when I admitted I don’t like sushi. They simply told me I could also choose tofu or cooked shrimp, crabstick, or chicken.

The other options, for those curious, included sushi-grade tuna, marinated tuna, spicy tuna, salmon, and spicy salmon.

Why would someone who doesn’t like sushi go to a restaurant where cubed, raw fish is the main attraction? Well, I’m a bit picky as you may have noticed, so I had looked up the menu beforehand to ensure there was something I would eat.

Protein and vegetables were easy, but the sauces were a mystery. I had no idea what any of them might taste like, going by title alone, so one of the servers asked if I like sweet or spicy sauces. I said both. She recommended a couple and told me the ingredients and general flavors.

THE FOOD

I ended up getting a regular bowl with sticky rice for the base and tofu for protein with carrots, cucumber, edamame, and pineapple, covered in gochujang and poke sauce with sesame seeds on top. The bowl and bottled water came out to about $17.

It was excellent.

The tofu was cooked to perfection and had a salty, soy-saucy flavor. The edamame was already out of its pod — which I should have expected, but I ordered it ready to pop the soybeans out myself.

The fruit and vegetables tasted fresh and ripe. No mildly unpleasant tastes or textures that suggested the produce was on death’s door when it was cut.

I will admit the cucumber was not as crisp as expected and its flavor often faded into the background, but it still tasted fresh. It just wasn’t the texture I anticipated, and its flavor was overpowered by others.

The shredded carrots were crisp and the perfect size. Not so thin they were barely there, but not so thick that they were overpowering.

One of the servers recommended the combination of sauces, and my goodness. She was really onto something. It was phenomenal.

VERDICT

This experience was a 10 out of 10 for me.

The servers were sweet as can be and very knowledgeable of the menu. The food was awesome.

And while I value my solitude, it would be insane for me to knock points just because other people started showing up. More people is a good thing. Customers keep a business alive, so if anything, I was glad to see people in and out with their call-in orders and lining up to customize their own poke bowls.

I definitely recommend trying Ono Poke Bowl. If you don’t like raw fish or tofu, there are other options. I’d say it’s worth going at least once.