Freestyle Poké Review

I am a big fan of sushi, constantly seeking out the best restaurants within a 15 mile radius and even purchasing a Sushi Bazooka for easy at-home sushi.

So when I heard about Freestyle Poké, a restaurant serving what can only be described as “deconstructed sushi”, I was skeptical. Why would someone throw away the intricacy and technique of sushi and combine all the ingredients into one bowl?

I had to visit the restaurant and find out why the line was wrapped around the corner the day it opened.

Freestyle Poké, located in the River Market, opened in July 2018 and serves poké, a bowl often filled with rice, raw fish, various toppings and sauces stemming from Hawaiian and Japanese cultures.

To avoid getting a what-is-this-uncultured-gringo-doing-in-my-restaurant side eye from the employees, it’s important to note that poké is pronounced POH-kay, as in okay, not POH-kee, or worse, POH-k.

Freestyle Poké is set up like Chipotle, allowing you to customize your meal and choose your base, meat, toppings, and sauces. Freestyle Poké is also similar to Chipotle by embodying the whole “serving food from other countries but not actually adopting any other cultural aspects” vibe.

Walking into Freestyle Poké, the only indication of a foreign culture is the tropical Woodland Bromeliad Plant sitting in a ceramic pot on the counter. The restaurant is generic — only straying from the black and white color scheme with the wooden tables and ceiling and grey cushion covers.

A few traditional Japanese light fixtures or paintings would make Freestyle Poké feel more like an ethnic experience and less like the Panera Bread on Mission Rd. The boring atmosphere made me suspicious of how the food would taste.

When I reached the counter, the first step was to choose from the “Good” or “Best” sized bowls. I wasn’t sure how that indicated the amount of poké, but I decided on “Good” and was glad I did, as it was the perfect serving.

I continued on to assemble the rest of my bowl as the man behind the counter walked me through what each ingredient was — and what his favorites were. I ordered white sushi rice with raw salmon, edamame, avocado, cashews, roasted coconut and a restaurant favorite, the Togarashi Yuzu Mayo.

After ordering the mayo — one of the restaurant’s spiciest sauces — I was expecting to be constantly reaching for my plastic cup of water, as my spice tolerance is currently set at Spicy Nacho Doritos. I was surprised to find I devoured the bowl in under six minutes, the mayo perfectly balanced by the sushi rice and raw fish.

The cashews and coconut added texture and crunch to the bowl while the salmon added a saltiness which complemented the bland rice.

Since the poké tasted fresh, my mom and I returned to the counter and ordered my dad a bowl to go just minutes after finishing our own. If I am ever in the River Market, I will definitely return to Freestyle Poké.

However, the underwhelming atmosphere fit right in with a Prairie Village chain restaurant. The 30 minute drive to the River Market combined with the 15 minute parking spot search causes me to shy away from forcing myself to drive on the highway just to make a special trip down to Freestyle Poké.