DISCLAIMER - this has nothing to do with the well loved anime about pocket monsters. 

Recently, I came across an article that reminded me of the benefits of omega 3 for baby's brain development, and that I should be including more fish in my diet. H doesn't like cooked fish, so I went in search of good raw fish nearby. Googling "poke near me" gave two results - Island Poke and Poke Fresh. 

The first contestant, Island Poke!

Their set menu didn't look very appealing to me, because we wanted salmon only. H doesn't like tuna (he doesn't like a lot of things okay!?), and I didn't want to risk the chance of ingesting mercury because I'm still breastfeeding. Luckily, creating our own bowls was not too difficult, and with a few simple clicks, we could do it all from their website.

Pros include large chunks of fresh fish, and a good balance of sauce to toppings ratio. 

My only criticism is that the large portion is not quite enough, and our bowls left us with a craving for more poke. Wish there could be an XXXL size, because it was just so good. 

After that great experience, we were excited to dig into the bowls from Fresh Poke:

The portions here were much larger, and they actually use compostable paper bowls, while their competition uses full plastic bowls. However, they're $3 more expensive than Island Poke. The website for ordering was also unfriendly for creating our own bowls, although they did have more appealing set menu options.

Too bad the fish wasn't fresh and tasted like it was recently defrosted. The rice was not flavorful, and the insufficient amount of sauces couldn't save it.  Definitely do not choose the brown rice option, because it was undercooked and seasoned strangely. 

Clearly, Island Poke is the winner in this poke battle. I'm not sure how Poke Fresh even has a 4.4/5 rating on Google, and why Island Poke only has 4.6/5. We're going to go back to Island Poke tonight, so that we can get the mushy texture of the fish from Poke Fresh out of our mouths. 

Not much else has been happening. We're still enjoying the hotel life. 

Throw back to this snack we had at Poke Guy after our Greyhound ride from the Niagara Falls back to D’s house:

It’s slightly overpriced for what it is… Rice, fish, vegetables, and sauce, with not much in terms of service. I do like watching them compile my food in this very plastic disposable bowl (maybe one day we’ll see the end of all disposable takeout containers and utensils? I’m still guilty of using them, but I did bring my own Tupperware to a restaurant tonight for leftovers). Anyways, this was split between H and I, before we headed to a real dinner with D and T. The hunger made it taste much better than it really was, but I felt like I'd come back or at least try other poké places.



Grandma’s back in the hospital, and I’m again wondering the meaning of all her obsessions… She’s afraid of taking Tylenols because she’s worried she’ll get addicted to them. She doesn’t want to eat any fatty foods because of high cholesterol. She doesn’t want to go out in the sun because she might get skin cancer. At what age should you stop worrying about the consequences of indulging?

I had some greasy pizza today for lunch. Guess I'm lucky to be able to have all these experiences.