Amazing Poke Bowl To Try at paperfish Right Now
New food joints come and go at TTDI, and lo and behold, we noticed that there is another new kid on the block – the paperfish. The brightly lighted Poke Bowl shop caught my attention, and seeing an unfamiliar term of poke bowl piqued my curiosity. Po-kay-what? The only poke in my (limited) vocab is Poké Ball, used by Pokemon Go’s trainers for catching Pokémon.
A quick search revealed 2 things:
1. paperfish’s forte is Hawaiian poke (pronounced as poh-kay) bowl, possibly the latest food trend in town. Poke is an Hawaiian word, means “to cut into pieces”. I read that in Hawaii, the cubed fish can be eaten on its own. The Poke Bowl name came about because the cubed fish can be served over a bowl of rice. Poke bowl is more of an appetizer like salad, but with rice, it is akin to Japanese’s Donburi.
2. paperfish is owned by Dennis Yin. Err.. Dennis-who? He is a dancer-turned-radio-announcer. Hearing this name, it jolts my elder niece like a bolt of lightning. She quickly looked at his photo, and confirmed that she met him before, and even got his autograph .. So, besides trying out a new restaurant and cuisine, Dennis is also the reason behind our first patronage.
My attempt in getting my niece to find out how they got the ‘paperfish’ name failed. Haha. But, found the answer on their website:
“The name “paperfish” was chosen as we wanted to be seen as a place that serves refined, clean, and simple produce – all in one bowl. We love the fact that we were able to incorporate a small part of Japan (origami) into our name to show the Japanese influence towards poké in Hawaii. While crafting an origami allows the artist to transform a normal piece of paper into a refined work of art, we hope to be able to show that with our food.”
They have salmon, tuna, shrimp and vegan poke bowl in their menu. Choose one, and pair it with a base of your choice (white rice, brown rice, baby greens or quinoa +RM 1.90).
There is only one vegan/vegetarian option in the menu: Cado Bowl (RM 15.90). We were told that they are not able to serve this dish as their avocados are not ripe enough. My niece thought of ordering their Mango Salsa (RM 17.90) instead, without the shrimp. But we were advised that it is essentially a Cado Bowl as the mango salsa sauce is used to marinate their shrimp .. So, she ended up with a Cado Bowl, replacing avocado with cashew nuts. Elder niece commented too much soy sauce in her poke bowl.
I ordered paperfish’s Heat Wave (RM 17.90), fresh salmon marinated with spicy Sriracha sauce. Spicy and creamy as per description, and the spicy level is not overkilling. Eating my Poke bowl, I was reminded of chirashi sushi – but hey, there’s something different and the main difference is that you taste the raw fish in chirashi. But Poke’s sashimi comes marinated / seasoned; suitable for non-sashimi lover. As for me, I love both.
If raw fish is too much for you to handle, they have cooked shrimps in their menu too: Sea-Salt Shrimp (RM 17.90).
One of their staff came around asking for feedback after our meal, which I appreciate.
Update 6 March 2017:
Had their Cili Tuna (RM 17.90) today, but didn’t enjoy it. The balance between the ingredients and the rice are off … and overall, the bowl is too dry this round.
Drinks are on the expensive side: Hot tea (RM 5.90), Honey B (RM 6.90), etc. So, do take advantage of their “RM5 add-on” promotion to complete your meal – sous-vide egg + Sparkling honey or Hot tea. Oh, and the “sous vide” refers to the process of vacuum-sealing food and cooking it in a temperature controlled water bath … now, this reminds of MasterChef!
There is a wall pinned with message-on-origami-paperfish. I only found out later on paperfish’s Facebook page that it is meant to be a wishing wall. Leave them a message wish and spot what my amazing niece wrote – which reminded me of what she did back in Amsterdam! Heart you ZE, now and always.
