I've been back from Singapore just a day shy from a week. While I was gone, I missed the crazy rain and flood in San Diego. I guess it was so bad that it made national news with people checking in on me, only to find out I was in Singapore. I caught another storm this week and it looked like it's going to rain part of the weekend. So I decided to try a fairly new spot while we had some dry spots before the next storm. Plus this Blog just launched, and I needed San Diego content :D. Actually, I already had content line up to post but the poke looked really good.
8th and B Poke is a fairly new poke spot and has been in existence since May of 2023. It is located in the heart of National City. It's pretty close to the 8th Street Market. It specializes in tuna, salmon and tako poke. You can buy them as a plate or a la carte in containers. You can also buy poke trays for parties, or the upcoming Taylor Swift Invitational/Superbowl.
Disclaimer:
I've worked with the Chef/Owner, Chris, at the company I'm still at. We worked in the same group in IT a long time ago, which was for Site (Desktop) Support. He left the company and came back a few years ago. While we were working for the same group, we never really worked closely together and we were assigned to different locations. I really couldn't tell you much about him and he couldn't tell you much about me. We just know of each other :D That being said, this is an honest review and nothing is sugar-coated.
The menu board can be kinda confusing if you look at it for the first time. Luckily I was familiar with it before I went down there. There are different ahi/tuna flavors. For salmon, there are different availability and posted on a written board at the counter.
Small bowl/plate has one protein, Medium has two, and large has three. You can add two shrimp tempura to your plate. They will have occasional special plates, like surf and turf (beef teriyaki and choice of poke) or laulau and other dishes.
They offer a variety of Hawaiian-based drinks/sodas. They also have spam masubi and Ube cheesecake.
There is a small seating area, about 4 or 5 chairs, plus a couple of tables outside.
I ordered the medium plant with Furikake Ahi Tuna and Spicy Mayo Salmon, with the shrimp tempura
Each plate (not sure the small bowl) comes with seasoned rice, crab and seaweed salad and a nice small scoop of spicy tuna. The Furikake Tuna was marinated very nicely. Nice soy marinade with a good ratio of sesame and seaweed flavors. The salmon was also coated really well with spicy mayo. It could have been a little more pice but it was really satisfying. Both the tuna and salmon seemed fresh with nice big chunks and very little sinew. The shrimp tempura was a nice touch. Pretty crispy and the shrimp itself wasn't dry. It was a satisfying plate and very filling. I ended up not having room for the Spam Masubi or Ube Cheesecake.
They were running a Surf and Turf plate special this weekend, and Chris, the owner, came by and gave me a sample of the Teriyaki Beef he was serving with the plate.
Usually I expect Teriyaki Beef to be somewhat tough since they usually don't use tender cuts of meat. I was surprised how tender the meat was. I didn't get to ask what cut he was using but it was exceptional.
If you zoom in, you can see he's won some awards for his poke. Well deserved.
The staff seemed pretty friendly an knowledgable about the selections. It is a nice break from the Chipotle fast-food type of poke like Poke One and a Half and similar. Those places are fine but sometimes you want better quality. You can tell the owner has some passion for the food, always tweaking his special plates and the general quality of the fish. It seems that the spot is getting pretty popular and they sell out some days. When I visited around 11:30am today, it looked like they sold out by 2pm. Give them a try
It's funny, I was eating inside and facing the window with the view outside. A couple of guys ordered their food and were going to eat there plates outside. Before both of them took a bite out of their food, they were taking pictures of their plates, trying to get the perfect shot. I'm glad I'm not the only one :D
The Joy of Food's review: https://thejoyoffood.life/8th-and-b-poke/
8th and B Poke
806 B Ave National City, CA 91950
Monday - Sunday 11am - 7pm/Sold Out
Closed Tuesdays
The aesthetic of the food is exceptional, it's easy to tell that they care about what they are doing. I hope that this place continues to do well and from the looks of it they are off to a great start!
Funny thing, I just visited for the third time 2 weeks back and was going to do a post after the next pineapple express hits. Great minds! I'll make sure to link to this post!