NudeFish, Sydney CBD
From Maui to Martin Place
Located at Shop 12, Level 6, MLC Centre, 19 Martin Place NSW 2000
Poké bowls are taking over Instagram feeds — with their colourful combinations of fresh seafood, vegetables and Japanese inspired toppings. Nudefish has opened a poké bar in Martin Place, so office workers in the CBD no longer have to enjoy these delicious bowls from their screens.
Originally opening in Bondi Beach, Nudefish has expanded its presence to Martin Place and North Sydney. The founders, James Nathan and Tom Walton, have tapped into consumers’ growing desire for ethical and sustainable produce. Embracing a “boat to bowl” philosophy, the poké kiosk uses sustainable Australian seafood direct from the source. They also offer free-range chicken, biodynamic tofu and unpasteurised miso.
Poké bowls originated in Hawaii — where the abundance of fresh seafood and Japanese flavours fortuitously came together. Poké, in Hawaiian, literally means to “slice or cut”. The name of the dish makes sense, considering the fact that the seafood is finely cut into cubes before being served on a bed of rice.
“Embracing a “boat to bowl” philosophy, the poké kiosk uses sustainable Australian seafood direct from the source.”
Nudefish offers a wide variety of poké bowl favourites, but patrons also get the option of customising their very own. Since I cannot yet call myself a poké bowl aficionado, I opted for one of their originals — the Miso Sesame Eggplant. I was curious to try this bowl, just to see how this poké bar would be able to replicate the natural flavours of the poké bowl in vegetarian form. My dining companion grabbed a traditional poké bowl, the Pineapple Ponzu Tuna. Along with the bowls, we grabbed two bottles of their creative cold-pressed juices.
The Miso Sesame Eggplant was impressive, especially given the fact that the eggplant had been grilled to the point where it developed a nice thick char on the skin. The burnt bits from the eggplant combined excellently with the pickled carrot (pickled in-house), as the sourness balanced the bitterness. The toppings of togarashi gave the dish a nice hit of spice, and the crunch from the crispy onion and furikake enhanced the texture by tenfold.
The poké bowl has been notably dubbed as “sushi in a bowl” and one bite of the Pineapple Ponzu Tuna bowl really helped me to understand how this dish managed to obtain this name. The base flavours from a tuna sushi roll were apparent, given the use of fresh tuna, avocado and rice. That said, its flavour profile was amplified by the presence of pineapple, fresh herbs, green chilli and cashew coconut crunch.
Overall:
There’s a reason why this dish is trending worldwide. Office workers are ravenous around lunch time and looking for a filling meal that won’t compromise on flavour or nutrition. The poké bowl ticks all these boxes. The base of brown rice, rice noodle salad, cabbage & baby spinach and/or zucchini noodles offers enough carbohydrates to fill you up. The flavours pack a punch, as the folks at Nudefish generously drizzle these bowls with their array of Japanese inspired sauces. Finally, these bowls are highly nutritious — given the plentiful medley of fresh vegetables mixed with the sashimi, chicken or eggplant. Starting at $14, these bowls will keep you very satisfied throughout the rest of your day in the office.
Overall rating: Mindblown
Service: 4/5
Cost: Gourmet Gumbo and guest were invited by Nudefish
