Thanks to Old Southeast Market, St. Pete has its own poke bar

Diners are used to splurging on sushi. But what about poke? A Hawaiian staple that's becoming increasingly popular in Tampa Bay and other food destinations, poke is similar to sushi.

Well, sort of.

Co-owner Chitt Noythanongsay describes the recent addition to Old Southeast Market, a poke bar, simply: "deconstructed sushi." And this local, who's worked in the food industry for 20 years at restaurants like Roy's and one of the area's first sushi bars in St. Pete Beach, isn't the first to compare the two. Colleen Vilches of Poké Café, new to Dunedin, also told CL that poke is like sushi, without the fuss of going to a fancy sushi bar and paying more.

"[The food scene] has just expanded, expanded, expanded," Noythanongsay says, "and I want to give people — sushi takes forever — I want to give people a quick, fresh option. And it's affordable."

The poke bar inside Old Southeast Market, which opened as a one-stop shop for local products in St. Petersburg last year, has been up and running for about two weeks — and it's slammed on weekends. Behind the bar's deli-style counter, poke bowls are created by customers using a familiar formula: pick your base, protein, seasonal sides, toppings and house-made sauces.

Unlike how it's done in the dish's native Hawaii, Old Southeast Market doesn't charge for poke by the pound; bowls are offered in small, medium or large sizes at set prices. Another difference between the store and more traditional poke places is that the proteins aren't mixed with sauces ahead of time. Instead, each sauce selection comes packaged in a small separate container.

Customization allows for endless combinations. Go sushi rice, ahi tuna, cucumbers, corn, masago (capelin roe) and spicy Hawaiian tartar one day, and romaine, tofu, mango, jicama, edamame, cilantro, jalapeño and mango sesame (like this food editor did) the next.

"At first when we started, not many people knew about jicama, so people are being introduced to a lot of different stuff," the co-owner says while going over menu items like ika sansai (squid salad). "And they're all receiving it really well."

The portability of these quick, easy-to-eat bowls also makes for a different dining experience at every visit — pick up an order to go, or enjoy it on the market's dog-friendly outdoor patio, where the owners plan to add a bar.

Fashioned from an 8-by-20-foot Port Tampa Bay shipping container, the new bar will carry craft beer from area breweries, Green Bench Brewing Co. among them. Noythanongsay says they're working out the logistics and permitting with the city, but hope to open that element of the market as soon as possible.

Close to Thrill Hill, a landmark Old Southeast Market named its third-Sunday-of-the-month farmers' market after, the neighborhood store continues to feature made-to-order sandwiches. There's the Rachel (corned beef, pastrami, Swiss, 'kraut, Thousand Island dressing) and Jim's Banh Mi (pork loaf, pork belly, pickled carrots, daikon, cilantro, jalapeño, cucumber), as well as green and black teas from Kaleisia Tea Lounge, a sushi burrito and Buddy Brew Coffee.

"A lot of people came in, we listened to what they wanted and we have evolved. How we evolve depends on our customer base more than anything," Noythanongsay says. "To be honest, as we grow, I expect to always be evolving."

This article appears in Dec 1-8, 2016.