BESPOKI BOWL OFFERS highly customizable poke, as well as set plates and bowls.On Monday, October 30, editors of The Polytechnic went to Bespoki Bowl, a Korean-Hawaiian fusion restaurant in downtown Troy. Bespoki Bowl was located in Troy Kitchen until last month, when they opened their own restaurant at the location where The Flying Chicken used to be.
Maria Kozdroy
I ordered the poke bowl; I’ve had it in the past at Troy Kitchen and was super pumped to try it again. I had it with rice, spicy mayo, all the toppings, salmon, and yellowtail. I am bummed out that the fish is not cut on demand, as if you were watching the chef prepare it at a sushi bar. All the ingredients were very fresh and delicious! However, the rice was left with no sauce or toppings as it was at the bottom of the bowl. The spicy mayo came in clutch and added a yummy touch to the entire dish.
Jonathan Caicedo
I got Bespoki’s bulgogi bowl. When K-Plate moved out of Troy Kitchen this past spring, Bespoki was quick to offer their version of K-Plate’s signature dish to fill the bulgogi void. The bowl is available with either house sauce (standard Korean BBQ sauce), spicy mayo, or both. While I only got house sauce, I’m told you really can’t go wrong with either selection. The beef was well-cooked and extremely flavorful. The bowl also included lettuce, and was served over a bed of rice. Overall, it is a very cohesive dish, and all the flavors worked exceptionally well together. While I would have enjoyed a side of radish like in K-Plate’s offering, I was still very satisfied. Altogether I do think K-Plate has a slight edge in this domain, mainly in authenticity, Bespoki has proved to be quite a rival in the bulgogi department.
Crystal Vejar
I ordered the butterfly shrimp plate, which came with a side of macaroni salad and eight deep fried shrimp served over plain white rice. In my opinion, the shrimp was great for the price—great size, not too dry, and a perfect amount of crunchy. However, the plate as a whole was a little plain. The rice took up half the meal, and with no sauce, it was an overpowering amount of bland. However, when I asked for a side of spicy mayo, that transformed the whole plate. Adding a little bit of the sauce to the rice made it a creamy, spicy, delicious side instead of a filler for the platter. It also added a creamy element to the shrimp, which I personally prefer with the cocktail sauce. The macaroni salad was average, with nothing particularly good or bad jumping out at me. I feel the platter is more filling than the bowls because of the extra side, and with a little bit of their sauce, the platter can be filling and delicious.
Serge Piskun
I got a classic poke bowl with salmon and tuna. Overall, the food was good—the fish was fresh, and the toppings were flavorful. I liked the differing flavor profiles that all came together in the bowl. The rice itself was flavored in a sort of spicy mayo, which added a new element to the dish. I wish there were a bit more of it, though. For those who don’t know what poke is, it’s a traditional Hawaiian dish consisting of raw fish on rice or greens, with a variety of toppings. Think sushi, but loose and in a bowl.
Results
Bespoki Bowl offers fresh dishes in an open, modern environment where individuals can pop in and order a lunch and eat it right then and there. The poke bowls are perfect for customization, and the platters themselves can also be customized with the variety of sauces they offer. We all agreed that the dishes were a bit too small for a dinner though, and the prices are a bit too high for a lunch. That doesn’t mean the food isn’t enjoyable; between the poke, bowls, and specialty plates, there’s going to be something for everyone! We just wish it were more affordable for college students so that we could have it all the time.