One Fish, Two Fish: A Poke Joint

Located at 370 East Main Street in Carrboro, One Fish, Two Fish offers poke bowls and other Hawaiian cuisine for lunch and dinner daily. Limited outdoor seating is available.

One Fish, Two Fish is the latest from Goose Hospitality, the group responsible for nearby The Shoppe Meatball Bar and Esperanza (formerly Calavera) Empanadas and Tequila. Though a bit more limited in some ways, One Fish, Two Fish is nevertheless another feather (pun semi-intended) in Goose’s cap.

Poke – seasoned raw fish cubes – is the star attraction here, and it is given the Chipotle treatment. You can choose from greens, noodles, and several kinds of rice as a base, from tuna, salmon, shrimp, chicken, pork, or eggplant as a scoop, and then add one of ten different sauces as well as toppings (too many to list) to your heart’s content. Of course, if this proves too daunting, you can also opt for a pre-set option (such as the Island Classic, the Spicy Tuna, or the Vegetarian Bowl) instead. Wonton chips, tuna nachos and tacos, Hawaiian shaved ices, tropical teas and sodas, and kombuchas round out the offerings. For those not into raw fish, there are still quite a few options.

During my first visit, I went with the Muliwai Bowl ($10.95): salmon, yuzu kosho sauce (apple-cilantro-mint), wasabi peas, cucumber, edamame, avocado, radish, onion, and masago on jasmine rice. They were out of salmon at the time (boo), so tuna served as its replacement. The fish was fresh (thankfully), the bowl was colorful, the accompanying wonton chips added a welcome crunch, and the flavors balanced nicely, delivering hints of spicy, salty, tangy, and sweet. That said, those flavors were definitely more subdued than anticipated. The bowl was hardly tasteless but it was not as bold as it should have been.

Fresh ingredients and a multitude of possibilities make One Fish, Two Fish well worth a repeat visit. It may take some trial-and-error to find the perfect combination of sauces and toppings, but this place’s potential merits continued experimentation.

8/10