Poke One

 

Located at 4835 West Wendover Avenue in Jamestown, Poke One offers poke and ramen for lunch and dinner. It is open from 11 to 9 on weekdays and 11:30 to 9 on weekends. Online ordering is available.

 

Poke-and-ramen seems to be the High Point area’s latest restaurant trend, and while Poke One loses some of the novelty by not getting there first, it otherwise seems poised to hold its own. Housed in the former Rockaway Eatery location, it’s clean, colorful, and spacious. The menu boasts a few Japanese apps (edamame, Takoyaki, shumai, and, oddly enough, fries) as well as milk and fruit teas, but poke (in bowl or burrito form) and ramen are the core offerings. There are about a half-dozen varieties of each, and you can also build your own of the former. Poke One wisely supplies paper menus that can be filled out to make BYO ordering efficient and convenient.

 

For our first visit, my wife and I each got a build your own poke bowl and a milk tea (taro and strawberry, respectively). Our orders were completed very quickly, and the brightly colored bowls looked amazing. Fortunately, the flavors matched the presentation. I went with a mixture of hot (spicy salmon, spicy mayo), sour (pickled ginger, pickled radish), and sweet (mango). Add to that some cucumber for refreshment, and the bowl was nicely balanced. The ingredients were also fresh, and they don’t skimp on quantity here. The tea was rather sweet, however. Next time, I’ll go with a classic rather than a fruit flavor.

 

What sets Poke One apart from other local options is the competitive pricing. At $11.95 for a poke bowl and $5.70 for a milk tea with bubbles, Poke One is cheaper than either Poke Dream or Ninja Café/Kung Fu Tea.

 

Poke One may not be an innovator, but being able to provide fresh, tasty food quickly makes it a welcome addition nevertheless.

Qinji Hawaiian BBQ & Ramen

Located at 2224 Golden Gate Drive in the Golden Gate Shopping Center in Greensboro, Qinji HawaiianBBQ and Ramen offers Hawaiian and Japanese cuisine for lunch and dinner. It is open from 11-9 Tuesday-Friday, noon-9 on Saturday, and closed Sunday. Online ordering is available.

Our group of four ended up at Qinji when the wait at Mizumi proved too long, but this proved to be the epitome of a happy accident. Cosmetically, Qinji is quite an upgrade from the previous ZC Hawaiian: the interior is tasteful and clean. The menu boasts many tantalizing options from predominantly Japanese apps to more than ten kinds of ramen to rice and noodle dishes to Hawaiian specialties. Vegetarians won’t be hard-pressed to find something here though the meat-eaters among you can take in everything from kalbi to Spam.

It was the first visit for all of us, and we got to experience a variety of dishes: calamari, Takoyaki, spam musubi, veggie roll, Hawaiian pineapple chicken, loco moco, and a combo (katsu fried shrimp and fish and grilled beef). Portions were plentiful, and, as the entrees included rice and salad (green or macaroni) for under $15, quite affordable. While the musubi and the loco moco may conjure some odd associations for anyone who grew up with Spam or Salisbury steak, the food was largely a hit. The beef was flavorful, the seafood was well-breaded without being bone dry, and the dipping sauces complemented the apps nicely. Even though the green salad was little more than lettuce with a few shredded carrots, a terrific mango dressing (bright, crisp, and citrusy) elevated it.

Qinji is nowhere close to home, and while that may preclude me from becoming a regular here, it is definitely a place I will look forward to coming back to during future excursions to northern Greensboro.

The PepperMill Cafe

Located at 2600 South Main Street in High Point, The PepperMill Café serves Greek-influenced diner fare for breakfast and lunch. It is open from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday-Friday, from 6 a.m.-noon on Saturday, and closed on Sunday. Online ordering is available.

 

I had a craving for bananas foster pancakes, and The PepperMill Café was one of the few places in town that offered it. I was hoping for a passable rendition thereof and little else, but The PepperMill Café exceeded expectations. While not much to look at inside or out, the restaurant is deceptively spacious. Service is also both friendly and hyper-efficient, so while they keep busy, you won’t be waiting for anything very long here.

 

The PepperMill Café offers much of what you’d expect from a classic Greek-owned Southern diner, which means an appreciably large menu with a few Mediterranean-influenced dishes. From omelets and biscuits to pancakes, French toast, and waffles, they’ve got you covered. However, for those seeking something more novel, PepperMill also offers carrot cake pancakes and a kielbasa plate.

 

I satisfied my craving with two bananas foster pancakes/eggs/sausage. The pancakes were large without being too dense, the bananas were nicely caramelized, and the cream cheese butter made for a nice finishing touch. All told, it was a very satisfying forkful. Everything else was decent if less memorable, and pricing is reasonable.

 

I don’t know how the lunch offerings measure up, but for a sit-down breakfast, The PepperMill Café is a rock-solid option.

Sedgefield Bagels & Deli

 

Located at 5002-F High Point Road in Greensboro, Sedgefield Bagels & Deli offers bagels and sandwiches for lunch and dinner. It is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekends. Online ordering is available.

 

This Sedgefield shopping center spot has been home to a number of eateries over the years, and the recently-opened Sedgefield Bagels & Deli is the latest to try to stick. The sister location (Oak Ridge Bagels & Deli) seems to be doing well for itself, and the bagels themselves have the proper pedigree (Long Island by way of New Garden bagels), both of which are positive indicators.

 

Another check in the plus column: selection. There were plenty of bagel varieties to choose from when I stopped by this morning. The sandwich offerings include classic egg/cheese/meat or deli combinations, but there is also a willingness here to go outside the box. This includes embracing Southern ingredients (BBQ pork, pimento, hot honey) and upping the non-bagel offerings (everything from salads to loaded fries to Belgian waffles).

 

I stuck to the tried-and-true for my first visit and went with a Taylor ham, egg, and cheese on an everything. It was as tasty a rendition as I’ve had in the other New York-style bagel shops in the area, and at $6.49, it was slightly less than what High Point Bagel is charging these days.

 

As with most bagel shops, seating is limited, but Sedgefield Bagels does have a few tables at its disposal. Since they are new, this may be a pending addition, but a wall menu behind the counter would definitely improve the ordering process.

 

Given the quality (New Garden Bagels can do no wrong), variety, and convenience (about eight minutes from work), I am glad for Sedgefield Bagels’ arrival, and I hope they can last.