The 12 Days of Poke: Sweetcatch on Lexington Avenue

Poke — a dish of uncooked seafood smothered in dressing — was invented in Hawaii, maybe as a hybridized improvement on Japanese sashimi, but also as a celebration of local seafood. From there it traveled to L.A., where, for the past few years, you could seemingly get it all over the city. And now it has arrived here with a bang. Acknowledging the runaway popularity of poke this year, and in observance of its festiveness, we now present a new way to celebrate the holidays in New York City…The Twelve Days of Poke!

On the First Day of Poke, My True Love Gave to Me…

A Classic Hawaiian Shoyu Tuna from Sweetcatch: Served from one of our newest dispensaries in the shadow of Midtown’s ornate Central Synagogue, this elegant tuna poke is of the retro-Hawaiian variety. It contains only rice, greenery, and soy-marinated tuna, further flavored with shreds of onion and scallion and not much else. Two lines of worshipers tangle inside with no seating, so I took my poke out and ate it in late autumn’s cold sunshine!