A thirty day period ahead of the pandemic strike the U.S., Eric Choi and his brother, Inseok Jang, resolved to open up up a cafe that they saw a current market for in the Auburn-Opelika spot.
Considering the fact that then, their decision to open up a fast serving poke and ramen restaurant identified as Pokémen, they have continued their cafe even with the limitations the pandemic may possibly have introduced.
Despite the fact that poke is a Hawaiian dish, Eric Choi, the manager of Pokémen, claimed he has discovered that numerous Japanese eating places all-around serve poke. He also observed a hole in the current market for a swift-eats halt for poke and ramen bowls, he mentioned.
“Our cafe is not [a] high-quality dining restaurant,” Choi stated. “We tried to make it straightforward for the pattern for the reason that even if there was no pandemic our restaurant is 50% to-go orders.”
Although they offer other Japanese meals these as dumplings and ramen, poke bowls are their most well-known dishes, Choi mentioned.
Pokémen serves five distinct varieties of ramen bowls, together with udon, and customizable poke bowls. Given that poke bowls are manufactured up of clean fish and veggies, Choi mentioned the cafe is planning foods up to 4 times a working day.
“The buyers see, our station is open,” Choi stated.
If viewing the fresh fish and veggies staying ready was not ample, Choi mentioned that he eats from the restaurant virtually each and every working day.
“I even now have a poke bowl and a ramen bowl every single day,” Choi explained.
He said that there are so many choices when developing a poke bowl that it can be distinctive each and every day.
Choi stated he has some day-to-day or frequent customers that decide on to take in most of their lunches or foods from Pokémen as perfectly.
Choi described wanting to set new dishes on the menu when possible.
“My brother and I are seeking to make yet another recipe,” Choi explained.
He hopes to provide stir-fry noodles or Japanese chicken katsu to the menu in the long run if achievable.
Pokémen is situated on Frederick Street in close proximity to Opelika and presents curbside select up and supply.
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