Potsdam – The “Frankfurter Allgemeine” raved about the “taking the urban food scene by storm” and listed the metropolises of the new food trend: Hamburg, Cologne, Leipzig, Munich, Berlin. But even in Potsdam, the Hawaiian national dish, poké, has been on some menus for a long time. The “Ma Loa Poké Bowl” chain is now offering the dish, which actually comes from the US American archipelago in the Central Pacific, with a multitude of ingredients twice, at Friedrich-Ebert-Straße 13 and in the passage in the main station from Hawaii.
There is something special about the chain of 20 shops across Germany, which are more snack bars than restaurants, on Friedrich-Ebert-Strasse: This is probably the only offshoot that employs a qualified shipbuilding engineer as managing director and boss of five part-time employees. Born in a city between the capital Hanoi in northern Vietnam and Hoi An, probably the most charming city in the country, Van Thanh Nguyen studied in Kiel and is happy about his job: “Good atmosphere, nice employees and a new trend that is growing enjoys an ever-increasing demand.”
Crunchy, crunchy or soft
It’s really a new way of eating that’s breaking ground. “Poke” is served in the bowls (bowls), sliced meat, sliced fish and vegetables on rice, complemented by your choice of nutrient-rich ingredients such as cucumber strips, seeds, sprouts and nuts, also seaweed salad and edamame beans, the immature harvested soybeans and peanut kernels. All the ingredients are clearly visible on the counter, and depending on the dressing, the bowls are available with a sweet, spicy or salty note, crispy, crunchy or soft.
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Managing Director Nguyen swears by the indisputably high nutrient content of the ingredients, he likes to say that a number of active people from the local fitness studios stop by and order bowls. The extensive menu includes the “Poké Bowl Shrimps” for 11.50 euros with sushi rice, zucchini noodles, shrimp and more, for 9.50 euros a bowl with smoked tofu and for 14 euros the “Forest Beetroot Bowl”, with salmon, cucumber, beetroot, kale, sesame, apple salad and cashew nuts – a surprising potpourri of diverse tastes. Also a taste experience: the “Tropical Kino” smoothie made from pineapple, mango, maple cherry, coconut milk, passion fruit and apple for 4.90 euros.
Sustainability is a top priority in the “Ma Loa Poke Bowl”. The restaurant, which is particularly popular with younger and middle-aged guests, is plastic-free, offers drinks only in glass bottles and cutlery made only from wood and serviettes made from recycled waste paper. “That goes down well with our guests,” says Nguyen.
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