“We’d love to set up a tasting.”

ME TOO, GUYS. ME TOO.

Really, there’s nothing Instagram-related that I enjoy more than receiving that glorious invitation to try food.

When I first discovered Kyoto Poke and Ramen (@kyotopokeandramen), I laughed at how those two specific foods are ones I pretty much enjoy the most on the planet. I really honestly could eat poke every day of my life. Or ramen. A combo of the two? That’s where you’ll find me. Heaven is where these two things exist in one divine place.

So my Dad and I popped into this heaven-sent place on a hot Tuesday afternoon for a highly anticipated tasting. The outside of the shop is unassuming, in a Rancho Santa Margarita strip mall that genuinely confused my GPS. You enter, and you’re met with a medium sized restaurant with wooden wall and table accents.

We met our waitress, and were treated to some Asahi beer. Sapporo and Asahi are actually two of my favorite beers (the ones that aren’t the fancy craft beers, of course) - because they’re light and crisp. One of my best friends and I are particularly fond of gas station Sapporo poured into Starbucks cups during music festivals where the beer is $18 instead of $1.99, but I guess that’s a story for another day.

My one regret is not remembering our waitresses’ name. I literally repeated it in my head five times so I wouldn’t forget. But I procrastinated writing this, and it was about a month ago. In my head I’m calling her Mary. It’s probably wrong. But Mary was delightful, and told us how they made their ramen broth from only the best parts of the bones and meat.

We then nommed on some edamame after we made our food choices. It was a no-brainer for me to order the Big Joe ramen. It had the most meat in it. Yep. Then I chose to load my poke bowl up with salmon, tuna, and spicy tuna. Mary also recommended the spicy fried chicken (THANK YOU, probably Mary.)

So here’s the thing. The down-low. The scoop.

This was literally the best poke bowl I’ve ever had.

I’ve had a lot of poke bowls. Off the top of my head, I can tell you I’ve been to Poki Ya, Poke Project, Poke Tiki, Poke Dot, Bear Flag...and those are just the ones I thought of in ten seconds. Those poke bowls were pretty good. I frequent Poki Ya because it’s a good price and it’s close to my house. But Kyoto’s poke bowl blows that fish out of the water.

It was stacked, you guys. You get a ton of fish, it’s super fresh, and it melts in your mouth. Their sauce was perfectly tangy and balanced, which just added to the whole flavor combo. Everything was like a big harmonious blend of flavors that I want to eat each day of my life. Ugh. I’m jealous of my past self for eating it.

We almost got our chicken as an afterthought, but when we tasted it, it became a mainthought. It was indeed spicy, but not so much you have to sign up for a challenge when you’re eating it. It was also finger-lickin’ good. Crunchy and crisp and full of tender meat inside. I want to get these Postmated to my door, stat. I willed my stomach to not get full yet, because there was just so much goodness all around, waiting to be tasted.

So it listened. And then there was the Big Joe. Ah, Big Joe. I liked spending time with you. You were fun and full of tasty morsels. Really, Big Joe was like, really, really tasty. Look at all that gosh darn pork. It was soaked in that signature dank broth that Mary was telling us about, and perfectly fall-apart-on-your-fork good. Don’t let anyone tell you you’re Big, Joe. You’re amazing just the way you are. Full-bodied and savory.

I used to say I was always on the hunt for the best poke bowl out there. What will I say now?

I Go to a Poke and Ramen Tasting