Member Article

Nottingham Hawaiian restaurant scoops Good Food Award

The Midlands’ first Hawaiian poké bar, Pokéwaves, has been crowned a winner at the Good Food Awards 2020 in Nottingham.

Located in the intu Victoria Centre in Nottingham city, Pokéwaves specialises in serving up fast and fresh Poké dishes (pronounced poke-ay), offering oceanic inspired tropical cuisine, originally invented by fishermen who would season raw cut-offs from their daily catch known as ‘Pohkay’ and eat whilst sat on their boats.

A classic poké bowl typically comprises raw marinated ahi or yellowfin tuna, yuzu salmon, cooked chicken or tofu, with a serving of sticky rice and power-packed pickles, salads and vegetables.

The awards – which recognise and celebrate hard-working establishments that strive for culinary excellence within their fields – are accessible by invitation only, with organisers hand picking restaurants, takeaways and gastro pubs to enter and join the prestigious awards programme.

Entrants are judged on delicious dishes, ranking amongst competitors, consistently positive customer feedback and excellent food hygiene.

The judges felt that Pokéwaves has demonstrated exceptional levels of food quality, service and value, as well as highly positive customer feedback compared with industry benchmarks in the same category.

Co-owners Kent Hau and Kelvin Lam are the foodie entrepreneurs behind the restaurant, and they selected Nottingham as the first location for Pokéwaves after meeting at university in the city.

Kent said: “Myself, Kelvin and the rest of the Pokéwaves team are so pleased to have won a Good Food Award and to be recognised as a stand-out dining experience in the city is something we’ve always strived to achieve.

“This is our first year in business and we’re over the moon to have already secured an award which is testament to our hard-working team, delicious meals and fresh ingredients from local suppliers.

“Whilst there are a few Poké restaurants in London, it has just started to catch on elsewhere in the UK – a relatively unknown, but flavourful incredibly healthy cuisine with an interesting origin.”

The restaurant also received an honourable mention in the Best Café/Express outlet category at the Nottinghamshire Food and Drink Awards last month.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Georgina .