Business Franchise Australia

Poké Me Redefines the Health Restaurant Category

Poké Me is a young, innovative restaurant brand changing how we eat – one bowl at a time.

The Poké Me brand is renowned around Melbourne and Adelaide for redefining the traditional Hawaiian Poké bowl, fusing it together unique Japanese flavours and fresh ingredients to create thousands of combinations.

The Poké Me journey began in 2015 while founders Leigh Morgan and Toby Yap were travelling extensively through Asia, North America and Europe, researching the latest in food and beverage health concepts that may have application to the Asia Pacific market.

“The Hawaiian Poké food style jumped out, as it was just starting to find traction in LA, New York and San Francisco,” explains Toby. “Besides being a healthy QSR alternative it had great synergies to popular Japanese food styles, sushi in particular.”

When the boys launched the first Poké Me restaurant in 2016 in South Yarra, their aim was to redefine the traditional Hawaiian Poké bowl through the fusion of a Japanese inspired flavour spectrum across a broad mix of fresh ingredients.

Today, the concept has evolved to become a fully immersive Health Bowl Bar. “We wanted to increase our offering to encompass a large selection of delicious, healthy ingredients that give customers the ability to build an infinite number of wholesome bowls with tasty flavour combinations,” said Leigh.

Poké Me now has a national footprint with three established sites, two in Melbourne – located in South Yarra and Hawthorn – and the other situated in the Adelaide CBD. All three restaurants have been warmly received by food critics, bloggers and most importantly their loyal customer base.

Building on this early success, Poké Me is an energetic brand that is committed to developing and providing customers with a truly bespoke experience. This has seen a revamp of their menu format, doubling the choice of options customers can use to build their delicious healthy bowls. There are six new protein choices, from falafel to pulled pork through to the traditional seafood options, putting a unique spin on the traditional Hawaiian salad.

The colourful, healthy and customisable options at Poké Me have made them a leader in the healthy food space, as they evolve their brand further as the premier ‘Health Bowl Bar’.

This is only the beginning for this prominent brand’s success and growth plans. The Poké Me team are planning to open five new Health Bowl Bars on the Eastern seaboard this year, with a number of new locations already confirmed. The group intend to solidify their presence in major cities including Brisbane, Sydney and Perth, as well as in popular suburbs around the country, this year and into 2019.