Happi Recipes With Poke Me Geelong

We believe your daily lifestyle and diet play a huge part in feeling confident & happy in yourself from the inside out! At YPC we try to stay as balanced as we can in our diet and eat as many happy colourful fruits, vegetable and fresh produce as possible!

One of our absolute favourite go-to meals is a fresh Poke Bowl. We particularly love the fresh & health Poke Bowls Poke Me Geelong!

We spoke to Sarah Cook, the owner of Poke Me Geelong to hear what inspires her and what she love the most about owning and running her own Poke Business. Plus she has shared her favourite Poke Bowl recipe on the menu at Poke Me Geelong for you to try at home!

Poke Me Geelong is located at 91 Little Malop St, Geelong, Victoria. Use code: YOGIPEACECLUB to receive 15% off your Poke Me Geelong order online or in-store.

YPC: Tell us a little bit about yourself and your Poke Me Geelong store?

Sarah: I would say I am a pretty driven and motivated person and I've always aspired to make something for myself. I have worked in a lot of different industries but hospitality is by far my favourite. I love that I can make people happy and feel good through food. This definitely extends into my home life, i spend as much time as i can in the kitchen and i get excited to cook for others. In saying that it's more of a new found passion since opening Poke Me Geelong, being surrounded by food all of the time has opened up this whole new creative world for me and i feel very lucky to have it.

YPC: What inspired you to open your business?

I believed there was a niche in the market here in Geelong with there being a lack of healthy, affordable and convenient restaurant options. I had spent some time living in Melbourne and realised how popular poke was there and since i had always wanted to have my own business it just seemed like the right move. It was also really great timing as many corporate offices opened in the area and Little Malop St really became a Geelong food destination.

YPC: What do you love the most about running your own business?

Sarah: I love people and good food! I'm surrounded by what I love all day and that's important to me, work should be fun and so i've made sure i've created a fun environment for my staff, customers and myself. I have also formed some amazing relationships with other business owners in the area who are super passionate about what they do so it keeps me motivated.

YPC: What does a typical day at Poke Me Geelong look like?

Sarah: It starts with a lot of deliveries of all of our fresh veg and seafood. We spend about 2 hours prepping everything in the morning before lunch hits. Then we are into service, lunch is our favourite part of the day as this is when we get the most customers and we get a lot of regular customers which makes our day even more enjoyable. After lunch we re prep again in the afternoon ready for dinner service, we stay open during this time for those who want a late lunch or early dinner. Then we get into dinner service which consists of a lot of Uber and Deliveroo orders followed by our pack down ready for the next day.

YPC: How important is a balanced diet and eating plenty of rainbow foods to you?

The biggest part about a balanced diet for me is fresh and light food that has plenty of flavour which can be achieved with good quality ingredients and plenty of fresh herbs and seasonings. I try to stay away from gluten as my stomach does not agree with it and we find that this is the case with alot of our customers too. Dietary restrictions and requirements have become a huge part of peoples eating and it's great that we can cater for this in so many ways through gluten free food, vegetarian and vegan options and even those on keto and low FODMAP diets.

YPC: What is your favourite Happi Poke Bowl recipe?

My go to favourite Happi Poke recipe is a bowl with Yellowfin diced tuna, i use rice noodles as my base, with toppings of corn, carrot, edamame, kimchi and seaweed salad, dressed with a wasabi mayonnaise (GF), pickled ginger, black sesame seeds, spring onion and fresh slices of lemon.