Gangnam poke restaurant with a self-serve sauce bar: Ola Poke

Hi, this is Jiri :) I've been eating out a lot lately, so I wanted something a bit lighter and healthier for at least one meal a day. That's how I ended up looking into poke restaurants — and found this place, Ola Poke!

When you think of poke, you kind of picture a bowl stuffed with just salad that leaves you hungry again in no time, right? At Ola Poke, you can actually choose your own salad-to-rice ratio, and the meat and toppings are pretty generous too, so it ended up being way more filling than I expected~! If you've been searching for a good poke salad spot near Gangnam Station or a healthy lunch option near Samseong Station, this one's worth checking out~~

📍 Location: 34 Yeongdong-daero 85-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, 102 / ⏰ Hours: Mon-Fri 10:30-20:30, break time 15:00-17:00, last order 20:20, closed weekends

What kind of place is Ola Poke Gangnam? A poke and salad lunch spot in an office district

Ola Poke sells poke and salad so busy office workers can have a quick, healthy meal ~! It's located near Samseong Station, close to COEX, Glass Tower, and the Textile Center, so there are a lot of offices around — and sure enough, there were tons of office workers there when I visited!

Beyond poke, there's a good variety of salad options too, and you can pick your protein — salmon, tuna, tofu, chicken breast, steak — depending on your taste, which makes it great for a diet-friendly meal too :)

The inside of the restaurant felt comfortable enough to eat alone too ~

Sauces, cutlery and even mouthwash: the self-serve corner at Ola Poke Gangnam

And personally, one thing I thought was really thoughtful at Ola Poke! Sesame soy sauce, yuzu soy sauce...? Sauces to go with your poke are set up separately on one side, so you can grab more if you run out! Spoons and forks were also neatly laid out for you to take yourself!

And they even have mouthwash prepared... this place is really made for office workers... ♥ For people who have to head straight back to the office after lunch, little details like this actually matter a lot, don't they?? I loved that they thought of even this level of detail!

And the water wasn't just plain bottled water — they had lemon water and a barley-tea-style drink too, so you could pick whichever you wanted :)

Ordering the Steak Poke at 70% salad, 30% rice

Steak Poke - chosen as 70% salad, 30% rice

What I especially liked about Ola Poke is that you can choose your base exactly how you want it! You can go all salad, all rice, or mix salad and rice in any ratio you like! There's even a pasta base option, so you can put together all kinds of combinations depending on your taste ~~ That day I didn't want to eat only salad, but I still wanted something on the lighter side, so I went with a 70% salad + 30% rice ratio ~

They said the rice uses Canadian oats and domestic brown rice — the oats pop between your teeth while the brown rice adds a nutty, chewy texture, making it way tastier than plain brown rice on its own! If you're trying poke for the first time, mixing in a bit of rice like this seems like a good, unintimidating way to ease into it ~~

I was also surprised by how generous the portion was when I got it! Centered around the steak, it was packed with fresh vegetables, chickpeas, pineapple, corn kernels, onion, flakes, and more ~! With so many different ingredients, the texture changed with every bite, so I never got tired of it all the way through :)!

They also said the vegetables used are European greens like kaipira, butterhead lettuce, and frillice, and there was almost none of that rough texture or bitterness you sometimes get with salad greens — I loved that so much!!!

Is the steak at Ola Poke Gangnam tough?

And now for the most important part — the steak!! With steak poke, if you order the wrong place, the meat can be so tough you have to chew forever ㅠㅠ.. so honestly I hesitated a bit before ordering the steak poke.. ♥ But here — not tough at all!!!! ♥

They said they trim off the fascia and unnecessary fat by hand, and maybe that's why the meat was so tender yet still had a bit of chew to it ~~ Plus the steak itself is lightly seasoned already, so it's plenty tasty even without dousing it in sauce from the start! I ate it plain at first, then started adding a little wasabi sauce partway through — the sharp kick went really well with it :) And the sweet-tangy pineapple mixed in here and there kept it from ever feeling heavy, even while eating meat the whole time!

If I'd only had salad it might have felt a bit empty, but going with 70% salad, 30% rice meant I got plenty of fresh vegetables plus the oat-brown rice — it was just right! If you're looking for poke salad near Gangnam Station and want something more filling than a typical low-portion diet meal, this combination seems like a really good option ~~

Is a poke bowl at Ola Poke Gangnam filling enough for a diet lunch?

I used to think that with poke being a health food, you had to sacrifice some flavor or fullness — but Ola Poke was way more filling and genuinely delicious than I expected!! What I liked most was being able to choose the salad-to-rice ratio myself :) On days you want just vegetables, go all salad; on days you want something heartier, raise the rice ratio — you can adjust it to match whatever you're craving that day!!

Above all, the steak was tender and chewy, not tough at all, so the steak poke was completely satisfying! With plenty of toppings like vegetables, chickpeas, corn, and pineapple, I enjoyed the whole bowl to the very last bite ~~

I'd recommend this to office workers looking for a lunch spot near Samseong Station or COEX, or to anyone looking for a light-but-filling healthy meal, like poke salad near Gangnam Station :)! If you're dieting and sick of eating chicken breast every single day.......... and wish salad could actually be filling for once........ try mixing your own base combo at Ola Poke ~~ ♥