I Was Wrong About Pokawa

I'll be honest: I thought Pokawa was going to be rubbish.

You know the type. Chain restaurant, "healthy" branding, bowls that look amazing on Instagram and taste like refrigerated sadness. I'd walked past it a dozen times and never felt the pull. But Rithika wanted to try it today, and I'm not about to say no to lunch with her.

So we went. And I'm writing this because I need to publicly admit I was wrong.

The bowl

I went custom: spicy rice base, fried chicken, red cabbage, mango, passion fruit, onions, edamame, and carrots. On paper it sounds like someone raided the fridge and threw everything together. In practice? Every single ingredient had a job. The spicy rice brought heat, the mango and passion fruit cut through it with sweetness, the edamame and carrots gave it crunch, and the fried chicken tied it all together with something satisfying and indulgent.

The red cabbage is the unsung hero here. It adds this slightly peppery bite that keeps you from falling into a sugar-and-spice loop. And the portion was genuinely generous. I left full, not in a "I need to lie down" way but in a "that was exactly right" way.

The vibe shift

What got me is how wrong my assumptions were. I had Pokawa filed away in the "overpriced salad chain" category, somewhere between Exki and a sad desk lunch. But the freshness is real, the combinations actually work, and the whole build-your-own-bowl thing means you can dial it in exactly how you want.

Rithika liked hers too, which is the real stamp of approval.

The verdict

I think we'll go back. Probably often. It's quick, it's good, it's not going to wreck your afternoon with a food coma. For Paris, where "fast and healthy" usually means either a 14 euro smoothie or a sad pre-made sandwich from Carrefour, Pokawa actually fills a gap.

Sometimes you just need to try the thing you've been dismissing. Lesson learned.