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Left to right, co-owner Mustafa Kazmi, co-owner Ausaja Kazmi and head chef Justino Garcia at the new Poké Munch restaurant in Edwardsville.

Diners enjoy lunch on Tuesday at the new Poké Munch restaurant in Edwardsville.

This is the counter at the new Poké Munch restaurant in Edwardsville, located at at 1063 Illinois Route 157, Suite 12, in the University Pointe 1 Shopping Center.

This is the menu at the new Poké Munch restaurant in Edwardsville.

A mural at the new Poké Munch in Edwardsville was hand painted by a longtime customer at the restaurant’s Creve Coeur location. It depicts a Maui’s Fury, the most popular poké bowl at Poké Munch.

Diners enjoy lunch on Tuesday at the new Poké Munch restaurant in Edwardsville.

It took a little longer than expected for Poké Munch to open its new restaurant in Edwardsville, but it was worth the wait.

The Hawaiian restaurant opened on Monday, July 18 at 1063 Illinois Route 157, Suite 12, in the University Pointe 1 Shopping Center. It is the second location for Poké Munch, which has a popular St. Louis County restaurant in Creve Coeur.

Brothers Ausaja Kazmi and Mustafa Kazmi, who worked at the Creve Coeur location, are co-owners of the Edwardsville restaurant. Justino Garcia has stepped into a new role as the head chef after being junior chef at Creve Coeur.

The Edwardsville location, which was supposed to open sometime in June, will be open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

“We had a soft opening on Saturday (July 16) with friends and family, with some random people coming in as well, but Monday was our first actual day open,” Ausaja Kazmi said.

“We ran through a lot of challenges in getting ready to open, including furniture, flooring and all sorts of things. But all of the significant issues have been solved and we’re open and running and trying to bring joy to all of our customers.”

A first visit to Poké Munch, at lunchtime on Tuesday, was impressive while ordering one of the restaurant’s signature bowls and a side dish.

I had the Crispy Hei Hei (No. 5 on the menu), which featured sesame chicken tempura served over rice and fresh vegetables. It was tasty and crispy as advertised, with a portion size that didn’t leave me hungry.

“The Crispy Hei Hei has white rice, carrots, cucumbers, cabbage, sweet onion and shiitake mushrooms with PM (Poké Munch) sauce and unagi sauce with garlic on top of the chicken,” Ausaja Kazmi said. “It’s one of our most popular dishes. PM is our house sauce with a mild sriracha mayo and unagi is an eel sauce with sweet soy, kind of like a teriyaki.

“Unagi sauce is good with anything that has a sweet flavor, especially chicken and fish,” Mustafa Kazmi added. “A lot of our customers like unagi with the salmon. It’s very labor intensive – the unagi takes about three days to make and it’s our most expensive sauce. We’re probably losing money on it, but people love the sauce, and we like to bring it to the customers.”

As a side dish, I had the shiitake mushroom pot stickers with Aloha sauce. The crispy pot stickers were a pleasant alternative to those usually served at Chinese restaurants.

“The pot stickers have bok choy, mushrooms and other vegetables inside and they’re vegan,” Ausaja said. “We serve them with the Aloha sauce, which is a garlic-infused soy sauce.

“The way I eat the pot stickers is different than everyone else. I’ll bite off the tip of the pot sticker, pour in the sauce and eat it, and it gushes out with flavor.”

To wash down my lunch, I enjoyed a bottle of Bundaberg ginger beer from Australia, which is among an eclectic selection of beverages at Poké Munch.

“We have a wide variety of drinks, and my personal favorite is the Bundaberg ginger beer,” Ausaja said. “It has no preservatives and it’s one of the best ginger beers out there. We also have a collection of sodas from Fitz’s in St. Louis.”

The menu at Poké Munch Edwardsville, like the Creve Coeur restaurant, is built around poké, which is cubed raw fish, seasoned any way you want it.

In the first couple of days at the Edwardsville location, the customers were a mix of poké lovers and people who had heard about the Hawaiian-style food and wanted to try it.

“Some people have had poké and it’s usually the people that have gone to Hawaii,” Ausaja said. “They think it’s great and they’re glad that we’re bringing it here.

“Then there are those who have never had poké and we’re introducing them to this new food. If you love raw and if you love good food, come over.”

In addition to chicken, Poké Munch offers a wide variety of protein choices on its menu.

“I think we have the perfect balance of diversity,” Mustafa said. “If you like raw fish, we have plenty of items. The Aloha Classic and Maui’s Fury are probably our most favorite bowls, but you always have an opportunity to build your own with things like ahi tuna, spicy tuna or salmon.

“For people that don’t like raw fish, we have plenty of proteins like chicken tempura, tempura shrimp and regular steamed shrimp. You can choose the best of both worlds and we might even come with some more new dishes soon.”

Ausaja noted that Poké Munch also features a vegan bowl, Avocoloco (No. 3 on the menu), which features sweet chili tofu, spring mix, cucumber, sweet onion, avocado, shiitake mushroom, edamame, yellow daikon, crispy wonton and sesame ginger mayo.

“It was a favorite in Creve Coeur for all of the vegans there and I’m sure the vegans here will love it too,” Ausaja said. “You can replace the protein for that with our tofu fries, which are made in-house as well, and you can have the tofu crisp or soft.”

A tempting selection of sides, including the shiitake mushroom pot stickers, adds to the diversity of the menu at Poké Munch.

“We have the tempura shrimp, which is also No. 4 on the menu, and the tofu fries,” Mustafa said. “We also have the sesame chicken tempura tenders, which are marinated overnight in a lot of different sauces and breaded and fried every single day.

“The sweet potato waffle fries are another favorite. A side dish of those is always packed and they’re really good.”

For Ausaja Kazmi, a former student at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, opening a restaurant in Edwardsville is like coming full circle.

“I went to SIUE for two years and it was great, and we were talking to our majority owner (Nadeem Hosseini (owner and co-founder of the Creve Coeur location) about starting a second location,” Ausaja said. “I told him I used to go to SIUE and it’s a college town and I thought it would be a great location.

“There are not a lot of poké or raw fish options in Edwardsville or the nearby communities. I said we can come over here and give back to the community and add a little flavor to the restaurant scene.”

For more information, visit Poke Munch on Facebook.

Scott Marion is a feature reporter for the Intelligencer. A longtime sportswriter, he has worked for the Intelligencer since December 2013. He is a graduate of Brentwood High School and the University of Missouri School of Journalism.