Company opens rebranded store following acquisition of Island Poke as it grows to 35 serving a range of dishes including sushi and rice bowls
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“My go-to is always poke – the Honi Salmon with chilli garlic sauce, mango, edamame beans, pickled cucumber, spring onions, sesame seeds and smashed avocado,” said Richard De La Cruz, head of food at Honi Poke Group.
“I probably eat poke four times a week and that dish at least twice – it’s my favourite. We go through 150 tonnes of mangoes a year and there’s a reason for that.”
Richard’s advice isn’t to be taken lightly.
Born in Ecuador, he discovered a passion for cooking at a young age, training and working in his home country before travelling to Mallorca to study at the Ma Escola D’Hoteleria De Les Illes Balears.
A head chef by aged 19, he said: “I was well known for my bad temper back then”.
A career in Spain followed, cooking in a succession of Michelin-starred restaurants including with three-star Quinque Dacosta.
Moving to London in 2014 to follow through on his ambition to learn English, he worked at Coya for three years before his career took him to France and the Caribbean as an executive chef.
Somehow, in 2017, he found time between private gigs to sit down with Honi Poke founders Volodymyr Martynov and Kosta Varesko to develop and then refine the startup’s menu.
Poke, a Hawaiian dish roughly akin to deconstructed sushi, features diced, marinated raw fish served over rice or salad with a variety of toppings.
It became popular in London in the mid 2010s with the arrival of Island Poke, which opened its Canary Wharf restaurant in 2017.
Following the brand’s acquisition by Honi Poke, that site at Crossrail Place has now been relaunched with a new look and a fresh offering for Wharfers.
In addition to standardised poke bowls and the popular build-your-own option, the business serves up ramen, poke burritos, grab-and-go sushi and warm rice bowls with toppings of Miso Salmon, Gochujang Chicken and Chicken Katsu Curry.
“While we are in the process of converting our Island Poke shops, we will be preserving the brand within the organisation by keeping the Bow Lane branch,” said Richard.
“We don’t think of this change as replacing Island – it’s always been a great brand and we have a project to incorporate it into our stores more widely.
“Honi Poke has 35 shops now and we’re looking to grow a bit more as we rebrand the former Island stores.”
always fresh, no compromise
Richard himself rejoined the business after spending time back in Spain with Quique Dacosta and then in London for the celebrated Spanish cook as group executive chef of Arros QD off Oxford Street.
“Although I’d created the original menus, joining in 2023 is when I first felt I was really working for Honi Poke – before I’d always been more in a consultative role,” he said.
“One of the things that still amazes me about the business is that the recipes have not been changed.
“We’ve added new things, but there’s been no compromise on the quality – that’s why it’s a great brand.
“Over the years I’ve been approached by suppliers saying things like: ‘You must taste this frozen salmon..’ but that sort of thing is not negotiable.
“It has to be fresh or we’re just not doing it.
“I always remember my father telling me that you have to learn from the lessons of others. We’ve seen other companies who have taken shortcuts crash out of business.
“That’s a mirror and one we always have to be looking in.
“Fortunately, now we’ve grown and so, because we are bigger, we can negotiate better prices – you can’t always charge people more when costs rise.
“There are lots of competitors in Canary Wharf, but we see that as something very healthy. This is a place people come for good food now.
“Hopefully they decide to try us – I think there are enough customers for everyone.
“While the build-your-own-bowl option is the most popular, we also make it easy with a range of signature bowls.
“We’ve tried to create something to suit every customer who walks through the door, so if they want poke, they can have it or grab some sushi if that’s how they’re feeling.”
a specific, Pacific partnership
Becoming a bigger brand also means more opportunities and Honi Poke is now partnering with the likes of Disney.
To mark the release of the entertainment giant’s live action version of Moana, limited edition Find Your Wave poke bowls will be available until July 31, 2026.
“It took us six months to make sure this collaboration was right and we’re very pleased to be representing this launch,” said Richard.
“We’ve tapped into Polynesian flavours to create the bowl to match the story of the movie.”
Priced at £12.95, those ordering will get fresh tuna, a green coconut curry sauce, mango, edamame beans and smashed avocado on a base of coconut rice all topped off with coriander, coconut flakes and lime.
Visitors to Honi Poke stores during the promotion will also have the chance to win up to £1,000 in credit with the brand.
While 2026 has largely been a time of consolidation for the brand, following its acquisition of Island Poke, Wharfers can expect to see more branches in future.
“This year we went easy on expansion, although on Monday I was asked by my founder to take a look a some new sites,” said Richard.
“Of course our goal is to grow a bit more. Island Poke has nine shops in France, which are now part of our group and so we’re looking into conversion here.
“We’ve also always had a lot of requests for franchises.
“At the moment, all of our shops are run by us directly, but there could be potential in the future for us to listen to that market too.
“It was not the original purpose of the business – that was to grow the core company – but the franchise model is now something we’re looking into.”
key details: Honi Poke in Canary Wharf
Honi Poke’s Canary Wharf branch is located at Crossrail Place.
The restaurant is open from 11am-9.30pm, Monday to Thursday, from 11am-9pm on Fridays, from noon-6.30pm on Saturdays and from noon-4pm on Sundays.
You can find out more about the brand here
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