Kanu Poke, quite possibly the most colourful restaurant in Shrewsbury, with food to match. Vegan and Gluten free but appealing to all who like good tasty food.

Shropshire Star

Watch Kanu Poke, quite possibly the most colourful restaurant in Shrewsbury, with food to match. Vegan and Gluten free but appealing to all who like good tasty food. - Shropshire Star on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00So we're here in Shrewsbury at Canoe Poké, an amazing, vibrant, colourful restaurant.

00:06Who have we got, guys? You're the bosses. You're the creators. Who are you?

00:11Go on, you go first.

00:12Oh, me first.

00:14I'm George.

00:18George and...

00:19Katie.

00:20Katie.

00:21And, guys, tell us Canoe Poké. I mean, first off, I've learnt it's Poké, isn't it?

00:26And Poké, it's got a meaning. What is a Poké?

00:30It's a Hawaiian word, so it comes from slice or dice.

00:33So it's a Hawaiian-style salad with rice base at the bottom,

00:37and then lots of different fruits, vegetables, ferments, pickles,

00:40a main bit in the middle, and then sauce, garnish.

00:44Yeah, vibrant, punchy flavours.

00:47So talk us through kind of the ethos of your restaurant, then.

00:50What's it all about?

00:51It's vegan and gluten-free.

00:53And nut-free.

00:54Yeah, so, yeah, just talk us through that, then.

00:57So we started as a takeaway from home.

01:00It wasn't quite nut-free then, but we've always been gluten-free.

01:03You know, with the rice base, that's kind of how we advertise.

01:07And we make everything from scratch,

01:09so it's really nice to know everything that goes into the food.

01:12But by niching down, being gluten-free, nut-free, vegan,

01:15it makes it more accessible.

01:17We're both vegan ourselves and have been for four years.

01:19Yeah.

01:21So, you know, providing things that we really love.

01:24Yeah.

01:25And you even make your own ice cream.

01:27I couldn't believe that when I came in.

01:29I thought perhaps you'd bought some vegan ice cream in,

01:31but no, it's your creation.

01:33That's right, isn't it?

01:33Everything is homemade.

01:35So we're like, you can buy anything in.

01:37A lot of R&D.

01:39Yeah.

01:39Just to make life difficult for ourselves.

01:42Well, even the colourful decor, that was homemade.

01:45That's your creation, isn't it?

01:46Yeah, it's an ongoing process.

01:48Yeah, well, I mean, it's beautiful.

01:50And it's quite large.

01:51How many people can you seat here?

01:53So we're a 36-seat restaurant.

01:55Yeah.

01:56Upstairs, downstairs.

01:57And we can do, like, really long tables as well.

01:59So we do, like, big party events.

02:01Oh, yeah, so people can kind of almost book a little space

02:04for an event, a birthday.

02:05Yeah.

02:05Yeah, we had a group of 36, 38, a couple of weeks ago.

02:10Yeah.

02:10So we booked the entire place out, and we did, you know,

02:14full menu and drinks and everything else.

02:16Yeah.

02:17So it started as a business from home then?

02:19Yeah.

02:20Yeah.

02:20So we actually met each other in lockdown.

02:22Oh.

02:22And then shortly after, we set up.

02:25Yeah, during the second lockdown.

02:26Yeah, and we talked about the idea.

02:28Yeah.

02:28And then we set the business up from our home kitchen originally,

02:30doing, like, takeaway.

02:32So how would that, so were you delivering out from home?

02:34Is that how it was working?

02:35Yeah, literally from our home kitchen.

02:37Yeah, we were just using Shrewsbury's as our delivery platform.

02:40Yeah.

02:41So, yeah, we've used them since day one.

02:44Yeah.

02:44So, like, George's background is, like, chefing and restaurants,

02:47and I'm, like, an artist.

02:49Yeah.

02:49I'm a promoter, so I can, so together we're, like,

02:52combined forces.

02:53Yeah.

02:53Creation.

02:54Yeah.

02:55Yeah, well, it works a treat.

02:57I mean, you know, the decor's there,

02:58and then you've got the food, so yeah, perfect.

03:00Talk us through some other bits on your menu then,

03:02some kind of, you know, favourite dishes

03:03that you kind of want to highlight.

03:06Oh, my favourite poke bowl is the fire bowl.

03:09So that's crispy fried tofu with our own kind of fire sauce.

03:13We make our own sriracha as well,

03:14so slightly fermented chilli sauce,

03:16but lots of different kind of pickles,

03:18adding the kimchi as well,

03:20that are spicy corn cheese.

03:21Yeah, hit on that one.

03:22Yeah, yeah.

03:23Yeah.

03:24I think mine might be, like,

03:24the vegan chicken and waffle,

03:25because we make all our own meats as well,

03:27so marinate and TVP and, like,

03:32either fry it or put it in the oven.

03:35Yeah.

03:35Yeah, that's, yeah,

03:36waffle with a kind of salsa

03:37and then miso caramel sauce.

03:39Yeah.

03:40Yeah.

03:40All homemade.

03:42I think being a man who has a vegan wife,

03:46I thought vegan restaurants were just for vegan people.

03:49They're not, are they?

03:51No.

03:51You know, I've had some of the best meals

03:53I've ever had in vegan restaurants

03:55when I've kind of been in the oven.

03:57It was a real eye-opener.

03:59So I guess that's something you'd like

04:00to kind of get out there

04:01and stress to people, really.

04:03Yeah, I mean,

04:04you'd never have boiled chicken breast

04:06with nothing else,

04:07so all seasonings are vegan anyways.

04:09Yeah.

04:10There's so much you can do with food

04:12more than just looking at a vegetable

04:14as the secondary or tertiary kind of part to a dish.

04:18I think a lot more thought goes into it.

04:21That's what I think, yeah, yeah.

04:22A bit more understanding

04:23about how things work and why

04:24and, yeah, it kind of brings a bit more excitement

04:28and enjoyment in the kitchen as well.

04:30Yeah.

04:30It makes it a lot more creative

04:31having these, like, constraints.

04:33Yeah.

04:33And, like, being gluten-free,

04:35that comes with its, like, own problems,

04:38but also it's great.

04:40It's easy getting full

04:42but not heavy as well.

04:44Yeah, yeah.

04:45And one thing I've learned as well,

04:47that people who are gluten-free,

04:50like, as in full-on gluten-free,

04:51they very much know

04:53they need to be not eating gluten.

04:55But actually, a lot of us

04:56would find that we would actually benefit

04:59from eating potentially less or no gluten.

05:02You know, we might have a little niggle

05:04and we don't necessarily think,

05:05well, that's because I've eaten gluten.

05:07But often, you know,

05:08that can be a factor, can't it?

05:09So it's quite a good thing to try, really.

05:11Yeah, and particularly, like,

05:13some bread out there that are so processed.

05:16Just having a variety and a diet,

05:18so not just eating the same thing day in, day out.

05:20You know, eating 30 different fruits,

05:24vegetables, pulses.

05:27Yeah, it's not too difficult

05:28to squeeze them into your diet

05:29once you kind of branch out

05:31and try different cuisines,

05:33not just, you know,

05:34the same pasta dish day in day out.

05:35Yeah, yeah, definitely.

05:37And puddings,

05:38you got a decent selection of puddings

05:39on the vegan gluten-free, yeah?

05:41Yeah.

05:41Well, our homemade ice creams

05:43is probably, like, the most popular.

05:44Yeah.

05:45We do, like, four flavours at a time.

05:46Yeah.

05:46And we sell them on our takeaway as well.

05:49So you can just come and grab that any day.

05:51Mochi donuts.

05:52Mochi donuts.

05:53They're really popular.

05:54Yeah, little chewy balls.

05:55I love those, actually.

05:56They're really good.

05:57And then we do waffles as well,

05:59which is gluten-free,

05:59which I think people would quite like.

06:01It's quite hard to do that.

06:02Yeah.

06:03Cool.

06:04And in terms of kind of expanding

06:07and moving on from the restaurant,

06:09you also do a bit of catering

06:11outside of the venue, yeah?

06:13Yeah.

06:14Yeah cater.

06:15Cater weddings, parties.

06:17All sorts, really.

06:18Yeah.

06:19But it's kind of, from our menu,

06:20a lot of ideas from that,

06:22all sorts, don't we?

06:23Yeah, comprise.

06:24But more the nice thing

06:25about the fusion thing

06:26is, you know,

06:27pulling in flavours

06:28from anywhere that kind of borders

06:30the Pacific,

06:30and that's, like,

06:31a third of the world,

06:33you know, America's, Asia.

06:35So when we cater events,

06:36basically, yeah,

06:37we can do all sorts.

06:38And obviously,

06:39being gluten-free and vegan

06:40and nut-free,

06:41it can be really accessible

06:42for people.

06:43Yeah.

06:44We recently catered one

06:45a couple of weeks ago,

06:45didn't we?

06:46And there was quite a lot

06:47of allergies to cater for.

06:49Yeah.

06:49We managed to do it

06:50really easily

06:50with what we're doing.

06:52Yeah.

06:53Futs everyone at ease.

06:54Directly.

06:55Directly.

06:56Fantastic.

06:56Well, we wish you all

06:57the best going forward.

06:58It's certainly

06:59the most colourful

07:00restaurant I've been into.

07:02It's gorgeous inside here.

07:03That's what we're trying to do.

07:04Yeah, it's fantastic.

07:05Well done, guys.

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