Sometimes the best way to find your next go-to food joint in Seattle’s Pike Place Market is to stumble upon it by accident.

Maybe you’ll get lost among the many corridors branching off of Post Alley, or lose your sense of direction with the smell of fish being the most reliable navigation. Or you may be visiting Oriental Mart with only the best intentions of tasting the food and meeting the owner, just to be greeted with a friendly sign that says “In the Phillipines, come back in April.”

So you make a 180 degree turn, and try your luck with the poke place next door. That being said, I wish Tita Lei a great time off and hope to meet her soon.

Wild Fish Poke is a small poke bar nestled in the market on the corner of Pike St. and 1st Ave. You’ll know you’re in the right place when you’ve escaped the sea of shoppers on the street and landed in between the hospitality and warm lighting of the restaurants on Post Alley.

With a wide selection of fresh seafood, Wild Fish does not fail to uphold the market’s reputation for excellent fish. There are seven fish selections, tuna and salmon being the most popular. The toppings include but are not limited to ginger, wasabi, sesame seeds, and cucumber. All of which can be served with salad, rice, or both, and topped with different variations of the house sauce.

For those unfamiliar, poke is a traditional Hawaiian dish consisting of marinated raw fish, cubed and served on either salad or rice. Out of their selection, I ordered the spicy ahi tuna and Atlantic salmon on a bed of rice and salad, topped with furikake, fried onions, soy sauce and spicy house sauce.

The food wasn’t the only notable part of Wild Fish Poke. The staff was very pleasant and efficient, and reflected their passion in their food. The food is prepared as each item is ordered, so my food was ready instantly. The service is excellent to say the least, so I had to have a chat.

The owner happened to be out during my experience at this restaurant, but I still got to have a pleasant chat with a friendly manager who goes by the name of Martin Solsa. He told me that Wild Fish Poke was opened in the market seven years ago by Yang Zhou, who has picked up experience in making Japanese cuisine while traveling across America. When asked what a customer trying poke for the first time should order, Solsa said that everything off of the menu is fresh and sure to be enjoyed by all seafood eaters. So to those readers who have yet to try poke, it sounds like the whole menu should be a safe bet, which I will vouch for with my own experience. When asked what’s special about being able to serve the customers of Pike Place Market, Mr. Solsa said that it was nice getting to serve all kinds of people, from the businessmen on their breaks to families and general seafood enthusiasts like me. He said that the mix of Japanese and Hawaiian cuisine in their food is one of the things that draws in the diverse crowd.

I thanked him for the meal and left a tip, and I encourage anyone else to try not only this place but to keep coming to the market without any goal in mind. Getting lost is sometimes the best food tour, and I say this with confidence, as the lack of a contingency plan is what brought me to this delicious little poke spot in the first place.