A new, healthy option restaurant has joined the Mount Pleasant community. This is the second location for Little Koi, the first opened in Saginaw in 2019. The Mount Pleasant location officially opened on Wednesday, June 23 serving poke, ramen and boba tea.

“We got really good response from the people in Saginaw,” co-owner Lin Fan said. “A couple of customers, they asked if we are coming to Mount Pleasant and Midland. It is a small town but there is lots of variety, lots of culture, so we thought maybe there is a great opportunity to expand.”

Located at 1620 S Mission Street, right next to insomnia cookies and conveniently close to Central Michigan University's campus. Little Koi is a small space that is colorful and brightly lit. The open-concept kitchen allows customers to see their food prepared, which is meant to assure them that everything is healthy and safe, Fan said.

Poke is a traditional Hawaiian dish consisting of fish, rice and vegetables. It is served cold and can be customized to fit the customer’s preference.

Fan’s Order: Poke with salmon mixed with cucumbers, red cabbage, tomatoes and avocado, then he tops it off with the Japanese sauce.

“The Japanese dressing is more like a wasabi base, so it has a kick but it makes a great flavor.” Fan said.

Fan’s recommendation for new customers: The pork gyoza and the cheese rangoons

Zane Feiger from Traverse City, has worked at Little Koi since opening day and said the experience has been great.

“I'm Hawaiian, so poke is one of our things,” Feiger said. “So it was really cool coming here and being like, ‘Oh, this tastes close to what it tastes like back on the island, so that was like a really really nice experience.’”

Feiger said his co-workers are a great group of people who are always accommodating and understanding.

Feiger’s Order: Tuna poke with Kani salad, sushi rice, poke sauce, spicy mayo, seaweed salad, edamame, corn, pineapple and lots of other veggies.

Feiger’s recommendation for new customers: “The drinks are phenomenal.”

Mario Sangret-Savelle from Gladwin, recently started working at Little Koi.

“It's been really nice,” Sangret-Savelle said. “It gets busy, but we work together really well and they've worked with my schedule and my needs and it's been, it's been a really, really enjoyable work environment.”

Sangret-Savelle’s Order: Vegan Lover’s poke bowl with yum yum sauce, spicy mayo or poke sauce.

Sangret-Savelle’s recommendation for new customers: The milk tea.

“I am a really big fan of our milk teas,” Sangret-Savelle said. “So taro tea, I had for the first time here and it is phenomenal, but any milk tea here is really good.”

As for the most popular choice, Fan said they have sold around 200-250 bowls of ramen per day since opening. Fan said this was unexpected because the Saginaw location sells more poke.

“All our customers, they’re loving our ramen. I think we make the best ramen noodles in town.”

Little Koi is still hiring, an application is available on the website and can be sent with a resume to manager@littlekoi.net