Poke papa bowls (Photo by Travis Mitchell).

A dish best served cold has become a hot ticket in D.C., and around the country.

Poke, a Hawaiian rice bowl topped with chunks of raw fish, now feels ever-present, first in the form of pop ups and as options on broader menus, but now we’re seeing it standalone form. Poke Papa splashed down in Chinatown in April, followed by Abunai Poke, Poke District, and chains from the West Coast like Lei’d and Honeyfish Poke moving to the area.

Other than the imminently word-playable name (pronounced “poh-kay,” the Hawaiian word means “to cut, slice”), what’s up with all the poke?

Bloomberg provides an answer for why, in the past two years, nearly 300 Hawaiian restaurants (most of them poke places) have opened stateside. Author Kate Krader explains:

To open a poke place, all you need is an electrical outlet to cook the rice and a refrigeration unit for the fish. This also makes it easier to get landlords to approve—they’ll always prefer a restaurant that doesn’t require noisy venting systems and smelly cooking.

Gives a whole new meaning to the term “raw deal.”