His kitchen is just 10 feet by 10 feet, but that's more than enough space for Takashi Kobayashi to get creative. His specialty is poke, a light and hearty dish served in a bowl with rice and a variety of seafood, tofu, vegetables, and tasty toppings.
For the past four years, Kobayashi has been a one-man show at Fun-Ko's Poke Bowls & Asian Snacks in the Mount Dora Marketplace, at 334 N. Donnelly Street. Follow the signs inside the store and you'll see his regulars and tourists lured in by the restaurant's raving online reviews munching on bowls of his favorites.
Kobayashi is well known in the area, having previously operated two restaurants in Tavares, Mount Dora Sushi Co. and Lake Dora Sushi and Sake, and when he decided to scale back and open Funko in 2020, he estimates that about three-quarters of his customers, including many seasonal guests, found him here.
Born in Tokyo, Kobayashi moved to Binghamton, New York in 1983 as a teenager. He began working in local restaurants and within two years was promoted to sushi chef, eventually becoming a co-owner. After more than 20 years in Binghamton, Kobayashi and his wife, Fumiko Gamoachi, left upstate New York to follow their daughter, Janet Gamoachi, to central Florida. Shortly thereafter, Gamoachi was diagnosed with dementia. After 10 years of caring for his wife and running the sushi restaurant, Kobayashi felt the burden was too much. He realized he couldn't do it anymore and decided to downsize.
In the years prior to its move to Mount Dora Marketplace, poke had been exploding in popularity in the United States and around the world. The poke bowl is a Hawaiian traditional dish with deep roots in Japanese cuisine. The word “poke” means “to chop,” and it features slices or fillets of raw fish served in a bowl over rice with a variety of dressings, vegetables, and spices. Sometimes referred to as “deconstructed sushi,” the poke bowl became a favorite dish among surfers and eventually won the hearts of millions of people who love the flavor explosion.
His daughter, who is executive director of the Mount Dora Center for the Arts, helped him find a location, came up with the new restaurant's name (Fun-Ko is a play on the name of his late wife, Fumiko), and designed a logo in her mother's likeness. Though Fumiko visited the restaurant only once before she passed away, her face on the logo is a daily reminder to Kobayashi that she's still with him.
Customers can build their own poke bowl by starting with a base of white rice, brown rice or mixed greens, then choose between two proteins — tuna, salmon or tofu — cooked “naked” or “Funko Style” with the company's signature Funko sauce, a mix of oyster sauce, sesame oil and fresh garlic.
And there are 15 toppings in total, from cucumber and spring onion to pickled pineapple and daikon. There are six premium toppings to choose from, including avocado, masago, and seaweed salad. Finally, there are plenty of sauces to choose from, including ponzu, ginger dressing, and red or yellow Sriracha. Asian snacks on the menu include tuna funcho and jellyfish salad. For a truly Japanese experience, you can also down a bottle of Ramune, a Japanese carbonated drink.
With many regulars who stop by his restaurant whenever they're in town, Kobayashi looks forward to seeing a familiar face at the ordering counter every day. He has help on busy weekends, but during the week, he does it all on his own. The restaurant is closed on Mondays, so Kobayashi can take the day off. The truth is, after 40 years in the industry, he doesn't know what to do when he's at home.
“I like talking to customers,” he says, “and when they tell me they love the food, I know they're happy, and that makes me happy too.”
