"Poké Bar with Payman Benz" is Episode 447 of Doughboys, hosted by Nick Wiger and Mike Mitchell. "Poké Bar with Payman Benz" was released on May 23, 2024.
"Tomorrow… with Payman Benz" - @doughboyspod
Synopsis[]
Payman Benz (@paymanbenz, Winning Time) joins the 'boys to talk the NBA, Taco Bell, and Disney Land before a review of Poké Bar. Plus, another edition of Snack or Wack.
Nick's intro[]
“I wanna be the very best / Like no one ever was / To catch them is my real test / To train them is my cause.”
So begins the indelible theme song for the American localization of the original Pokémon anime, written by John Loeffler and John Siegler and performed with the fire of a thousand Charmanders by prolific session singer, Jason Paige. At the time of its recording in 1997, Pokémon was an unknown quantity outside of Japan, and the song’s publishing rights were callously held by shell corporations owned by anime localizer 4Kids and Nintendo itself.
And so Paige’s compensation for the most identifiable song for what would become the most lucrative franchise in all of media history amounted to a single payment of less than a thousand dollars. While years later, litigation ultimately netted him a five-figure settlement, Paige estimates if he was paid royalties for his performance, he would’ve received around a hundred million dollars.
And just as American kids became obsessed with the Japanese Poké franchise, health-conscious American adults became intrigued by a Hawaiian poke franchise. A dish of sauced and seasoned raw fish that’s believed to be Polynesian in origin, poke was consumed for hundreds of years before Hawaiian statehood, and only in the 2000s did it become a sought-after delicacy in mainland USA.
In 2015, Yoon Ju noted the wild popularity of a poke appetizer at his parents’ Northridge, California sushi restaurant, and so collaborated with partner Jason Park on a poke bowl-centric concept. As Ju told Restaurant Hospitality in 2018, “We have to be the market leader,” — but despite nearly seventy locations, it’s today been usurped by actual market leader, Pokeworks.
Pokémon theme singer Jason Paige has worked consistently in the intervening decades, performing as the vocal lead of Blood, Sweat, and Tears; voice acting in Rick and Morty and Sausage Party; and singing the Pepto Bismol “Heartburn, nausea, indigestion” jingle, among countless other credits. And with the direct outreach presented by social media, he’s finally been able to monetize his Pokémon performance to some degree. But perhaps more significantly, he has been endlessly praised by his rapturous fanbase. Responding to one comment on his YouTube channel, Paige said, “Every action deserves our full commitment in life. Even if it's [a] low-paying demo for an unknown anime that no one knows about for a random jingle house filled with people just trying to make money for corporate clients."
And the same might be said for every poke bowl prepared in a chain restaurant, no matter how calculated the business plan.
This week on Doughboys… Poké Bar.
Fork rating[]
The Doughboys have not reviewed Poké Bar before, but they did try it during the Poke Region of Munch Madness: BOWL. It lost to Sweetfin.
| guest / host | ordered | rating |
|---|---|---|
| Nick Wiger | Medium
|
2.5 forks |
| Mike Mitchell | Firecracker Signature Poke
Medium
|
2.5 forks |
| Payman Benz | Medium
|
3 forks |
Nick, Mitch, and Payman each went to a Poké Bar on their own, and then ordered it again together before the episode.
Nick drops his score to 1.5 forks in the next episode, however.
Snack or Wack[]
In Snack or Wack, The Doughboys have a snack and rate it either 'snack' or 'wack.'
For this episode, they try four varieties of Hapi Bing Bing Wafer Cone Snacks: Strawberry, Chocolate, Green Tea, and Banana.
The first time Payman was on the show, he brought them some Strawberry Bing Bing as well, which they all liked.
| guest / host | Strawberry Bing Bing | Chocolate Bing Bing | Green Tea Bing Bing | Banana Bing Bing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nick Wigerman | Snack (3) | Snack (4) | Snack (2) | Snack (1) |
| Mike Mitchell | Snack | Snack | Snack | Snack (1) |
| Payman Benz | Snack (3) | Snack (4) | Snack (2) | Snack (1) |
Nick also brought some Hapi Flavored Cookie Sticks (Popping Candy and Cookie Crunch flavors).
| guest / host | Popping Candy Cookie Sticks | Cookie Crunch Cookie Sticks |
|---|---|---|
| Nick Wiger | Snack | Snack |
| Mike Mitchell | Snack | Snack |
| Payman Benz | Snack | Snack |
Nick's Manga[]
While getting the above Snacks, Nick also picked up some manga to give to Mitch, Payman, and Casey.
| manga for Mike Mitchell | manga for Payman Benz | manga for | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Roast Spoonman[]
Jack Reacher
| “ | Snack Reacher | ” |
–Mark from NZ | ||
Quotes[]
| “ | It felt like a teacher's lounge at an old middle school. | ” |
–Nick Wiger re: Poké Bar | ||
| “ | Mitch: My stomach's turning all around! I ate the hokey poke and it turned it all around! Nick: You sit down on the toilet and you blast it all about... |
” |
–The Doughboys Hokey Poke | ||
The Feedbag[]
| “ | Have you ever been in a drive-through pay-it-forward line? If so, what did you do? | ” |
–Matt in Detroit | ||
| guest / host | pay-it-forward line |
|---|---|
| Nick Wiger | never happened to him |
| Mike Mitchell | paid for someone behind him who had cut him off and had briefly gotten angry at |
| Payman Benz | never happened to him |
| Casey Donahue | this happened to him at In-N-Out, so he did pay for the person behind him |
Related Episodes[]
| Poké Bar episodes | Payman Benz episodes |
|---|---|
|
|
Photos[]
-