Buffet at POC

While visiting my friend in New Jersey, we could not decide on where to eat dinner so we turned to her son who happily said "POC!" I asked what "POC" was and she said it was a buffet place called Port of Call they sometimes go to. Looks like we found a place to have dinner!

Located in Hackensack, NJ, this place has the tagline American Fusion and Sushi. The first thing that came to mind was the Crossover buffet in the Triple V restaurants back in the Philippines where you get your American food from the Dads section and the Japanese food from the Saisaki section. My friend told me that one of the main reasons they go there is because the restaurant prioritizes the taste of the food more than the number of dishes… so quality over quantity in this case. And I have no problem with that!

I started with a plate of various nigiri sushi and rolls.

Then lamb from the carving station. I also got mint jelly, sautéed mushrooms, stuffed potato half, fries, bacon-wrapped potato with a bit of macaroni and cheese. There was a sign that due to a limited supply of lamb, they only gave two servings per person. We took that to also mean “on each trip to the carving station” so we still go our fill of lamb.

Then steak from the carving station with more mushrooms, rice, mashed potatoes and a side of creamed spinach.

And to sashimi, with a piece of tamago nigiri sushi, grilled shrimp and hot shrimp salad.

My last plate before dessert was a cocktail platter- crab legs and shrimp with some edamame (soy bean) since I have not had that in a long time.

And finally dessert- crème brûlée and soft serve ice cream with a cookie and chocolate I swiped from the chocolate fountain. I was hoping that the chocolate would turn into a nice crunch shell but it did not in this case.







I was happy we ended up going to POC. I had good company, satisfied my cravings for sushi (only one week into my New York trip and I could not believe I wanted sushi) and had a lot of yummy food, what more could you ask for?

Lox and Bagel from the Bagelsmith

Early this year, my family and I visited my sister in New York and I was surprised to find out that my mom wanted to have bagels as our first breakfast in Brooklyn... because New York and bagels are always a good combination. Located on 189 Bedford Avenue, this is a small but cozy bagel shop that has the convenience of being open 24 hours, perfect for a late-night bagel craving or early morning hangover treat.

Interestingly enough, my traditional "last meal" for all my New York trips had always been a lox and bagel. I was not going to change that so it would be a nice thing to have one for my "first meal" this time around.

With over ten types of bagels to choose from, I got lazy (or smart depending on how you look at it) and decided on the "everything" bagel which had all their bagel toppings- sesame, garlic, poppy, onion, etc. I haven't had anything close to that in the Philippines and I like the different bits of flavors with every bite. And then we have the lox and the cream cheese. Again, contrasting to a similar order in the Philippines, I got a lot of salmon and more than enough cream cheese, probably enough for two-and-a-half more orders. Do not get me wrong, I enjoyed the whole thing- salmon, cream cheese and all.

Coming from a 20 hour flight, that was a really good welcome breakfast.

Sushi at Seryna

It has been a several years since my last entry and I thought it would be fitting to go back to where it all began- Seryna. This restaurant can be found in Little Tokyo, near Makati Cinema Square and Mile Long, and is my go-to place for good Japanese food. As a creature of (food) habit, I decided to change my usual order of kaizen gozen (also known as chirashi don) with the sushi lunch special. Previous attempts to wean myself off the kaizen were met with disappointment so I was in for a pleasant treat.

The tray had the usual soup, seaweed, salad and dessert that normally come with the lunch specials. But the main star is a plate with six pieces of nigiri sushi and 6 pieces of maki. The nigiri consists of tamago, tuna, squid, salmon, shirmp and an unknown fish. The maki uses something I do not see in other places- minced tuna. This gave the maki a softer texture when you eat it.

I read that you should eat sushi and sashimi starting with the light colored pieces and working your way up to the darker fish, which tend to be more fatty and/or flavorful. So, the order I ate was shrimp, squid, mystery fish, tuna, the six maki, salmon and the tamago last because it was sweet. The tamago holds a special place in my heart since I have cooked it at home before and it is a big slice covering a relatively tiny ball of rice.


All-in-all, this may not seem like much but it is still quite filling and, to my surprise, a good alternative to the kaizen gozen, even if it does not have as much variety as its deconstructed counterpart. If you are looking for something to fill that sushi craving, this does not disappoint.

Waffles and Yogurt at Red Mango

I'm sure the first thing that came to your mind is "Why did this guy order a waffle when Red Mango is known for its yogurt?" And the answer is simple- my friend got the yogurt and variety always makes life exciting. And then you wonder "Why feature the waffle first?" Simple, it's what I ordered, so on to the waffle! What I had was a banana and almond waffle. Each order is actually two quarter-pieces with each piece looking like a heart due to the design of the waffle iron. They gave just the right amount of banana and almond with a good amount of syrup and a generous serving of cream. The waffle they served was more on the soft side while I prefer mine firm. If memory serves me right, I paid P84 (around $1.70) for the dish and it's a good price for a tasty and substantial dessert in Greenbelt 3, Makati City.

My friend Tonette got an order of yogurt with kiwi. One thing that you've noticed that all these yogurt shops have the same similar toppings and basically the main difference is the yogurt itself. Just to let you know, the yogurt used in Red Mango was sweeter than the one I tried in another shop before. Some people will say that the more sour the frozen yogurt is, the more "pure" it is. Personally, I like my dessert sweet so bonus points to Red Mango. Remember, these yogurt dishes will always vary depending on the topping(s) you choose and if your combination isn't good, you only have yourself to blame.

All-in-all, I was impressed with the food. Red Mango fell behind in the presentation with some messy plating- my waffles had some loose cream on the side of the plate and my friend's yogurt had kiwi bits up one side of the bowl and dribbling down the same side. A cleaner plating would have helped, but the food was good so I'm going back to see what else they have to offer.

Chirashi and Sukiyaki at Seryna

Taking advantage of the long weekend on August 31, I brought my friend Tonette to Seryna located in a secret part of the city right outside Makati Cinema Square. The place is unassuming and it's acutally a bit separated from most of the restaurants in the Little Tokyo area fronting Chino Roces Ave. (Pasong Tamo), but I've been told it's one of the most authentic Japanese restaurants in that area. Plus, the price is quite reasonable (but more on that later). One other thing to note is that looks can be deceiving. It doesn't look like much on the outside (don't mind the security guard), but when you go inside, it has a real Japanese restaurant feel to it- wooden furniture, small aquarium, sake on the wall and, of course, the head Japanese chef behind the sushi bar preparing everything for the rest of the day.

The wallet-friendly time to go is during lunch for the set menu. There are several main dishes to choose from (sushi, sashimi, tonkatsu, fish, soba, etc.) and they all come as a complete meal with appetizer, soup, salad, main course and dessert. I've noticed that the side dishes sometimes change depending on the availability of ingredients and what time you order. My meal had clear soup, some seaweed (the black stuff), a not-so simple salad (it has a bit of mayonaise, potato salad and egg salad in it aside from the usual greens) and grapes. Like I mentioned earlier, I've had several other side dishes with my meal before- brown seaweed instead of black, sautéed tuna, tuna fried in batter, and apples for dessert. Good, clean, healthy food- something you'd expect from the Japanese.

My personal preference is the Chirashi meal (Kaisen Gozen in the menu). If you love sushi, this is the cheapest way to have it since it's the build-your-own-sushi dish. The chef just places the sushi toppings on sushi rice and you're free to eat it as you see fit. In a nutshell, it's cheaper because there's less labor involved. Seryna's Chirashi is a bit different than the traditional Chirashi in that the toppings are in a separate dish from the rice. So in this case, the first half of my meal has 3 slices of tuna, 1 salmon, 1 shrimp, 1 fish cake (the white one that's pink on the edge), 1 squid, a bit of sea urchin, some fish roe, a small heaping of minced tuna with green onions, and a few other fish that I never bothered to identify (but they still taste good and that's what matters). And no, that's not vermicelli under all that... it's just finely chopped radish.

If you think that's a lot, here's the other half of the Chirashi meal- the rice. And yes, there's still more topping on the rice- sweetened dried fish (the pink powder), pickled daikon radish (the yellow strips), brown seaweed, some egg, lotus root (the pink disc), a pinch of pickled ginger, strips of dried seaweed, and a light sprinkle of sesame seeds (barely seen in the picture but it's there). One thing to note- the rice used isn't the sushi rice I'm used to. It's closer to seasoned rice than sushi rice since it's lighter in taste, but otherwise, it goes well with the Chirashi.

Tonette had the Sukiyaki meal. Her side dishes are a slight variation of what I had. She has an additional side dish of pickled daikon, rice and egg (to either place in your soup or dip the beef in, depending on your preference). Her meal also comes with Miso soup. I'm a little foggy as to why her Sukiyaki (already a soup in itself) comes with soup but I don't see any problem with that since I like Miso anyways. Her Sukiyaki comes with the usual beef slices, tofu, vegetables and vermicelli noodles. Since this is a single serving, you have to eat it quickly before it gets cold, but Sukiyaki lovers shouldn't see this as a problem.

Of course, it's not Japanese food without the tea. What I like about Seryna is that you have your choice of free complementary tea- hot green tea and cold barley tea. The waitresses have no problem giving you a pot of both types of tea so that you can enjoy as much as you want without having to look for a waitress to serve you tea. The secret of the barley tea (thanks mom for discovering it) is that you should ask for some syrup and you find yourself with iced tea. I find mixing half a shot glass of syrup gives you the best taste without becoming too sweet. Honestly, you can't beat complementary (and bottomless) iced tea.

I like going back there every so often for Japanese food. The atmosphere is good, the place is clean, the service is quick, the food is fantastic, the presentation is something you'd expect from the Japanese and the price is good. And speaking of price (yes, I'm finally getting to that) each lunch meal is Php350 (around $7), tax inclusive. The Chirashi alone is worth around Php700 outside of lunch time, and that's without the side dishes. This is even a better price compared to other local Japanese fast food places.

Here's the recount of what P700 got us for lunch- 2 set meals, 2 complementary cups of hot tea, and 2 orders of bottomless iced tea. I've brought my family and friends here and they've all loved it. Actually, I lied. The price isn't reasonable, it's great! Now you know why I like going there.