Sherman's Food Adventures: POC American Fusion Buffet & Sushi

POC American Fusion Buffet & Sushi

Continuing on with our food adventures in Miami, I decided that more variety was in order.  Hence, I looked to the ol' standby - the buffet.  Hey, you gotta admit, nobody does a better buffet than the great US of A.  Wanting to be a little bit different, we did not hit up anything like a Hometown Buffet or Golden Corral.  Instead, we went to POC American Fusion Buffet & Sushi (excuse the fuzzy photo, was anxious to start eating...).  Yes, before you laugh, remember, this was Florida...

Unlike similar buffets I've been to in the Pacific Northwest, the spread at POC was not as extravagant.  In fact, it was only modest in size with the Sushi and Sashimi at the forefront.  With a pretty good selection of rolls, there was a little for everyone.  If we looked at its construction, there was a lot left to be desired, but we understood the venue and thought it was acceptable.  I found the rice to be slightly dry and lacking in flavour, but it wasn't offensive either. In terms of the sashimi, it was not exactly cut artistically, but in the end, it was okay. Referring to the plate of sushi, you can see how the sashimi was cut uniformly, but a little strange at the same time.  Appearance-wise, it was actually quite appetizing as well as the colorful sushi rolls.

Right next to the sushi and sashimi, there was a modest display of Seafood including snow crab legs, Kiwi mussels, peel n' eat shrimp and oysters on the half-shell.  The oysters were okay while the cooked shrimp and mussels were pretty typical, but decent.  I found the snow crab legs to be a bit salty though.  Nearby, there was a small selection of soups with the Lobster Bisque being the headliner.  For a buffet, it wasn't bad with a nice lobster aroma, but it was really salty.  Facing the soups was the salad, appetizer and dessert bar.  Salads were fine as well as the fresh fruit.  We liked the Beef Carpaccio, but it could've used more seasoning.  I tried a couple of desserts and although nothing was memorable, nothing was terrible either.

Onto the Cooked Food, there was a variety of items including pork gyoza, potato skins, fries, chicken nuggets, tempura, king crab cakes, spring rolls, chow mein, fried rice, sweet & sour chicken, ribs, calamari, honey shrimp, saffron clams, seared fish and fried crab body sections.  Only a few things were worth going back for in my opinion.  These included the honey shrimp (which were somewhat crisp with a snap inside while being sweet and saucy) and fried crab body sections.  Otherwise, everything else was forgettable.  Adjacent, the last hot section included a roast, grilled meats and sausages. I found the meats acceptable being neither super tender nor tough to chew.  But then again, we didn't have high expectations.

Lastly and the most popular station, particularly for the kids, was the Chocolate Fountain.  Although the selection of fruit was minimal, we just went to the salad bar to get a bigger variety to dip into the chocolate.  Now, by reading this post, you would think we disliked the buffet.  On the contrary, we thought it was pretty decent considering the variety, price and overall edibility.  I'm not saying it was great food though.  Yet if you were looking for that, you wouldn't eat a buffet anyways.  With reasonable exceptions, POC does the job if you had the buffet cravings.

The Good:
- Reasonably-priced
- Decent quality for a buffet
- Service was quite prompt

The Bad:
- By virtue of being a buffet, food is never served in its optimal state
- Cooked food variety is small

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