POC

The Gables Version of All-You-Can-Eat

September 2019

Buffets can be iffy venues. POC restaurant, however, is determined to “redefine the conventional buffet-style experience.” Located at 2121Ponce de Leon Blvd., they’ve done just that. Yes, the décor is cafeteria, albeit upgraded to booths and wooden tables with padded chairs. But the food is stunning, if only for the audacity of its array. We counted more than 80 choices, but who’s counting? There is a salad bar, a sushi bar, a raw bar, a grill station, hot entrees, soups and desserts. The choices? Let’s just start with the salads: spinach salad, roast beet salad, roasted pepper/mozzarella salad, caprese salad, asparagus salad, broccoli delight, Thai cucumber salad, Waldorf salad, and a Caesar you build yourself. While we were not overawed by the grill station – tasty but tough beef – their sushi bar rocked, with izumidai sushi, salmon sushi, tuna sushi, and more, and top-notch rolls (California, Futomaki, Philly, tempura chicken, Hawaiian, Alaskan, etc.) The hot entrees included everything from teriyaki chicken, to penne pasta in cream sauce, to creamed spinach, to bok choy (surprisingly good). Among the soups, we loved the lobster bisque, and among the desserts, we chose the chocolate mousse.

Yes, it’s a bit crowded at times, but if self-indulgence for $16 at lunch time is your game, this is the place. And, counterintuitively, the crowd consisted of mostly trim, athletic looking Millennials, willing to sprint to this combination of quality and quantity.