It's only fair to announce that Pom has finally made real progress in resolving its bad bread problem, & I have become a frequent consumer of their delicious baguettes & mini-baguettes. Bravo to Pom for having sorted their months-long bakery disaster!
Still more significant in my view is the fantastic turnaround job in Pom's fish department engineered by their youthful, energetic & enthusiastic new department manager. Following a painfully long spell in purgatory, Pom's fish selection & quality is way better & more diverse than ever before. That applies to the sushi/sashimi area as well, which is again run by highly motivated experts who are provided with the first choice of the best of the best fresh arrivals every day. The choice is no longer limited to salmon & tuna, but usually includes red snapper, fluke & yellowtail, or at least a subset thereof. Of course there's still a selection of americanized creations to suit plebian taste buds addicted to mayo, hot sauce, sweet sauce & whatever else it takes to kill the flavor of excellent fish of outstanding freshness. Under the aegis of the inspired new manager, Pom has also begun to offer scrumptious fresh ceviches & fish tartares. At last I'm far more than satisfied; I'm absolutely bloody delighted! I just wonder what Yanky will do next to make it all even better.
The produce section has improved a bit, but care is still recommended in choosing what's best, as quality/freshness can vary considerably within each bin of fruit & veg. The biggest upsides of the produce department are its VERY extensive selection & many offerings that are pre-cleaned, sliced & ready to eat or cook (for those unable or unwilling to perform such tasks themselves).
The cheese section is at last rid of the problems long suffered due to the paranoid schizophrenia that rules the local kosher certification mafia ("Kehila Kashrus"). Yes, suddenly & for no apparent reason, the Froggy kosher cheeses are back on sale, without any complaint from the certifiers. I'll abstain from sharing my thoughts on the reason for this happy turnabout, while just wishing the guys at Kehila Kashrus will take their thorazine more regularly from now on, & pay more attention to doing a good job than extorting ever more money from the hapless kosher food sellers & restaurants on their "turf."
No further complaints from me about the lack of kosher parmigiano reggiano & grana padano on Pom's refrigerated shelves, as they've both seem to have disappeared entirely from the American market.
Obviously, the meat department is still at the very top of its game & ever improving, offering USDA prime meats as good as you'll find anywhere else in NYC... & they're glatt kosher to boot! In fact, USDA Prime meats sometimes even wind up in the cases normally reserved for USDA Choice, when there's more prime than they can flog fast enough. In the glass-enclosed display case for prime & prepared cook-n-serve specialties, I'd enthusiastically recommend the Wagyu beef burgers & sliders, the boneless duck breasts, duck legs, "Surprise Steak" & frenched lamb & veal chops.
With a roller-coaster of ups & downs since Pom first opened, it took me a long time to restore my original 5-star rating of the place. At times I've found being rather severely critical of Pom, & I decided to wipe the slate clean of all the previous badmouthing.
Pom's new management is more strongly committed to quality & customer satisfaction than ever before. New high-quality products will be showing up with increased frequency on Pom's shelves. As to the customer service that has always been outstanding, it has somehow become even better! I am unaware of ANY food emporium of this size (with the possible exception of Eataly) that treats customers like friends & bends over backwards to ensure that you'll wanna come back again & again & again.
Bravissimo!
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