The sunnier side of breakfast

For a change of pace, me and my wife enjoyed a rib-sticking Jamaican breakfast today at Mac West Indian Restaurant on Central Avenue, just a few blocks from Hackensack City Hall. It's now past noon and I'm still pleasantly full.

I had sauteed cabbage and saltfish (salted cod) with boiled green bananas and sweet plantains. My wife had liver in gravy with the same side dishes. My dumpling was boiled (dough, water and salt), hers was fried (dough, water and a little sugar). We also shared a bowl of collaloo and saltfish, which I should have chosen for my entree, because the leafy green contained more fish than the cabbage did.

Unfortunately, the restaurant didn't have ackee (a bland fruit) for the breakfast often called Jamaica's national dish, ackee and saltfish. It also was out of breadfruit, which is baked and then steamed or fried.

Each breakfast was $7, plus $1 for a small pot of coffee or herbal mint tea. The bowl of collaloo was $4.50. Even though I visited Jamaica in August, the all-inclusive RIU Montego Bay Hotel's limited menu of native dishes left me yearning for more. Today's breakfast really hit the spot.