Rate-A-Restaurant, #160 in a series

Restaurant: Ocean Seafood

Location: 747 N Broadway (Chinatown)

Type of restaurant: Dim Sum

We stipulated: We took the Gold Line down to Chinatown to check out the Lunar New Year parade and festival.. but Maria's and Evan's stomachs were growling... plus Evan wasn't a big fan of the parade's dragons. So we decided to find some food, and walked right past Ocean. We usually stick with Empress Pavilion for our Chinatown dim sum, so we were eager to try something new.


dim sum selections: pork bao, chicken siu mai, shrimp potstickers, baby bok choy

What we ordered: Seven items all together: Shrimp and walnuts; pork bao; chicken siu mai; two shrimp potstickers; baby bok choy; and jello. Price came to $37.


Blogger Toddler enjoys his pork bao

High point: We got there at 3:30 in the afternoon, and the dim sum was still plentiful. That's quite rare -- get to Empress past 2, for example, and you have to hijack a cart to get any food.


chicken siu mai, shrimp potstickers

Low point: Service was a bit spotty; I had to fetch our water myself; ditto soy sauce and chili sauce. The chili sauce -- an essential -- is too oily for my taste. But the lowest point was the price; I'm not used to paying that much for dim sum. Looks like the walnut/shrimp dish alone was $9. Ouch.


Ahh, the shrimp and walnut dish that broke the bank

Overall impression: Very solid, decent food, and eventually the service got better. As always, dim sum is a perfect place to bring a toddler to eat; Evan gets a kick out of the chopsticks and the action. Plus, the pork bao is a hit with him -- not to mention the jello.

Chance we will go back: I wouldn't rule out Ocean for a future dim sum run... but believe it or not, I still haven't tried CBS Seafood (I believe Maria has), so it may be next on our Chinatown dim sum hit list.

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