421-429 Sussex St & 86-88 Dixon St, Haymarket.
Before getting into this review I have to admit my prejudice - East Ocean has long been my favourite place in Sydney. We were actually planning to go to Golden Century today (my first time), but it turns out they don't offer Yum Cha... oh well, a few doors down is East Ocean.
I actually have 20 photos from today - I will spare you from seeing them all though.
My main challenge today was being objective in my ratings - and trying to judge it on today's performance rather than wanting to give it a good rating based on former visits.
The must have chicken feet. I have to be honest, they weren't the best. The feet themselves were nice, plump and tender, but I didn't think the sauce was up to scratch.
Prawn dumplings, as always, are a central part of the meal. I thought they were very good. Not the best I've tried, but the best of any reviewed on this blog to date - delicious. To the left you can see the pork dumpling which were also quite good.
The vegies were good - very tasty and fresh, and a good portion. It only took a couple of minutes to arrive at the table also.
Below is shark fin combination dumplings. I liked them - a tiny tad dry, but that is kind of the style. And it was good that they were on offer.
Other dishes we had included shanghai soup dumplings, prawn and snow pea shoots, prawn and spinach, scallop, another sweet fried appetiser, combination seafood (not the best) two types of rice rolls - prawn and bbq pork, and mango pancakes. The prawn and spinach dumpling was fantastic - SO steaming fresh that Kate actually burnt her mouth greedily tucking in!
I love the atmosphere at East Ocean - below is the a shot of the main room. Beyond the doors at the far end is another small room, and there is one more room off to the right that is about half the size of the main room.
I thought the service was good once we got a table, other than one staff person who didn't know what the different dumplings really were... I asked for scallop dumplings (having seen them), and she didn't know what they were. Anyway. The other main gripe was that they would not let us take a table until ALL of our group were present and sighted... so loads of other tables filled up in the 5 minutes whilst our last guests arrived, then we had a long wait as it was full up.
In the end it cost $99.10 for 5 people.
Today we have 3 guest reviewers! Below is the harsh critic Vincent (think Anton Ego from Ratatouille!)
The bright and bubbly Erny
And the insightful Kate!
And now, the verdict (will the cuisine reign supreme?):
Kate
Food: 12 out of 20
Service & Setting: 3 out of 5
Value: 3.5 out of 5.
TOTAL: 18.5 from 30
"Worth the pain of burning my mouth on hot dumplings."
Erny
Food: 11 out of 20
Service & Setting: 4 out of 5
Value: 3 out of 5.
TOTAL: 18 from 30
"The mango pancakes left a nice sweet taste in my mouth, mm."
Vincent
Food: 10 out of 20
Service & Setting: 2.5 out of 5
Value: 2.5 out of 5.
TOTAL: 15 from 30
"Didn't really do it for me."
Matt
Food: 13 out of 20
Service & Setting: 3.5 out of 5
Value: 3.75 out of 5.
TOTAL: 20.25 from 30
"Just nudges past the 20 point mark. This was not the best time I have been, but as an overall package it is still hard to beat."
I am also awarding East Ocean a 1 Ha Gow rating (a la one hat in Good food guide).
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