Ocean
Makes Waves
OCEAN RESTAURANT:
249-32 Horace Harding Expwy.,
Little Neck; 279-8893
HOURS: Monday to
Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.; Sunday,
12 noon to 10 p.m.
CUISINE: Chinese and
Japanese
CREDIT CARDS:
American Express, MasterCard and Visa
HANDICAPPED ACCESSIBLE:
Yes
Ocean is not your typical
Chinese restaurant. First, it offers both Chinese and Japanese food, from Szechuan to
sushi. Secondly, the atmosphere reflects this diversity.
Upon walking into Ocean,
your eyes can go to one of two directions: the well-adorned sushi bar on your right,
complete with Japanese artifacts and ornaments, or to the left, where Chinese décor
dominates. However, there is also some crossover: on top of the sushi bar sits a chubby
Chinese god wearing a lush jade necklace, whose belly can be rubbed for good luck.
Well, co-owners Eddie and
Louie either rubbed that belly hard the day we sampled Ocean’s cuisine, or they are
among the most skilled Asian chefs in Queens. The food was delicious!
We started with steamed
vegetable dumplings ($4.25), an interesting variety of veggies stuffed into exotic green
dough. Our salads came soon after. I had the house salad, tomatoes and lettuce served in
sweet, savory carrot ginger dressing, while my guest tried an authentic seaweed salad
($4.25), topped with baby sesame seeds and little orange fish eggs.
Then came the entrées. I
tried the Chicken Teriyaki ($6.25). Sliced long and thin and virtually fatless, the
chicken was scrumptious, as were the stir-fried carrots, string beans and baby corn.
Served over white rice in a tangy teriyaki sauce, it was a truly satisfying meal.
To be thorough, my guest
scanned the Chinese side of the menu and chose the special Ginger Chicken ($8.95), sliced
white meat with spring young ginger in the chef’s own brown sauce. Served in an
"ocean" of assorted fresh vegetables, the chicken was great.
My Bento Box special,
served from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., came with a choice of rice, the house salad and a
California roll, which my guest, a sushi fan, enjoyed. We also loved the sweet sauce the
hard Chinese noodles came with at the start of the meal, as well as the cut orange served
in its own peel at the end.
Ocean Restaurant has a
changing menu of daily specials, and any hot and spicy dish can be altered to your taste.
The soups are multitudinous, and a variety of diet dishes, prepared steamed with the
house’s special diet sauce on the side, are also served. There are 23 Chef’s
Specialties, 10 sushi and sashimi dishes, five sushi/sashimi lunch specials, 21 different
maki and hand rolls and 23 daily luncheon specials.
– Jennifer
D’Angelo |
