The spare ribs are delicious! The taro puffs are delicious! The bolo baos are [expletive] incredible! There's not one particular dish that stood out because every dish far exceeded my expectations. (My expectations were very low. That's not the point.) The little balls of roe on the siumai still glistens, which I very much appreciate because cooked opaque roe always seems so sad to me. Siumai with a dab of mustard is possibly the most enjoyable bite of food I experience as a dimsum eater. I love dimsum mustard very very much and live on the edge of having just enough to not cause a brain injury. It hits like a tease. The mustard can easily bring you to tears and cause your head to implode, but the risk makes it fun. I never know how strong the mustard is going to be at first bite. It's a trust fall. Into my mouth. There is vulnerability in finding a right ratio of siumai to mustard and wondering how it's going to go. The rice rolls need to be ordered directly from one of the disgruntled vested staff. It's best to order way more than you think you want because waitstaff interactions are hard to come by. And oh my, when they do come, these soft and slippery white sheets drenched in sweet soy sauce pair delightfully with any protein. Hot steamy rice rolls make me feel like a starving baby drinking milk for the first time. "Oh yes, this is what I needed. I'm abruptly okay now." I don't seem to have the proper words to describe what happened when I bit into a bolo bao. Perhaps it was that I expected something much rougher and breadier. This thing stopped my incessant stream of thought and forced me to savor this moment of soft sweet perfection. The bun was so soft and warm it caught me by surprise. The topping was crispy and crumbling, but not in a violent way. I can't really remember the filling but the combination of textures and sweetness in a single bite confused me in a "Do people know about this?? Why aren't people lined up for this the way they do for Dominque Ansel??" sort of way. At 10:30am on weekday, the crowd is perfect. There is a group of post-menopausal Chinese ladies who meet up to gossip, take selfies, and for some reason are still using point and shoot cameras. There are very serious-looking Chinese men who probably need a lot more than rice rolls to be okay. By noon, parents and their strollered children begin rolling in as well as families who have come to meet for lunch. I recognize the looks on their faces. They don't want to be there but they had to be, and the only silver lining of having to make small talk with aunties as an adult child is the promise of good food. I may be projecting. It may be difficult to flag anyone down to get boxes for the massive amount of food you'll have left because you'll want to try everything but not have the physical stomach space for it. But this is all part of the experience. They'll play a little game where they pretend not to see you. It's only because they have to work while you're enjoying your day off having delicious dimsum.
Anna L.
Expect a wait during dim sum hours on the weekend. Get a number from the hostess and wait to be seated. Be sure your whole party is there when called or they'll seat another group first. The restaurant is a bit on the small and cramped size. Dim sum is served on push carts except the rice noodles which you have to order. The food was mediocre and bland. The beef rice noodle rolls were pretty good though (soft and smooth). The garlic fried chicken was also decent. Everything else needed more flavoring. I will be sticking with the other Cantonese restaurants in Elmhurst or go to Flushing.
Shingwha Tung
Not bod! The shrimp quality is decent, texture is a big thing, i think it wasnt as smooth and silky as it could be. Some dishes came cold but it was super packed on easter so i understand. The dishes were lacking some flavor as well. Remenber to ask for hot oil! The service was excellent and the atmosphere was very cosy!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
Nando F.
Had been trying to make it to this place for some time now. Way back when we used to go there for dim sum when it went under the banner of "Ping's". Ordered some of my go tos; Salt pepper pork chops, steamed flounder, snails, fish maw soup and "pea shoots". For whatever reason, we (family) have been told that if a restaurant can't make salt pepper pork chops right... then, the place can't really fry anything else well. They can make a good salt pepper chop. Thumbs up. They did not have any snails left, so they recommended we went with the black bean clams. Can't ever go wrong with this dish at a reputable Cantonese joint. The flounder was a tad bit overdone. Did not appreciate the pea shoots in the soup thing... much prefer when they are stir fried with garlic. The fish maw soup was OK. A member in my party felt the fish maw was too tough/crunchy (when it's supposed to be soft and supple... and I agree... but, the aspect of texture in this instance is not that important to me. We were only offered oranges as a complementary dessert as opposed to fruit and the red bean tong sui because we went in closer to 9pm (When did NYC eateries start closing this early?). In spite of my lack of customary complementary dessert (lol), the staff treated us very courteously. Casual dining. Hated the ginormous, center staged digital display and the lack of street parking (due to crowded neighborhood).
Luke C.
Parking lot on the side. Parking Free but tip is $3. They serve big portions, food taste great. Great for big groups as tables are made for big groups and dish's are big.
KC
The food was great. The place was nicely decorated. The unfortunate thing was water dripped from the a/c and light that made a table move.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Karen Leung
Best squab I’ve had in the US! Dim sum was delicious too.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Lillian Liang
Went here for dinner with the family on a Sunday night. Got a table immediately and the service was quick. But the price of the food, this place was a huge let down. Ordered 5 dishes, 4/5 of them literally had no taste, no seasoning - just bland overall.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 4
Agnes Y.
This review is for their dim sum. I have been here a couple of times when I visited NYC. Since I usually stay in the Woodside area, this restaurant in Elmhurst is very conveniently located. They have a parking lot across the side street; metered street parking is also available. The atmosphere is very happy and lively. Tables are packed quite closely together. Noise level is moderate. The wait staff and the ladies pushing the dim sum carts are all very friendly and helpful. Even though the place is not huge, they manage to have dim sum carts going around which is nice. Their dim sum is solid and authentic; and they offer a large variety of options. Compared to the old favorites in Manhattan Chinatown, their food is just as good. Prices are very reasonable. We tried their shrimp dumplings, Shumai, shrimp Shumai, bean sheet rolls with meat, beef short ribs, deep fried shrimp balls, deep fried bean sheet rolls with shrimp, baked BBQ pork buns (with flaky crust), egg tarts, steamed brown sugar cake, sticky rice with lotus leaves, fried stuffed hot pepper, and steamed rice rolls with beef and cilantro. Everything was good. The standouts were the egg tarts and the baked BBQ pork buns. This is certainly a neighborhood gem if you're craving some authentic Cantonese food. Will definitely come back and try their dinner dishes.
J. T.
I have been interested in trying this restaurant since it opened (I frequented this location when it was Ping’s who had the best fried calamari in my humble opinion). Since the closing of East Ocean Palace in Forest Hills, patrons have probably flocked to Ocean Bay so it gets crowded and this is not one of the larger restaurants. Flushing’s Lake Pavilion’s food quality has been so disappointing as of late so thankfully the food is very good here in Ocean Bay. We have our standard favorites such as the shrimp with mayo sauce and walnuts and clams with black bean sauce. We were a party of 4 with eyes that are bigger than our stomachs so we limited ourselves to just 5 dishes (that is what I consider self control). Delicious and satisfying at approximately $50 per person including tip. Service needs some improvement as it was slightly challenging to get a waiter but I would give them a pass considering it was Chinese New Year. I will have to return for dim sum lunch to see how they compare to Asian Jewels in Flushing. There is a valet parking lot which they share with the New Life Fellowship church (formerly the Elk’s Lodge that housed ECW events: “E C DUB!”) and getting in there can also be challenging during peak hours so plan accordingly!
We order a set meal. And I do have to say for the price. It's decent and a good portion for 12
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Bravo Delta
Nice foods, parking spaces, good
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Danny Leung
One of the best Chinese Restaurants in Elmhurst. Dim sum is authentic and served fresh and hot. Dinner menu is good and delicious for families living around Elmhurst area. You don't need to travel to Flushing to find parking but still enjoy good and authentic Chinese food.Parking: Definitely better than in Flushing.
Avery Li
Kid-friendliness: It is a super nice place for kids especially when their stomachs are empty
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Florence P.
We ordered 3 food items for pick up (around 6:30 pm) tonight and the 2 items, beef Hong Kong style and seafood pan fried noodles were good but the garlic aromatic crispy chicken was a failure--it was a recycled fried chicken that got overcooked/burnt and even the toppings of garlic and onion were not fresh. You can really tell by the looks of the chicken and most especially the meat was tough. We have been ordering practically the same food items but this time the crispy chicken is a big frustration for our taste buds. Please Ocean Bay Seafood Restaurant maintain the delivery of your food items at all times since we pay the same amount every time we order. Please don't give us food items which were returned or rejected by order customers. It is not fair on our part.
The spare ribs are delicious! The taro puffs are delicious! The bolo baos are [expletive] incredible! There's not one particular dish that stood out because every dish far exceeded my expectations. (My expectations were very low. That's not the point.) The little balls of roe on the siumai still glistens, which I very much appreciate because cooked opaque roe always seems so sad to me. Siumai with a dab of mustard is possibly the most enjoyable bite of food I experience as a dimsum eater. I love dimsum mustard very very much and live on the edge of having just enough to not cause a brain injury. It hits like a tease. The mustard can easily bring you to tears and cause your head to implode, but the risk makes it fun. I never know how strong the mustard is going to be at first bite. It's a trust fall. Into my mouth. There is vulnerability in finding a right ratio of siumai to mustard and wondering how it's going to go. The rice rolls need to be ordered directly from one of the disgruntled vested staff. It's best to order way more than you think you want because waitstaff interactions are hard to come by. And oh my, when they do come, these soft and slippery white sheets drenched in sweet soy sauce pair delightfully with any protein. Hot steamy rice rolls make me feel like a starving baby drinking milk for the first time. "Oh yes, this is what I needed. I'm abruptly okay now." I don't seem to have the proper words to describe what happened when I bit into a bolo bao. Perhaps it was that I expected something much rougher and breadier. This thing stopped my incessant stream of thought and forced me to savor this moment of soft sweet perfection. The bun was so soft and warm it caught me by surprise. The topping was crispy and crumbling, but not in a violent way. I can't really remember the filling but the combination of textures and sweetness in a single bite confused me in a "Do people know about this?? Why aren't people lined up for this the way they do for Dominque Ansel??" sort of way. At 10:30am on weekday, the crowd is perfect. There is a group of post-menopausal Chinese ladies who meet up to gossip, take selfies, and for some reason are still using point and shoot cameras. There are very serious-looking Chinese men who probably need a lot more than rice rolls to be okay. By noon, parents and their strollered children begin rolling in as well as families who have come to meet for lunch. I recognize the looks on their faces. They don't want to be there but they had to be, and the only silver lining of having to make small talk with aunties as an adult child is the promise of good food. I may be projecting. It may be difficult to flag anyone down to get boxes for the massive amount of food you'll have left because you'll want to try everything but not have the physical stomach space for it. But this is all part of the experience. They'll play a little game where they pretend not to see you. It's only because they have to work while you're enjoying your day off having delicious dimsum.
Expect a wait during dim sum hours on the weekend. Get a number from the hostess and wait to be seated. Be sure your whole party is there when called or they'll seat another group first. The restaurant is a bit on the small and cramped size. Dim sum is served on push carts except the rice noodles which you have to order. The food was mediocre and bland. The beef rice noodle rolls were pretty good though (soft and smooth). The garlic fried chicken was also decent. Everything else needed more flavoring. I will be sticking with the other Cantonese restaurants in Elmhurst or go to Flushing.
Not bod! The shrimp quality is decent, texture is a big thing, i think it wasnt as smooth and silky as it could be. Some dishes came cold but it was super packed on easter so i understand. The dishes were lacking some flavor as well. Remenber to ask for hot oil! The service was excellent and the atmosphere was very cosy!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
Had been trying to make it to this place for some time now. Way back when we used to go there for dim sum when it went under the banner of "Ping's". Ordered some of my go tos; Salt pepper pork chops, steamed flounder, snails, fish maw soup and "pea shoots". For whatever reason, we (family) have been told that if a restaurant can't make salt pepper pork chops right... then, the place can't really fry anything else well. They can make a good salt pepper chop. Thumbs up. They did not have any snails left, so they recommended we went with the black bean clams. Can't ever go wrong with this dish at a reputable Cantonese joint. The flounder was a tad bit overdone. Did not appreciate the pea shoots in the soup thing... much prefer when they are stir fried with garlic. The fish maw soup was OK. A member in my party felt the fish maw was too tough/crunchy (when it's supposed to be soft and supple... and I agree... but, the aspect of texture in this instance is not that important to me. We were only offered oranges as a complementary dessert as opposed to fruit and the red bean tong sui because we went in closer to 9pm (When did NYC eateries start closing this early?). In spite of my lack of customary complementary dessert (lol), the staff treated us very courteously. Casual dining. Hated the ginormous, center staged digital display and the lack of street parking (due to crowded neighborhood).
Parking lot on the side. Parking Free but tip is $3. They serve big portions, food taste great. Great for big groups as tables are made for big groups and dish's are big.
The food was great. The place was nicely decorated. The unfortunate thing was water dripped from the a/c and light that made a table move.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Best squab I’ve had in the US! Dim sum was delicious too.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Went here for dinner with the family on a Sunday night. Got a table immediately and the service was quick. But the price of the food, this place was a huge let down. Ordered 5 dishes, 4/5 of them literally had no taste, no seasoning - just bland overall.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 4
This review is for their dim sum. I have been here a couple of times when I visited NYC. Since I usually stay in the Woodside area, this restaurant in Elmhurst is very conveniently located. They have a parking lot across the side street; metered street parking is also available. The atmosphere is very happy and lively. Tables are packed quite closely together. Noise level is moderate. The wait staff and the ladies pushing the dim sum carts are all very friendly and helpful. Even though the place is not huge, they manage to have dim sum carts going around which is nice. Their dim sum is solid and authentic; and they offer a large variety of options. Compared to the old favorites in Manhattan Chinatown, their food is just as good. Prices are very reasonable. We tried their shrimp dumplings, Shumai, shrimp Shumai, bean sheet rolls with meat, beef short ribs, deep fried shrimp balls, deep fried bean sheet rolls with shrimp, baked BBQ pork buns (with flaky crust), egg tarts, steamed brown sugar cake, sticky rice with lotus leaves, fried stuffed hot pepper, and steamed rice rolls with beef and cilantro. Everything was good. The standouts were the egg tarts and the baked BBQ pork buns. This is certainly a neighborhood gem if you're craving some authentic Cantonese food. Will definitely come back and try their dinner dishes.
I have been interested in trying this restaurant since it opened (I frequented this location when it was Ping’s who had the best fried calamari in my humble opinion). Since the closing of East Ocean Palace in Forest Hills, patrons have probably flocked to Ocean Bay so it gets crowded and this is not one of the larger restaurants. Flushing’s Lake Pavilion’s food quality has been so disappointing as of late so thankfully the food is very good here in Ocean Bay. We have our standard favorites such as the shrimp with mayo sauce and walnuts and clams with black bean sauce. We were a party of 4 with eyes that are bigger than our stomachs so we limited ourselves to just 5 dishes (that is what I consider self control). Delicious and satisfying at approximately $50 per person including tip. Service needs some improvement as it was slightly challenging to get a waiter but I would give them a pass considering it was Chinese New Year. I will have to return for dim sum lunch to see how they compare to Asian Jewels in Flushing. There is a valet parking lot which they share with the New Life Fellowship church (formerly the Elk’s Lodge that housed ECW events: “E C DUB!”) and getting in there can also be challenging during peak hours so plan accordingly!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Restaurantji Recommends
We order a set meal. And I do have to say for the price. It's decent and a good portion for 12
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Nice foods, parking spaces, good
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
One of the best Chinese Restaurants in Elmhurst. Dim sum is authentic and served fresh and hot. Dinner menu is good and delicious for families living around Elmhurst area. You don't need to travel to Flushing to find parking but still enjoy good and authentic Chinese food.Parking: Definitely better than in Flushing.
Kid-friendliness: It is a super nice place for kids especially when their stomachs are empty
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
We ordered 3 food items for pick up (around 6:30 pm) tonight and the 2 items, beef Hong Kong style and seafood pan fried noodles were good but the garlic aromatic crispy chicken was a failure--it was a recycled fried chicken that got overcooked/burnt and even the toppings of garlic and onion were not fresh. You can really tell by the looks of the chicken and most especially the meat was tough. We have been ordering practically the same food items but this time the crispy chicken is a big frustration for our taste buds. Please Ocean Bay Seafood Restaurant maintain the delivery of your food items at all times since we pay the same amount every time we order. Please don't give us food items which were returned or rejected by order customers. It is not fair on our part.