Ocean Harbor

At work, we often got good reasons to celebrate, actually the lot of them. My director, who’s awesome by the way, always recognize and appreciate our hard and good work. As a tradition, she take us to Dim Sum at least twice a year.
We stopped going to our favorite spot «Joy Tsin Lau» after their misfortune incident (February 2015). We started to venture out and try different spots.
Directly across the street, was Ocean Harbor. Perhaps one of the most authentic dim sums in the city, and one of the rudest/​unfriendly waitstaff.
We went once and won’t be going back.
One and Three Quarter Unilocal

Not recommended at all!!! The choices were very limited and the servants were inpatient at all! The dim sums were so oily and not authentic. I really do not understand why there were so many people waiting. We waited for an hour and a half…

The line to get in for Sunday lunch goes ridiculously quickly. The food was very tasty, with a huge variety. The service was… abrupt. That being said, we’ll definitely go back. Can’t wait to try more off the carts.

Typical dim sum, but good Peking duck! We also had the seafood pan fried noodles which we pretty tasty. The Shu Mai and fried shrimp from the dim sum carts were also really good too.

Classic southern Chinese dim sum! The food is delicious, but remember where you are and temper your expectations on service. Don’t let that hold you back, this is the real, authentic dim sum.
My fiancée and I came in on a Saturday morning right when we’d expect the bruch rush to be in full swing, but our wait was only about 5 minutes. We were whisked in and began chowing down immediately. Jill loved the steam dumplings and I loved everything. The tripe was tasty and egg tarts are always a favorite. Some of my biggest suprise favorites were the seafood ones — the cripsy shrimp cake was awesome!
Jill wasn’t a big eater, so we ended up getting a little too much, so I couldn’t get one of my old favorites, chicken feet. But all in all we feasted, and I mean FEASTED for $ 44. Good price for all that food. Definitely coming back!

I came here with my parents on a weekday morning, so it was lucky that the place wasn’t as crowded as other describe. We ordered classic dim sum such as steamed chicken feet, shrimp dumpling, steamed spare rib, etc. The food was not bad, comparable to those I had in NYC or SF in my opinion. But the service was a little under average.

Amazing Place to come for Dim Sum with family. I love it here! Will be back again for sure

This is my go to spot for dimsum for many years with my family. The food is great, but the pricing is a bit ridiculous. It seems like everything is marked as a large or special dish … like what is a small dish then? On the weekends, it can get pretty crowded so be ready to wait for a while, but it’s worth it for the food.

I came here with a group of 8 for some dim sum on a sat morning. I arrived first and was surprised to see that there was no line and lots of empty tables. We got a table in the front and once everyone arrived food started arriving pretty fast. We ordered a lot of the standard dishes that would appeal to non traditional eaters. They don’t taste as great as NYC dim sum but was certainly better than I remember the last time I went about 5 years ago. The bill was pricier than I expected. Not a bad attempt and may return in the future.

Had a great time with me adopted family not sure I adopted them or them me but we are good friends and I love them glad they shared Chinese New Year with me and this place — enjoyed and would return again.

Great place to go to dim sum on the weekends but be warned: it WILL be packed. When you walk in let the server know that your party size, he will give you a number and call you when your table is ready. On a hectic day be ready to wait 15 – 30 minutes for a table. Don’t be intimated by the wait length and the crowd, it is all controlled chaos and the staff tries it best to seat everyone just make sure you hear your number!
The food:
Everything and anything is good. I love the shrimp dumplings, the sticky rice with chicken, and the peppered chicken feet. For dessert I always get the egg custard buns. They are so delightful I call them heaven buns. Cheap, delicious and a place the locals love to go to!

I come here occasionally for dimsum and it’s one of my favorites in the city but I never tried their banquet food until last night. Complete with the classic banquet meals: sweet&sour ribs with pineapple, squid, walnut shrimp, scallops&cabbage, lobster, this amazing crispy sea bass with a soy sauce, crispy chicken that was moist on the inside but crunchy on the outside, fried rice and red bean dessert. The service was fantastic, the space was crowded but cozy. Overall a great experience!

I love the overall hustle and bustle of the restaurant, but carts are slow and unless you’re sitting near the kitchen, the selection of food that makes it’s way to the other side of the restaurant is meh.

This has been my go-​to dim sum place since I was young. I think my family use to go to Imperial, but not sure the reason for the change, but this place is solid and it shows by the long waiting times on the weekend. Good luck if you have a wait less than 10 minutes! Also if you are a small party of 2, expect to possibly share a table with another party of 2. (Common practice in China)
You can also tell there are select favorites among people as the waitresses with those on their plates or carts are flagged down constantly and eye’d when they come out of the kitchen. Sometimes after numerous attempts, you just have to specifically request them to come to your table first, and on occasions, they oblige. Unfortunately, I only know how to say my favorites in Chinese or point them out by seeing it or otherwise I’d give you a list of my favorites and recommendations. The shrimp rice noodle rolls (w/​sweet soy sauce) is a MUST! I also recommend their chrysanthemum tea with a side of rock sugar. MmMM. All this talking about dim sum, now I’m craving some!

My friend Shoshana wanted to go to Dim Sum Garden, right across the street, so I said sure. Why? Because it had 4 stars. (She’s an economist and isn’t good at using non-​quantitative metrics!) This one only had 3, but I knew what was up. When we sat at Dim Sum Garden, became really clear DSG’s menu was «Americanized,» and I suggested that we bolt for Ocean Harbor across the street.
My buddy and «legal tough» Robert «Bobby» Bloch (Chicago Teachers Union power lawyer) jokes that the best way to gauge Chinese restaurant quality is to count the # of white people in the room (lower = better!). Shoshana was the only one in the room, and everything tasted awesome! Try modeling that. The cart service goes pretty late into the day, too. Siumai and shrimp crepes are standouts. Only downside? No egg custard tarts, wtf, this is dim sum.

So this place is hit or miss with service. I think if you get seated in the middle tables the service is way better than if you get seated on the far right.
I have been seated on the far right quite a lot and while its nice the carts don’t come around there as often. The dim sum is pretty good but if the carts don’t get to you the experience can be pretty bad.
Lots of people tell me this is the best dim sum spot in chinatown but I’ll need to go to a couple other places to really be sure.

On weekends, the restaurant gets pretty crowded around 10:30am and parties have to start waiting to get seated. Luckily, two girlfriends and I got there around 10:10 on a Sunday and the restaurant was pretty empty. Despite the restaurant filling up within 20 minutes, the number of dim sum carts and servers with trays walking around did not increase for the next hour. It was the same 3 carts walking around, and I wish they would increase the number of carts coming around.
The dim sum was pretty good, not too salty BUT bordering on the a-​little-​too-​greasy side. The shumai was good, my friend really liked the bbq pork buns, and our table got two servings of the mini-​egg tarts (yum!). Most servers aren’t great with English and only know Cantonese, but it’s not too hard to point to whatever you want. I really liked that some servers would give us a dim sum tin that wasn’t the one on top that had been exposed for a while/​was getting cold.
My only objection to this place is that I wish they wouldn’t tell you to automatically tip 18%, 20% or 25% (only three options on a machine the cashier points at you). I wish they would let you customize your tip.

Probably regarded as one of the best dim sum spots in the city. If you come here on the weekends, you actually have to take a number and wait to be seated (no reservations).
The food can be hit or miss. Sometimes it’s fresh and hot and great, so I understand why folks would wait in that long queue to be seated. Other times it’s just ok — warm, oily and just heavy on the msg. Today it was somewhere in between, more on the Just ok side.
Service here is always bad. If you’re familiar with dim sum, you know that food comes around on pushcarts, to which you just pick and point and what you want. Well, today I felt like the carts would just pass us by, which made wait time between eating long. Also, we had a lot of empty dishes pile up — they just weren’t clearing the table fast enough.
I like this place, but with so many new restaurants constantly opening up in Chinatown, why not try something more newer and modern?! My next dim sum won’t be here if I have a choice, but I undoubtedly will be back eventually. Because when the food is nice and fresh, it’s great!

Came here on a Sunday afternoon for their dim sum. There was a long line out the door which is pretty typical, so expect to wait in line. We were a large party but were seated relatively quick, within 30 min.
The food is pretty good and they have a large selection of dishes all of which I can’t name (dumplings, noodles, chicken feet, spare ribs, fried taro, fried dough, etc). I come here with friends every now and then for the food, not the service. It’s a bit loud and you often have to get the attention of the waitors if they have something on one of their steel carts that you want. It’s busy and in a slightly cramped space. It’s also CASH ONLY. I will probably come back again when I want to have dimsum. My friends (ones that grew up here) say it’s the best place to go for dimsum. They probably mean that because of the food only.

Never have I experienced service that made me as uncomfortable as I was in Ocean Harbor. Granted, I dined here at an odd hour – around 9pm, but the place is open until 11pm!!! Dim sum hours were over, but made to order dinner was still going on. The place was empty, except for 2 – 3 tables still eating. This is my first time here, so I took a while to figure out what to order. The staff seemed a bit impatient and began talking smack about my table in Chinese. I don’t understand Chinese, but I believe I am socially capable enough to pick up on the non-​verbal cues they were shooting our way.
We hastily ordered salted baked squid, baked chicken and clams with black beans sauce. Even though I was starving, I still thought the food was mediocre. The squid was simply rolled in dough and fried to a crisp, which was the most edible plate. The baked chicken was soaked in fat, what’s the point of it being baked anymore? The clams were poorly cleaned and the sauce was way too salty. My dining companion ordered a side of hot and sour soup, but spat it out after the first taste because it was rotten. I didn’t believe him so I tried it myself and I was shocked at how disgusting it tasted. Just imagine leaving a bowl of soup out for a week and let it spoil… that’s what they fed us.
The one waiter noticed how dissatisfied we were with our food, so he brought out complimentary bean soup desserts. Still, that can’t make up for our horrendous experience here. We quickly paid and ran out, vowing never to lay eyes on this place ever again.