Ocean City Reviews

Serves very good dim sum, Chinese tapas. Small sampling dishes. Crowded on the weekends. Good chicken feet, egg custard, pork buns.

One of my favorite places for dim sum any day of the week at lunch time but especially on the weekend. It is huge so it can accommodate large groups. If you are looking for an authentic quality dim sum spot in Philly, look no further.

good place to eat

What a treat! I was visiting the city and I searched for dim sum when I was in Chinatown. I found this restaurant on the reviews and decided to try it. The restaurant was packed on a Sunday. I waited for 15 minutes before I was seated. It was busy and every worker was trying to take care of their customers. The dim sum was very delicious and I enjoyed the congee. I will definitely be back to this restaurant when I visit Philadelphia again.

Yes this is an authentic dim sum restaurant, however the carts are few and far between and laden with overly ethnic products - ie one entire cart was basically chicken feet and offal. Another with some soup that was quite unique in flavor and an acquired taste for sure.That's OK for some clients however not all...and that has changed as a year or so ago the choices were better and wider suiting all ethnicities and not just hard core Chinese.

We have been to a few dim sum restaurants in Philadelphia but we especially enjoy Ocean City. The servers are very friendly and the dim sum is tasty. Yes, they did pass us by with the congee but probably few non-Asians go for it. There is an open air parking lot across the street and some 2 hour parking spots. Definitely worth the trip.

We were headed into Philadelphia and had lunch with a friend. We have been to Ocean City Restaurant. We decided to return. They do a fine job with dim sum, complete with the traditional rolling carts. It has been said the best way to tell if a Chinese restaurant serves good food is to look around to see if Chinese customers patronize the establishment. This restaurant passes the test. There were customers from other cultures too. The restaurant has little or no atmosphere. I think the lighting is fluorescent. The napkins are paper. You are going here for the food, not for the atmosphere. The service is pretty good, bearing in mind the food arrives on carts. Upon your arrival, the place a pot of tea on your table with ceramic cups. The pricing is pretty fair. You are going here for the food, not for the atmosphere.

great dim sum

I brought my parents and some friends here for a fun feast. My father wanted octopus. We didn't get octopus but squid and the waiter argued with us that it was octopus. Octopus has suctions and is not generally white. What they served us in both dishes is squid but charged us for octopus and then pretended they didn't understand us. Poor business practice and deceptive. No wonder the place was empty except for one other table at 7:30pm on a Friday. Stay away.

We usually stop for Dim Sum at other locations in Philly's China Town, but wanted to venture out and try a few other places. Ocean City was at the top of the list based on some reviews. The wait was much shorter than we are usually used to, and service was very prompt and helpful. There did seem to be a much more limited variety of Dim Sum to choose from, but when we asked for items we did not see the waitress was able to bring it to us later. We were all very happy with the quality of food and dining experience.

So many places to choose from, it was just a needle in a haystack. Well we were very happy! Nice atmosphere and clean. Good dim sum.

After months of pandemic delays and planning, a friend and I met for lunch in Philadelphia’s Chinatown last Wednesday. She knows her restaurants and chose Ocean City for dim sum. The restaurant is short on atmosphere, but does dim sum in the traditional way, with rolling metal carts stacked with steamer containers. Their dim sum is excellent. One example is the pork shu mai (which I’m probably misspelling). There were four pieces in each portion, designed to be shared. They were large in size and very flavorful. Much, much better than the frozen versions you can find in stores. The translucent pouches with steamed shrimp were also excellent. We had jasmine tea, which was good. Both used chopsticks, which got me, was an accomplishment. Are there negatives? We both ordered more dim sum as takeout for our respective families. It took quite awhile for those orders to come together. I’m looking forward to returning.

We have been to this restaurant several times and the dim sum is delicious! The Peking duck here is also very good. Service is good and the price is a good value.

It's all new to me. I miss the old restaurant. Changed hands sometime in the past 1-2 years. It had been my favorite for authentic food and excellent service and very interesting menus - also as reasonable (not cheap) prices. I hadn't been there in a year or two. The name is the same, but this is all new. Chinese for sure with translations on the menu into English and Vietnamese. They have dim sum every day - seems to be most popular for that. We ordered from the menu instead. Huge plates but now for $20-30 for mostly veggies instead of the old price line of $8-20 - but I know it's a different place. The menu is still large with many things interesting to me, but they often had to say "we don't have that."

This place is fabulous. Very authentic and yet yummy (they don't throw chunks of gristle and bone in with the chicken like they do in Hong Kong). The chicken and squid w vegetables and ginger is especially tasty. The shrimp are fantastic, large and perfectly cooked. The beef in the beef dishes is quite delectable and tender. The veggies are fresh and NOT overcooked. The " tofu in seafood sauce" is heavenly- the tofu is quite soft on the inside- like clouds, with identifiable chunks of crab in the sauce. The owner is justifiably proud of his kitchen. And there is a parking lot across the street!!!!!!!

I travel much and always look for authentic Chinese food, particularly Cantonese. Ocean City is one of the best in every way. It is in the periphery of Chinatown but don't let that detract you for great food in North America--as good as in NYC.

Great selection. All the dishes cook fresh. The place was packed on a Sunday morning delicious delicious delicious White tablecloth if you can imagine in a Chinese restaurant. Mostly Chinese. So quite authentic. Fresh fish in tanks. Servers were efficient and friendly. Wish I live near Chinatown.

Okay, I can see by the occupied tables, this is a popular restaurant. And I have no idea why. But frankly, yuck. The entry way door handles are covered with sticky packing tape; the vestibule is a mess and the stairway to the second floor has a distinctively unpleasant odor. The glass entrance door to the 2nd floor dining area was filthy with smudges, from top to bottom. I'm sorry, but this does not inspire any confidence in me that there is a clean surface behind the scenes in the prep and cooking areas. If it wasn't a group get-together I would have left and not bothered. The staff is kind. The food however is not. With the exception of the sticky rice and the chinese broccoli, I would describe every other dish we sampled at our dim sum luncheon as sub-par. Undercooked pork, slimy sauces, lots of MSG (unmistakeable mouth/lips tingling) chewy beef and watery congee.

Hit or miss, but when it's on, it's one of the best in Chinatown.

There is no end to the number of places to eat in Ocean City, NJ. (Go during the week, or on a Sunday evening if you can, unless you are staying on the island. Parking has become a real challenge!) Not only is the boardwalk a couple of miles of every kind of fun summer food we all like to indulge in, there are also a lot of restaurants off the boards well worth trying. Katina's (Greek food) is our very favorite!

If your looking for an authentic Dim Sum experience with steam cart full delicious dumplings, then Ocean City is where want to go. You can find other dim sum in and out of Chinatown, but this where the locals go. Wife and I go once a month, so see you there.

We had the mega slice and it was good, be warned no free refills if you are a thirsty turtle get your $$ ready to shell it out!!! All the food coming out of the kitchen looked great. Close to Betsy Ross house

Yesterday, I went with a friend to this unpretentious dim sum restaurant that also serves Cantonese specialty dishes labeled on long slips of yellow and red papers pinned on its walls in Chinese (see my photo below and my translation.) From left to right, the dishes are: Goose webs and sea cucumber casserole ($28.95); Stir fry scallops, shrimps and squid with macadamia nuts ($19.95); Home-style stir fry grouper fish morsels ($12.95); Steamed giant crabs with sticky (glutinous) rice ($39.95); Taishan “doggy” goose ($18.95); Ox tail casserole with lotus roots ($15.95); Chicken steamed with fresh tiger lily buds ($14.95); and Golden lamp hiding golden beef ($18.95). The noise levels may be high when you run into Chinese moms and uncles chatting with one another in comfort and peace. But you too can be loud and merry and you'll fit right in! Go there for an evening of Cantonese Chinese food adventure.

Very genuine Dim Sum restaurant. Good choice of food and well priced. One needs to know what to choose as most of servers only speak Chinese so translations very hard.

I just had 20 guests for dimsum. It was totally yummy- big selection, fresh, enormous variety, lots of choices for our vegetarians. The staff were patient and helpful. The owner gave me a tour of the kitchen. IT IS CLEAN AS A WHISTLE! Odor-free, orderly, all floors clean. We will go back soon.

This review is long over due. I have gone to Ocean City too many times to count, for dim sum. I love that the restaurant is spacious and bright. The restaurant usually opens their 2nd floor during the dim su "rush hours" (Saturdays and Sundays between 11 AM - 2 PM), so the waiting time is reduced compared to other dim sum restaurants. However, there may still be a wait. The food is worth the wait!!! Just to be clear, Ocean City serves dim sum every day. During the busiest times, the restaurant is bustling with hungry patrons looking to order their fill of delicious har gow, shu mai, dan tots (egg tarts), pork and thousand year t'housand year egg congee (don't knock it until you try it), stir fried beef noodles, phoenxi feet (braised chicken feet), fried turnip cakes and other dim sum fares. The waiters and waitresses with the steaming hot push carts are great with telling the patrons what they have to offer. I have to admit it's a lot easier when you understand Catonese or Mandarin, but it's not required. The great thing is, you can take a peek at the food in the cart and point at what you would like to try. It's not rude to point. Just keep your fingers out of the food! : ) If you are in Philly Chinatown and looking for a great dim sum place serving fresh food at a great price, without a crazy long wait, stop by Ocean City and give it a try. You won't be disappointed!!!

We had dropped our daughter and a friend off at the Franklin Institute and wanted to grab a late lunch. My wife was thinking Chinese and we ended up at Ocean City after looking at the menu and seeing some reviews. We showed up on a Sunday toward the end of the time when the Dim Sum carts were rolling. It was kind of hard to know what we were getting from the carts and we sampled a shrimp dish that was tasty, but hard to peel. I had the Peking Duck and my wife had Beef with Broccoli - very basic stuff. The food was great. Service was fine, but not remarkable. The clientele is overwhelmingly Chinese and I think we would have taken better advantage of what they have to offer if we could communicate better.

I've typed this before..Ocean City was the scene of a rolicking Chinese New Years party with an almost endless variety of delicacies like chicken feet (prepared two ways);turnip cakes with Chinese sausage; myriad dumplings filled with meat and assorted Oriental vegetables...and let's not forget the coconut and bean paste dessert.

First time, we came to this restaurant for afternoon Dim Sum lunch, server will pull some difference " special" trolley and they let you to choose what you want to eat, everything thing they prepare on that trolley from appetizers to dessert and it was pulled around the restaurant. 100% server in there is Chinese and speak very limited english. Very hard to understand when they explained some food we don't know what is it .Dim Sum taste like they bought it in supermarket. Nothing special . Second time, I came there for à la carte dinner with my Family. So we decided to order some seafood. It's fresh but again they cook with no tasty fish and crab was over-cooked. Fried rice with a half of whole egg bone inside our fried rice plate. I was very angry and want to talk with manager but cause he is business friend of my friend so we didn't do anything but for sure 100% I will not come back to this restaurant again. Worst restaurant I have ever tried.