Ocean Star
Monterey Park, CA 91754-1581
Phone: (626) 308-2128
- Price:
- $$
- Cross Street:
- W Garvey Avenue
- Hours:
- Daily 9:30am-10pm
Editorial Review for Ocean Star – by Martha Burr
The Scene
The weekend din of this huge banquet hall fades as you hear the squeal of the dim sum carts approaching your table. Hong Kong stunt guys, kung fu masters, culinary pilgrims and families celebrating special occasions journey to Monterey Park for a sumptuous feast.
The Food
Even if you're an authority on pork buns and shrimp dumplings, Ocean Star will surprise you with its unique and savory dim sum dishes; probably the widest variety in town. Hong Kong natives may even experience some firsts here, like sole wrapped around black mushroom and Chinese sausage, Chinese squash stuffed with ground pork and fried shrimp dumplings dipped in a delicate broth. Crab and scallop standards like shao mai and har gow are the freshest in town and fried taro melts on the tongue.
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Insider Tips
When to GoHuge crowds descend on weekends, so arrive before 11am.
The ExtrasFor dinner, don't miss the fresh seafood. But be prepared for the waiter to bring a live specimen to your table for approval before the kitchen cooks it.
User Reviews for Ocean Star
01/13/2008 Posted by tralaladida
We've tried many dim sum restaurants in this area, and Ocean Star on recommendation. We were seated promptly, but in 40 minutes at the restaurant were able to order only 3-4 dishes. This is because we were not seated on an aisle, and every cart seemed to turn the wrong direction. I felt like standing on my chair and yelling for service. I didn't. We were so hungry that we finally hailed over a taro cake cart and seemingly feasted. We soon regretted that because it was so greasy. 20 minutes later we were lucky and got our favorite-- shrimp noodle, which was OK. We had only ONE dumpling cart pass in those 40 minutes despite about a dozen passing along the aisles, and the supposed vegetable dumpings had a very gamey-tasting sausage; we returned that one and ordered a vegetable dumping from a waiter. That waiter then avoided our table (like the carts did), and we abandoned all hope. Submitting to the dumpling gods' disfavor, our fourth dish was a cold sesame bun with red bean paste, which was filled with a pocket of oil. 6 hours later, the taro cake is still turning in my stomach.
Pros: Only small wait on the weekend
Cons: service depends on whether you sit on the aisle/corner; not enough dumping carts; food too oily
11/17/2007 Posted by labigbear
I went to the Ocean Star with a big group of people and were seated in this stage-like area that had 2 steps to get up to. As a result non of the dim sum carts could go up the stairs. None of the servers bothered to check on us and ask if we wanted any of the food, they just kept walking by. We literally had to get out of our seats when we would see a cart and go up to it to see what they had and if we wanted any. Making it worse, someone left out group and someone else came late and sat down to join us. He asked for a plate, chop sticks and water literally 8 times before anyone brought it. I honestly don't think the waiter understood what we were asking for. When we did finally get some food, none of it was anything that I was say stood out as being good. It was okay, certainly not bad, but definitely nothing that I would say was particularly good. I love Dim Sum but I will never go back to this place. Go to the Empress in Chinatown instead, the food and the service are both infinitely better.
Pros: none
Cons: Service
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