Tuesday 24 January 2012

Ocean Tr235ure

Date: Saturday 21st January

Kung Hei Fat Choi! (Happy New Year)

In celebration of the Chinese New Year, I thought I would treat myself to one of the hottest Chinese restaurants in Manchester. This place is located next door to the 235 Casino (hence the name). On entry what struck me first was the beautiful Oriental deco. Lighting was spot on however it was a tad too cramped. We were lucky to get a table, apparently the place has been fully booked for a week, however there were only two of us so they managed to squeeze us in.

Like other Chinese restaurants, they offered a few banquets for a set price however we chose to order the dishes separately. The waiter came quickly, offering us drinks then giving us a few moments to order our food. A nice touch to the menu was that they included a 'Chef's Recommendations' sections which I chose to pick from as I wanted something different to my usual Chinese order (aromatic crispy duck, sweet and sour chicken, beef in black beaned sauce). I went for the crabmeat and sweetcorn soup for starters and for mains the Sesame Pak Fa Duckling, which is sesame fried prawn meat stuffed with roasted duck, served with oyster sauce. On the menu they also had a variety of Dim Sums I do want to try at some point.

On ordering, it did take some time to get the food, but not too much of an extended period, plus it was very busy (take note Zouks). The soup was pretty average, I guess there is a generic way to make this soup as I find similar quality at Chinese buffets. The main, also served with noodles to make the dish filling, was very original. It was delicious. It was like having a big portion of dumplings drizzled with the oyster sauce which arrives in a separate pot. Although some people may take this as a negative, I personally loved it as I do enjoy the starter more so the main most the time.

In conclusion I thought the service was great even though it was busy, decorations were fantastic, and thought I got a decent Chinese meal from them. I think as with most Eastern restaurants, you need to play around with the dishes to get the perfect meal. Although the meal was enjoyable, and it did satisfy me, I think on another day I would want a more complete main meal. However for the originality of the dishes I would recommend and come again.


7 out of 10 rating