Golden Ocean Seafood Restaurant

Added Jun 13, 2009 by shao100 of Vancouver (3 Reviews)

A good bet for dim sum, not expensive!
We've been going to Golden Ocean for several years, and we rarely leave dissatisfied. The barbeque pork buns and sticky rice are favourites. The green dishes are good but rather more expensive. The food compares very well with some very much more expensive dim sum places around Vancouver that we've eaten at. If you're sensitive to MSG you might want to watch out, but otherwise the food is very tasty. Also very child-friendly. Be prepared for very crowded, noisy ambience at most times of the day!

Added Nov 23, 2008 by 94Zman of Vancouver (9 Reviews)

On a friend's recommenation ....
We decided to try Golden Ocean, otherwise we would have never found it, nor bothered as it is quite dumpy from the outside. Service is very poor and slow, to the point of annoyance. The food is Ok, a few levels above a foodfair.... if that is saying much, but you get alot of it. Deep fried beef tasted to oily, like it was old oil, soup was gross. Would we go back? No.

Added Oct 19, 2008 by stevendrowe of Vancouver (31 Reviews)

Good Food Terrible Service
The restaurant was busy and a line outside. Waited for about 5 minutes before we got a seat.

Not a good start, found it very difficult to get served a drink. We asked some of the waiting staff how we can get some drink and they told us waiting staff would be with us, after 10 minutes of waiting we had to get up and ask. Eventually got some drink. This didn't seem to be a problem for other customers who got served tea as soon as they came in.

The service was by trolley, other people were complaining that the waiting staff didn't stop at their table to offer them food. One couple had to get up and ask one of the managers if the waiting staff could stop by and actually get some food. We didn't find this problem so much but the waiting staff either couldn't or wouldn't speak English in order for an explanation of the dish. We only had 3 dishes as the waiting staff couldn't explain to us what some dishes were.

I saw that other tables were struggling to get their bill and had to get up from the table to find a waiting staff to help them.

I saw one waiting staff push another member of staff aside in anger. Also I saw about 3 waiting staff yawn. They looked tired and aggravated.

The food that we had tasted quite good.

The restaurant looked clean but the decor needed a bit of a refresh.

For 3 x Dim Sum dishes, a Ginger Ale and Tea, the cost was over $18.

Would I go here again? At a restaurant I want to feel relaxed and looked after. I felt stressed and found it difficult to get served. So the answer is NO.

Added Jul 17, 2008 by cocoeater of vancouver (187 Reviews)

Mid week dinner
Stop by this place for a mid week meal and surpised to find it quite busy. Nearly 3/4 full at around 7pm which is really good. Most Chinese Restaurants are less than 50%. Seems like a loyal local following. Had the drunken chicken, tofu veggies, steamed seafood on egg whites and the stif fried flounder. All very good. Service was attentive with many wait staff and was also given 10% off. Top it off, you had a selection of baked custard or the red bean soup for dessert. Good value.

Added Aug 25, 2007 by foodhunter of vancouver (23 Reviews)

Long wait for average food
Yes, I know; it was the weekend, so what did I expect, right?
When the lineup goes out the door and down the stairs (restaurant is on 2nd floor) for dim sum, something has to give and it's usually food and service quality. We arrived just before 11am and didn't get seated until noon...for some reason, several groups that arrived after us got to be seated first.
Food was average but selection was poor; the same 4 carts kept making the rounds with the same stuff. It was also hard to get the attention of a waiter; not enough of them so they were too busy running around trying to clear and set up tables for the masses standing at the door.
When I finally got one to tab up our order card, he took it away for what seemed like an eternity before another waiter returned with the bill.
I heard weekdays are much better...I'll have to try that sometime...

Added Mar 3, 2007 by sideways36 of Vancouver (5 Reviews)

Solid Dim Sum and Service
This was not my first time visiting the restaurant, but the first time I'd tried it out on a weekday. Usually on weekends, there is quite a long line-up at the door, a mix of both Chinese families and non-Asians. On this visit, there was no line-up (being a Thursday late morning), but there were still plenty of occupied tables - a good sign.
The service was prompt and friendly, though I remember on weekend visits that the waiters were too harried to be so hospitable.
It's also much cleaner inside than many Chinese dim sum places, and the tables are nicely spaced apart. One of the few places left on the westside that still serves dim sum on push-carts, it's nice to have that experience in a decently clean restaurant. One thing I noticed was that the servers kept offering the same 3 or 4 assorted carts over and over. Where was the variety?
The food was average. I did like how a dumpling dish that we specifically ordered through the waiter came out promptly and steaming fresh.

Added Oct 2, 2006 by foodfanatic of South Vancouver (295 Reviews)

Not worth a revisit.
It's a great location. Maybe that's why there's the traffic, as dimsum isn't cheap nor anything special. The carpet is worn. I don't think it's been changed since whoever put it in originally.

For 9 items totalling $52, I really don't know where that 20% discount went for about 5 of those dishes. They were all marked as large or the next one up. NONE of the items were "small". What was eaten? Mostly the staple stuff, like siu mai, bun, spare ribs w/black bean sauce, tripe, sweet black sesame roll (tasted purely of sugar w/ barely a hint of black sesame in it), a wooden pail of the excessively watery tofu pudding. It was bland--couldn't taste any soy; it depended too much on the ginger syrup for flavour. Go for the wooden bucket tofu pudding @Ho Yuen Kee on Fraser--you'll never look back. I skipped trying the tapioca tart thingy filled w/ red bean paste, etc, since every other pearl looked solid white (raw), so I'm not too sure I'd trust how long it's been sitting in their fridge.

More variety were made & carted around after the discount hr. That's when you can get the deep fried prawn/shrimp/crab paste ball on sugar cane item. That tasted alright.

The receipt? Well, they had scribbles all over of odd subtotals which came out of nowhere...added together on different parts of the sheet & w/ a final total at the corner. You can see on there, the early bird discount of 20% was taken off some odd amount tha came from... where? but no where on there can you figure how many items they were charging for how much each. I just paid that figuring I'll never return again anyway, so I don't care if I get cheated this one time.

The tablecloths need some industrial washing/bleaching as they are very much still tea/oil stained, etc. The servers' clothing, however, were mainly stain-free, so thumbs up for taking care of their own personal hygiene.

If you must go, just avoid the desserts & make sure how much you're getting charged per item/size.

Added Sep 2, 2006 by sarlye of Kerrisdale (11 Reviews)

Best PUSHCART Dimsum in the City
We eat at this restaurant at least 3 times a week. The dimsum is fresh and fantastic and they still have the push carts for you to look at which item is good. The spring rolls is the best that I have eaten, its not a big fat cigar size fill with brown stuffing and oozing sauce, it is a delicate roll with shrimp filling and the skin is nice a crispy. They also have small wooden tubs of Dessert Tofu that is light and good.

Dinner menu is good and price is very reasonable. To get a table, its best to call for a reservation and avoid the wait.

Best Chinese Restaurant in the West Side of Vancouver