Ocean Island

For take-out dim sum they are surprisingly good, with an even more surprising menu in terms of the spread that, even mid-day, is still pretty solid. It's absolutely a take-out dive despite the presence of a few little tables, parking lot does get busy, and while they do take credit cards I saw most paying with cash. The enclosed glass counter is full of pineapple buns, egg rolls, lo bac guo (turnip cake), cheung fun (both shrimp and beef), plus a smaller than expected but still quite well-stocked area of fresh steamed items. Har gow, shu mai, lo mai gai, ngau paak yip (ginger beef tripe), and all the goodies I would expect. There is a bit of a wait as orders are packed into foam boxes and queued up to pay, but it's not bad, and you have to admire how well they understand organization. Pricing is pretty reasonable too.

I was a big fan of this location when it was the old 'Yum Cha Cafe,' and when I was in the area, I learned it's now, 'Ocean Island.' As much as I miss the previous establishment, Ocean Island does have a good selection of dim sum, pastries, and your basic congees (jook), noodle soups, and rice plates. There's like three tables inside if you want to eat there, but with the constant foot traffic, you may just to take your food to-go (like everyone else). It really helps if you speak Mandarin or Cantonese here - the ladies are working fast and there's kind of a line and also kind of none lol. I was trying to place an order and they didn't hear me for some reason, then this kind lady who spoke Mandarin told them I wanted to place an order (so nice!) and I did just that. I only came here to try their Boa Luo Bao (Pineapple Bun) and their Pork Ribs Rice Plate, which turned out really good on everything. The dim sum also looked good, but I feel like the pastries and plate meals might be better value. Even though it's a to-go shop, the prices are still slightly steep for dim sum - about $5-$7 per dish or so...that definitely adds up! Quality of food is good though. Parking here is a hit or miss in the lot, depending on the day you go there. It shares a parking lot with other shops and the giant supermarket, so parking space can come sparingly. But street parking is available if it's really packed. But yeah if you're in the area, worth stopping in and get your dim sum fix.

A friend stumbled on this place on the way to the market and recommended it to me. We were out and about and wanted late dim sum so we decided to try this place out. You order at the counter. Just be careful because if you point at something and ask what it is, the server is more apt to put it in a take out box. As for the dim sum, the siu mai was ok..mostly pork and didn't detect any shrimp. The char siu steam bao's were very good as well as these triangle shaped wor tip/fried dumplings. The turnip cake was also good and the rice wrapped chicken was too. Definitely an upgrade over Dim Sum Express and Lucky 1. I'll be back.