From the outside of Oceana and its name, I wouldn’t guess that it was a Michelin star restaurant. Rather, I’d think it a businessman or tourist trap that would put out clichéd and perhaps a bit overpriced seafood. So, I was pleasantly surprised when on my visit the other night it did neither.
I was on my way to a show and knew Oceana was down the block. So, I figured it was the perfect opportunity to stop in and cross a Michelin star that I wasn’t expecting much from off the list. I was happy to find that I should’ve expected much more. There is no doubt that I want like to return and sit down in the dining room for a full meal rather than just grabbing a quick bite at the bar like I did on this trip.
The space is bright and gorgeous with two levels of bar, one when you walk in and one to the right and down a few steps. This second bar is just in front of the dining room. Both bars are clean, white marble with dark wood and great places to have a drink, some appetizers, or a full meal. The open kitchen is in the back of the restaurant and visible from the bars and the dining room.
Oceana has a good wine and beer list, including Kelso a brewery I’m fond of. The chef of Oceana is Ben Pollinger, and, as would be expected, the menu focuses on seafood. As I said, my friend and I opted to have a quick meal at the bar before our show. I was very happy to find that despite the fact that we were dining at the bar they still brought us amuse bouches, bread, and petit fours. The amuse bouche was chestnut mushroom broth with lobster. It was a really nice earthy broth with a slight hint of seafood and a small little crunch of chestnut. The bread was two mini baguettes and one roll served cold with butter and salt.
For an appetizer, we had oysters Rockefeller that were extremely good. I liked these because they had a nice crunchy, buttery topping that did not overwhelm the flavor of the extremely fresh oysters which is too often the case with this dish.
For one of our main courses we had the Taro wrapped Pompano with baby bok choy, long beans, peanuts and coconut cilantro curry. This was so delicious. The fish was nice and flaky and the taro made a really nice crust on it. The sauce was also remarkably tasty and I was dipping my bread in it every opportunity I had. The other main course we had was the shrimp and grits. The shrimp were exceptionally good. I especially enjoyed the sauce on the shrimp and paid a fair amount of attention to the grit cake as well. My one complaint is that the shrimp had its head on and I would prefer if it hadn’t, because I just don’t like my food looking back at me.
I had the opportunity to walk past the kitchen on my way to the ladies room. I was happy to get a closer look into the open kitchen, which was immaculate and huge.
At the end of our meal, they brought over two mini pops for each of us, one was a chocolate pop and the other was a sweet potato pop with chocolate. These were awesome and a nice sendoff as we ran out the door to our show.
Frankly, as we left I realized that I wanted to rewind and have a proper meal that was less rushed in the dining room. The food at Oceana was incredibly flavorful and definitely worthy of a return trip.
I was on my way to a show and knew Oceana was down the block. So, I figured it was the perfect opportunity to stop in and cross a Michelin star that I wasn’t expecting much from off the list. I was happy to find that I should’ve expected much more. There is no doubt that I want like to return and sit down in the dining room for a full meal rather than just grabbing a quick bite at the bar like I did on this trip.
The space is bright and gorgeous with two levels of bar, one when you walk in and one to the right and down a few steps. This second bar is just in front of the dining room. Both bars are clean, white marble with dark wood and great places to have a drink, some appetizers, or a full meal. The open kitchen is in the back of the restaurant and visible from the bars and the dining room.
Oceana has a good wine and beer list, including Kelso a brewery I’m fond of. The chef of Oceana is Ben Pollinger, and, as would be expected, the menu focuses on seafood. As I said, my friend and I opted to have a quick meal at the bar before our show. I was very happy to find that despite the fact that we were dining at the bar they still brought us amuse bouches, bread, and petit fours. The amuse bouche was chestnut mushroom broth with lobster. It was a really nice earthy broth with a slight hint of seafood and a small little crunch of chestnut. The bread was two mini baguettes and one roll served cold with butter and salt.
For an appetizer, we had oysters Rockefeller that were extremely good. I liked these because they had a nice crunchy, buttery topping that did not overwhelm the flavor of the extremely fresh oysters which is too often the case with this dish.
For one of our main courses we had the Taro wrapped Pompano with baby bok choy, long beans, peanuts and coconut cilantro curry. This was so delicious. The fish was nice and flaky and the taro made a really nice crust on it. The sauce was also remarkably tasty and I was dipping my bread in it every opportunity I had. The other main course we had was the shrimp and grits. The shrimp were exceptionally good. I especially enjoyed the sauce on the shrimp and paid a fair amount of attention to the grit cake as well. My one complaint is that the shrimp had its head on and I would prefer if it hadn’t, because I just don’t like my food looking back at me.
I had the opportunity to walk past the kitchen on my way to the ladies room. I was happy to get a closer look into the open kitchen, which was immaculate and huge.
At the end of our meal, they brought over two mini pops for each of us, one was a chocolate pop and the other was a sweet potato pop with chocolate. These were awesome and a nice sendoff as we ran out the door to our show.
Frankly, as we left I realized that I wanted to rewind and have a proper meal that was less rushed in the dining room. The food at Oceana was incredibly flavorful and definitely worthy of a return trip.
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