Hands down one of the best dim sum places here in Sydney and this is from a HongKonger. Their egg darts are absolutely hands down the best I've tasted here in Sydney. So delicious. The other dim sum dishes are wonderful especially their beef rice rolls. It's really too bad the locals don't travel to this restaurant due to traffic and parking, they are really missing out. read more

This is the worst Chinese restaurant that I have even experienced. Food is average, but the service is the worst. A) the so-called Chinese tea is not authentic but just a tea bag in the teapot, which is about under $0.30 as a box of 12-pack tea bags is about $3.00, and the restaurant charges about $2.50 for each customer, B) poor service, most of the tables are served as the food carts do not even come by, and in fact I only saw one cart only servicing one or two tables , which may be because of not enough food available, and C) not value for money, although I do not mind as long as I can have a good eat out, but with the worst service 3 small dim sim dishes are over $30.00, just not worth. read more

This dim sum restaurant doesn't get enough praise from diners. As a San Franciscan who is spoiled with excellent Chinese dim sum, I was pleased with the food no offerings. The dim sum was fresh and hot. They had dim sum carts and made pan fried daikon cake and fresh gailan in the entry. The ladies pushing the carts were coming around steadily and were about asking if we wanted more food. The tiguanyin tea was tasty. The only downside is $2.50/person for tea and $1.50 entry for the baby since no tea charge. read more

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This is one of those restaurants you would take your guests out to impress. Enter via Sussex St and make your way up the stairs featuring stunning koi fish and you'll find yourself in what appears to be a mini aquarium. Bright blue tanks filled with live seafood, where customers can select seafood of their choice. East Ocean restaurant specialises in live seafood cooking, from parrot fish, to coral trout, barramundi, abalone, eel, lobster and crab to name a few, they certainly shows off their high quality seafood. The restaurant also serves traditional Chinese dishes and causal yum cha with plenty of amazing dumplings amongst your favourite yum cha options from the yum cha cart. You can even order your yum cha via their ipad technology.  Before sitting down to order, make sure you take time to take in the stunning new renovations. The decor flows beautifully from the aquarium space into the main dining room with the koi print featuring on the chairs and in the private dining rooms (both small and large). A deep blue hue features in the print and lighting, making this space ooze a cool sophistication. They have even made considered decisions, such as incorporating fish in the gold chopstick rests on the table.  We are seated at our table by professional wait staff who provide us with menus, tea and dipping sauces ready for our dinner. We peruse the menu and there are endless choices of options we would be more than happy to have. If you're in a larger dining group, we would recommend selecting live seafood and having it cooked to your flavour preference. The fish is at market price, so you do keep having to check with wait staff as to the cost of the particular fish.  We are in a small dining party so we opt for a few smaller dishes to share so we could try a variety of things. Peking duck is a must order for us, and we like that it comes served two ways; firstly with the pancakes, to wrap with greens and hoi sin, and later it is served as San Choy Bao. The duck is finely chopped with vegetables, garlic and soy sauce and we scoop it ourselves into lettuce leaves that act as cups. East ocean signature stir fry seafood with pork and vegetables. This stir fry had prawns, mussels, octopus...... We liked the sound of a the sliced boiled free range chicken in ginger and scallion sauce and although it doesn't look like the fanciest dish around, it tastes extra good. The meat is served cold and the flesh is moist and juicy, flavoured with the ginger. Dip this in the scallion sauce and it works so well. To accompany this we have some lightly tossed snow peas, rice and Chinese tea. The lazy Susan in the middle of the table makes for sharing to be quite easy. You always have to leave room for dessert at a Chinese restaurant and this is primarily due to Mango Pancakes. These are thin crepe pancakes filled with diced mango and cream, a perfect summer dessert. We finish off with fresh fruit, as is common for a Chinese restaurant and a good way to clean the palette. The menu has a good range of seafood, pork, beef, vegetables, rice and noodles so it would be suitable for any dining party. They are known for their seafood, so we would recommend incorporating as many seafood dishes as you can. It also suits those with particular nutrition requirements, and these are easily identified on the menu. Although we didn't drink on our visit, the restaurant has a huge bar and wine list available. We would like to thank Spooning Australia for arranging our visit and to East Ocean Restaurant for the hospitality provided. We love this restaurant and look forward to returning to try the yum cha sometime. read more

Solid 3 for decent dim sum food. Nothing spectacular, but also nothing terrible either. Among the disappointments were: The har-gow shrimp dumplings and ha-cherng shrimp wrapped in noodle. Among the highlights were: the pork/shrimp/peanut dumplings, the congee, and the dan tat egg custard. The food was all mostly freshly prepared so none of it felt like it was sitting out for long. The only other thing I wish they had was a more complete menu served by the push carts for a more traditional feel! Otherwise, for non-Chinese speakers this place is nice enough to provide a full menu with pictures and a paper ordering sheet for you to pick what items you want. read more

East Ocean Restaurant - Dan tat egg custards - Chinese Near Me - Haymarket, NSW

Always come here for the yum cha. Not too pricy and the food was great. The service was not too good though. Ordered some congee once, the staff just crossed it off the paper/receipt without telling me that they ran out of it :o read more

East Ocean Restaurant - Chinese Near Me - Haymarket, NSW

First observation is that it's a trolley-less service. Ordering is done on a form and after submitting, waiters gradually bring the dishes out as soon as they are ready. There are photos on the menu but this system makes ordering intuitive for inexperienced Yum Cha diners where they cannot see and smell potential dishes in front of them before ordering. You would think that this system of ordering would infer that dishes are made to order. Unfortunately for us, most of the dishes seemed to be reheated and frozen dumplings heated up in microwaves taste much better. PORK AND PRAWN DIM SIMS - Siu Mai Tough and chewy pork centre, these are supposed to be so addictive. Siu Mai addicts can get cured with a bite of these bad boys. PRAWN GOW GEES - Har Gau All the dumpling skins were ripped and the filling bland probably because the flavour got steamed out of the wrap. TARO CRESCENTS - Wu Qwok Taro was cold inside sign that it was not freshly fried, despite this it was pretty good. BBQ PORK PUFF - Char Siu Sow Probably the best of the worst today, pastry was good although bbq pork inside was below average. CHINESE BREAD STICK WRAPPED IN RICE NOODLES - Jar Leung The only fresh dish was the bread stick (fried-dough) wrapped in rice noodles. One or two bites are fine, but it gets boring pretty quickly. Conclusion The only positive is the free Wifi and opening hours. Food is very overpriced compared to the taste and technical execution on offer. The unfriendly ordering system makes it a big no-no for uninitiated/first-time Yum Cha diner. @thesydneynoob read more

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When I think of Yum Cha in Sydney, this has been my go to venue for years! While it is still pretty awesome... it would not be terribly hard to convince me that I should go some place else for Yum Cha goodness. So what has changed? Well East Ocean used to be a bustling hive of activity (as are most Yum Cha venues) with hot trolleys doing laps of the room with tasty wafts of unknown food passing close by. This is normally followed by a quick and often impatient explanation, in what might be English, but is more likely to be Cantonese, of what exactly we are being offered. Well... East Ocean is like that no more. Now and again you'll still see a trolley or two come out (though mostly it is just the desert one) but the other 90% of them have been replaced with an ala carte type ordering system. You get given a piece of paper when you sit down, and as you look through the menu you mark how many of what you want, and give it to the waiter. While this is perfect for the non-Chinese speaking customers *raises hand*, and likely this ensures that you are getting your a fresher order much faster than the lottery system of hoping your hot trolley will contain what you desire, it does take away something of the mystique from the entire process. That said... for me... and likely my unrefined Chinese palate, the food was still good. It came out quickly, and the service was (please don't be too shocked) friendly! Having come to Yum Cha for years this is something that really threw me off my game, but I soldiered on. I enjoyed everything that was brought out right up to, and including, the mango pudding (which is a must for me at any Yum Cha). Then the next difference became apparent. The prices had gone up. Fair enough with CPI as it is in Sydney this was bound to happen, but I am pretty sure I could find the same quality food in China town much cheaper. Would I come back? Absolutely. Knowing what I am ordering is a somewhat gratifying feeling, and not having to be interrupted by people trying to convince me the I should eat chicken feet or the like, was actually quite nice. Though if anyone has a better venue (and no... the Marigold will not be taken as an option), then please let me know. I would love to try it. read more

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East Ocean is my favourite place for yum-cha in the city. From joining the line of would-be diners that slides down the red velvet stairs to fitting in my last bite of dessert (ALWAYS the red bean buns), a meal at East Ocean is an experience, not just a tummy-topper. Whilst the restaurant is open from 10am - 2am daily, I'm yet to decipher when their busy period is, as the place seems to be full at every hour I've been there. The food-carts snake their way around the sea of tables, each shelf filled with salt & pepper squid, ginger crab, shark-fin dumplings, dim sums, noodles, Chinese greens and vegetarian and meat-filled buns. I love the anticipation of yum cha, the excitement of not knowing what's to come, keeping your eyes peeled for something that might be yummy and trying something that you haven't a clue what it is, simply because the trolley's tell you to. But perhaps more than the excitement, and even more than the shark-fin dumplings, and perhaps even more than the grilled scallops, my favourite thing about East Ocean is watching the staff at work. There's a distinct (and colour coded) hierarchy of staff working the floor, a hierarchy that is both glaringly obvious and seamlessly efficient. Like watching a foreign martial arts film without the subtitles, observing the staff at East Ocean is captivating. As they call out orders to one another, I swallow my anonymous mouthful and watch the operation with wide eyes, despite not understanding a word of what's being said. read more

East Ocean Restaurant - Chinese Near Me - Haymarket, NSW

Standard yum Cha here nothing stood out though I feel when you enter from the non Chinatown side there is less service. There wifi is weak and prices feel a little higher than other places! I don't remember seeing a lift upstairs so those in wheelchairs or have difficulty climbing stairs I don't know how you would get up there read more

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This is our go-to late at night joint for Chinese food, and I have been coming here for years. -- its open until 2am most nights. The service (Raymond and Jackie you are god-like waiters!) is good, however if you don't get the aforementioned waiters then you may be in for a rocky ride. The food is what I'd expect of a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown (and one of the oldest Chinatown establishments - I remember going here as a kid nearly 30 years ago) I'm not going to detail the dishes I've tried; a) I've had so many I feel guilty singling out one or two for review and b) It's a Chinese restaurant. You know.... its typical Chinese food. AHHH!! -- but it's typical Chinese food done well Here's just a couple of brief examples to illustrate my point: The Mongolian Beef (with leek, not onion) has slivers of chilli through it, lifting the hoi-sin rich sauce. The crispy chicken comes to the table hidden under layers of perfectly micro julienne'd ginger, shallots and chilli. Little things make the difference in lifting the typical Chinese fare you expect into something.. better. The dumplings are all nice, although I've had better. Generous serves of food, predictably presented, but tasty, and without that greasy taste that some other restaurants nearby are guilty of (New Tai Yuen are you listening??). And you aren't assaulted by the hideous "pick-me! pick-me!" hawkers and spruikers standing out the front of their establishment trying to entice you in. (New Tai Yuen are you listening!??) I guess a restaurant that is known as probably the best yum-cha joint in Sydney doesn't need spruikers - and the yum-cha really is good. No, it isn't "good" its unbelievably awesome -- the dead give-away to the quality is the sheer quantity of Chinese people who eat here -- that must count for something. Because I know what to expect, and the predictable nature of the East Ocean experience means that I have the confidence to bring family and friends here, and they praise this place after eating here. I enjoy eating here, and a big part of that is because Raymond, Jackie and Turandot--- I mean Cheryl -- (the late night wait-staff denizens) know me, and know what I like to order, and are always happy to see me, and chat to me in their adorable broken English about their families and their lives as I fill them in on my comings and goings. I salute them, and the chefs who cook the predictably fantastic Chinese fare that I love so much, and who always wave to me from the kitchen when I see them. read more

Yes I'm a fan of East Ocean for 14 reasons. Number one reason was the extended hours - 10am to 2am is my kind of drop in eatery. We needed a mid afternoon meet and eat place to entertain an interstate visitor arriving at 3.30pm. We admit we were craving Yum Cha and expecting to be way too late. Not at East Ocean in the heart of Sydney's Chinatown. The host ushered us to our cosy booth-table (reason #2 for loving this place) with crisp white linen table cloth (reason #3) and gave us the wonderful news that Yum Cha was still available (reason #4). Awesome - extended hours yum cha! OK so far so good - but I expected to be out of luck for the king prawn dumplings."Yes we have some king prawn dumplings for you." Whoohoo!!! (reason # 5). I felt double lucky. Happily everything we ordered was available for yum cha (reason # 6). The succulent soy chicken and duck, the super fresh green steamed broccoli, and lovely leek and seafood dumplings which were amazingly even more yummy than the king prawn dumplings. (reasons 7, 8 & 9). My party loved all (reason 10) Great value for money (reason # 11 , good service (reason # 12) and delicious fresh food in lovely environment (reason # 13). Plus our interstate guest was impressed (#14). read more

Should have really read some Yelp reviews before I went back to East Ocean, but never for the life of me thought that Yum Cha trollies would be outlawed for picking off a menu, having being going there for years... Okay, so it was a picture menu, but still. In my opinion, this is NOT an authentic Yum Cha experience. I want to get pot luck and see what kind of weird and wonderful dishes happen to swing by while I'm there. You go for the experience, the food being good and the prices being reasonable (which they aren't) is usually a bonus. The main problem I see is logistics - an already busy restaurant has crammed even more tables into it, leaving few alleys for trollies. In fact, there are maybe 4-5 trollies in the whole place, but they have "special" dishes on them, and you will only get to have a stickybeak or be even offered a stickybeak if you happen to have a table alongside the main thoroughfare. Was extremely disappointed to order a few plates of standard prawn/pork/vege dumplings (orders cannot be cancelled) to see two minutes later in the distance a trolley with a sign advertising mind bending dumplings made with green tea or interesting combinations of ingredients like chicken, scallops, mushrooms, asparagus and abalone. Yes, sounds exciting doesn't it? Managed to overeat to try the green tea dumplings (which was a bit of a taste sensation - think they were steamed in tea? Curious...) So, although the food was about an 8/10, the general disappointment of the lost potential for the meal and occassion was overwhelming. read more

Dim Sum for $40 a person!? Might as well chop off your hand. Food was fine, but sometimes when restaurants advertise in those pamphlets, they aren't always the best. I would have much rather wandered around Chinatown some more and found a hole in the walll! Also, they charged us for stuff we had crossed off our list, but they take it away each time you order, so you can't prove that you didn't want/ask for the items. read more

My friends and I came here to eat dim sum and we had reservations but it was not needed since we showed up right when they open. Not busy until later on during lunchtime. The dim sum that I ordered were chicken with sticky rice, chicken feet, beef tripe, and some other stuff that I can't remember. It was all standard. The prices were a little higher than what I am used to. They did not have the rolling carts. We had to order our items and they bring it out to us. It is a nice place to try out when you are craving dim sum. read more

East Ocean Restaurant - Dim sum of chicken feet, pork ribs, and beef tripe. - Chinese Near Me - Haymarket, NSW

Went during restaurant's soft opening. Lots of renovation work still going on - toilet not flushing yet - but kitchen was fully functional. Dim sum was good. Dumplings and shumai were filled with lots of stuffing, although everything was on the salty side. A little one note after two or three baskets. read more

East Ocean Restaurant - Shrimp dumplings - Chinese Near Me - Haymarket, NSW

Oh East Ocean, what happened? I've been going to this place since I was a child and after some years overseas I've came back looking for some great Yum Cha. The service was slow, the food was various shades of pink and beige and the price at the end was astonishingly high. The final nail in the coffin was the guy who kept strolling past our table with a couple of live, thrashing fish slowly dying in plastic bags without water. Like those fish, my love of this restaurant died slowly and painfully. read more

This place is overpriced. They charge $20 corkage per bottle of wine and the cheapest wine you can buy at the restaurant is $70. I definitely don't mind paying a little more for great quality food and excellent service, unfortunately I received neither. I am vegetarian and spoke to the waiter about getting a dish off the menu that contain no fish. He said no problem and proceeded to give me a plate of plain steamed bok choy without any sauce. Not wanting to make a fuss I ate it. The rest of my party thought the peking duck was small, only about 6 or so pieces for $46. When the bill came the problem began. The restaurant tried to charge me $25 for the bowl of bok choy. As the waiter had disappeared I requested the manager. I explained the situation and instead of discussing it he became rude and aggressive, enticing my friend and I into an argument with about ten of his staff. He ranted on saying I should pay and he has rent and other expenses, and other completely irrelevant arguments. He then blamed the waiter and would not take responsibility for anything. Some of his staff chimed in and defused the situation and then he tried to barter down the price of the meal, a few dollars at a time. I was incredibly insulted considering the fact a scene was made and he was treating me like an idiot. Needless to say, we won't be going back. read more

Absolutely horrible service after years of loving yum cha here. What used to make this place great for us was the ordering. We didn't have to worry about what was coming past on trolleys, we knew our choices were on their way. We went today (Sunday) with our 9 month old and after being seated for an hour, asking multiple times for food only to be met with empty trolleys, and only having cold Peking duck pancakes, BBQ pork buns and a cold shallot pancake come past, We left - hungry and grumpy and down over $30. On the plus side they did have a baby chAnge table and high chair. We have been coming here for years and won't be after such a horrible experience unfortunately read more

I don't know about you, but every now and then I get a craving for some asian dumplings, pork buns, fried noodles, sticky rice and egg tarts, all being served by ladies carrying these items on some fast wheeling trolleys on a tight, deadly track in a Chinese restaurant. That's right guys, I'm talking about Yum Cha and this place does it real good. This is the go-to place for Yum Cha when you're in the city. Best to get in early at 11am and avoid the crowds, which will soon follow and most likely reach capacity at 12:30pm, especially on the weekends. Tasty things to order if you haven't been to yum cha before are the pork buns, prawn dumplings, sticky rice in banana leaf, egg tarts, mango pudding and just whatever else looks good as you see the food in the trolleys pass by, after all this is Yum Cha! read more

My favourite yum cha place. Love the siew may, har kow, etc. read more

East Ocean Restaurant - Yum cha - Chinese Near Me - Haymarket, NSW

Most overpriced Chinese restaurant I have ever been to. Food is average. Service is worst than a hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant. No reason to go-even if it's the last restaurant in town. And they will add bogus charges to your bill. read more

Very disappointing restaurant in very respect. Rude, poorly trained wait staff, run-down interior (filthy worn carpets, shabby tables). Food quality is about on par with a mediocre food court. Will never go back. read more

Best prawn dumplings I've ever had. Also has a really cool vibe with fish tanks. When we come to Sydney this is on the "must" list.

Extremely overpriced. Half Peking duck.. we got just 6 pieces of duck! Staff attitude was pretty average. Would never go back.

Yummy yum cha! I am a regular at east ocean yum cha, on a sunday it is advisable to get there early to ensure you get seated quickly, unless you don't mind waiting around ... It gets louder the closer to 1200 you get there, worth the trip across the bridge if you live on the north side! read more

Located in Chinatown of Sydney, this really is a must-try for quality dim sum. Since me and my family didn't know what to have for lunch, we referred to a pamphlet about the best eateries and it did not disappoint. Right across from our hotel was East Ocean and since it was supposed to be one of the best places for "Yum Cha", we wanted to give it a try. Instead of seeing a bundle of carts being pushed around, we ordered straight from the menu. Each dish was served hot and fresh. Nothing was too salty or sweet. The waitress didn't push us to order more and even suggested that we a order a few first before deciding on too much. Whenever I go for dim sum, I always leave room for the tofu dessert ("Tofu Fa"). East Ocean is a winner when it comes to this sweet delicacy. The oh-so-soft tofu delish with the sweet ginger-y, light syrup, mmm. Definitely one of the best dim sum spots I've visited. read more

Ive been to East Ocean a few times. I am a fan of their yum cha, and have always received great service. However outside of the hours they serve yum cha I found the dishes over priced for the serving size and quality, considering the competition in the area. read more

I think this is one of the better Yum Cha restaurants in the are. It's not as big as its big brother Marigold and not as ethnic looking, in fact the decor is not what you come for. The food is fresher and better than most other restaurants of its kind and had a good selection of dishes to choose from. One of the biggest bonuses is the staff are actually friendly and polite, you really don't feel like they hate you! Brilliant for people watching if you like the joy of watching over labeled fashion victims. It's also perfect for the day after the night before food binge. Don't expect much from the wine list, but it's doable. read more

Went to this restaurant for a friend's wedding. We were served with an eight course Chinese banquet. The food was delicious.

1. It doesn't has walking trolley in the restaurant. 2. The staffs here are NOT friendly at all. Only one staff that was smiling at us!! 3. One of the staff put my order wrong, yet I told them that I didn't order that, then someone void the order. YET, the item still come out on my table. 4. Bad customer service. 5. None can speak English. 6. My friend put her bag on the floor, and literally, the staff just YELLED at her to pick up her bag. (Who does that anyway?!) 7. They gave us the bills before all of our food was out!!!!!!! Wtf! I as a customer is not satisfied at all by the service of this restaurant!! Go close this restaurant or at least, trained them properly!! read more

good yum cha place with good variety. my favorite is the duck rice roll & the seafood dumpling soup. guess it's also because i can't get it elsewhere... read more

Our group had one of the best meals of our trip here. All the food was well prepared and hot when it came to the table. The concierge at the hotel suggested we come here and she was right. I would recommend to anyone looking for Chinese food in Sydney. read more