Ocean Star Seafood Restaurant

I used to like Ocean Star -- their food is decent though a bit over-priced compared to other places around the area. If I'm in the area, I'd rather go to Village Seafood around the corner (which has great crab by the way).

I am Asian and when I usually go with my parents we get seated rather quickly. However, once I went with a group of mostly non-Asian friends and waited over an hour to get seated. There were about 10 of us there; we had told the waitress that we could be seated at 2 separate tables. At least 4 tables of our size were seated before us -- all arrived after us. When I asked the hostess about this, she yelled at me and told me that it was NOT first-come-first serve.

I had seen other people slip her money, which is not something I usually do, because I tip very well (esp. when I'm out with my friends, who tip at least 20%) -- enough for the hostess to get a chunk. I also do not think that that practice is fair -- it should be first-come-first-serve, esp. with a lobby filled with hungry people.

I finally found one of the managers -- told him about the situation, and he did NOTHING. Looked at me like -- I guess you're not getting seated then. At this point, my friends were become antsy -- probably b/c they were really, really hungry. I then found another manager -- probably the general one overseeing everything. He went to talk to the hostess and told her to seat us at the next available table. But no apology or anything.

After we were done eating (over $200 worth), I paid for both tables. Usually, when you have a large party seated together, there is 18% gratuity, but we did not get seated together. I tipped significantly less than what I usually would, but was not allowed to leave and forced to paid 18% gratuity. I really did not want to argue -- just wanted to leave, so I paid it.

This was the MOST TERRIBLE dining experience that I've ever had anywhere. I (and my friends) will NEVER EVER go there again.

just like the other dim-sum places in the monterey park area, Ocean Star is a happening place on the weekends for dim-sum. With similar prices and tastes, it all depends on how quick you are with getting a table. I have had some hits and misses at this place. As usual, it helps to have a small party, and come early. The hostess endures a lot of pain, getting everyone seated in a timely manner.

What Empress Pavilion lacks in dim sum variety, Ocean Star easily makes up for it. And the prices are very reasonable!

This is the granddaddy of Los Angeles dim sum places. It is gigantic, but on weekends you still need to arrive early if you want to get a table without too long of a wait. They have a pretty nice variety of dishes on offer. They also seem to come up with new dishes periodically, we have had things there that we have never seen anywhere else.

I love the dim sum and chrysanthemum tea. Gets crowded during weekend brunch. Flower tofu dessert is great. Also been to two wedding banquets that were held here. Good eats.