I managed to get in a visit to Ocean Harbor before I moved from Philly and I'm so glad I did. Everyone I've talked to about cart dim sum said that this was the place to go and it was very true. I haven't had proper dim sum since I was about 10 years old at the Imperial Inn (RIP) so I was really excited, and Ocean Harbor did not disappoint. We came at about 11 AM on a Sunday and were seated immediately even with a large party. The food started immediately, and it would probably be easier to say what we didn't eat than what we did! Some highlights for me (and I apologize for not knowing the proper Chinese names): -A steamed pork and shrimp dumpling sealed horizontally on the top. Definitely different than siu mai, and soooo deliciously tender and juicy. Really good portion size too. -Chow fun. It had that amazing wok-fried taste, and was perfectly chewy. -Egg tarts, just barely set, collapsing into your mouth when you bite them. -Others have mentioned it, but the fried shrimp green rice roll. I'm really not a huge fan of shellfish, but this was so flavorful. -I'm always going to love the chance to have some sesame balls, and these were no exception. Audibly crispy on the outside with red bean paste and wonderfully soft glutinous rice flour on the inside. -Honorable mention to the coconut jelly, which I was too full to eat but my friends crowned with the ultimate compliment of "not too sweet." Ultimately, Ocean Harbor blew past my expectations especially after reading these reviews. You aren't going for the service; there aren't waiters here. Nevertheless, I definitely wouldn't describe anyone as rude, and the pricing was very reasonable, coming out to about $20 per person for a table of seven (not including tip). I can't wait to go back. read more

Food: 2/5 Atmosphere: 1/5 Service: 0/5 Came here regularly 15 years ago, but less and less now in recent times. Food is ok, has certainly decreased in quality after COVID and is more expensive. There are other dim sum places within a few blocks that are much better quality. As others have said, the situation with their staff demanding 15-20% tip has made it so I will not come here again. A tip is not legally required. It is only legally required to cover the cost of your food as stated on the bill. I think the BBB needs to be contacted to investigate their practices surrounding tips and almost harassing customers into paying more than they wish. In addition, they have loud trucks every day disrupting the quiet street behind. Many elderly live there and are woken up by the loud beeping from the truck alarms, as well as trash truck coming VERY early and waking up residents. No consideration for those who live right there. I will be contacting the city about this issue as there was a similar problem in Fishtown and now that restaurant is no longer allowed to have trucks outside of reasonable hours disturbing residents. The trucks are also TOO large to safely turn into their loading station and people park their SUVs making the space even smaller. They constantly case a problem with traffic blockages because of the trucks unable to turn into the loading dock. read more

Food was amazing! I love a traditional dim sum place that still roll the carts around. We were seated and was immediately served right away. Plenty of options, quick service. This place was packed, but was able to see us with two large table next to each other . read more

My favorite place for dim sum in Philly hands down. Reminds me of the LA dim sum places. Ladies come by with carts offering their items and check them off on a paper on your desk. For people who gave low reviews... you got to lower expectations... if you're Asian they'll likely speak to you in Chinese even if you're not....they will just put carts and items in your face to see if you want it... you won't be offered water... you got to ask for water or tea yourself.... You got to get up and walk to the front to pay.... But the food quality is so worth it here! Five stars for me! And so worth it at about 6 dollars a dish! read more

Ocean Harbor - Dim Sum Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

What an experience! First time having dim sum so if it's your first as well, there was no menu. It was à la carte style. They brought the many food options to the table and you tell them if you want it or not. There is no shortage of good tasting foods. Prepare for a loud environment but a good time. read more

I came here for some breakfast with friends and it's a good traditional dim sum spot! The interior is spacious and when I walked in, it immediately brought me back to my childhood. Service here is standard for dim sum and they always have staff walking around with various carts and trays full of dim sum offerings. We got a variety of your classics: har gao, rice noodles, turnip cake, dumplings, buns, and more. Everything was pretty solid. Overall, not a bar spot for dim sum! read more

Ocean Harbor - Dim Sum Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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We came for a rehearsal dinner so I cannot speak as to the cart typical dining style. We were served family style. So. Much. Food. The appetizer portion was my favorite part. The servers were a wild ride. We were pushed out of the way when the next serving came. Getting water for our table was a high stakes game. It was a wild ride. read more

The best dim sum in Philadelphia! Love the experience and the carts have great variety.

Wish I could give this place a 4.5 stars, but giving it 4 stars. Let me tell you why. But in case you don't want to read everything, if you are wondering if you should go to this place for dim sum, yes, they have the push cart dim sum and, yes, the food is good. Yes, go here! :) First of all, I had a really good feeling or a really bad feeling about this place when we were pointed to our seat. The waiter who was seating us asked us if we wanted tea and we said that we were still waiting for other family members, and told him not now but instead of saying "ok," he yelled at us "TEA?! TEA?! YOU WANT TEAT?!" while slamming his hand on the teapot. So, we simply said yes to not anger the man. This is why I couldn't give it a 5. Other than the initial unpleasant encounter, I have to admit that everything here was good. There were some foods, which were meh, but overall everything was delicious and better than Grand Palace Restaurant, IMO. Attached is one picture (hopefully you can see it) that was the best thing my family ate here. The manager was delighted that we liked it, proudly stating that it is a new dim sum dish. I don't know what it's called, so that's why I had to take a picture. It was shrimp covered with crunchy dough and then covered with a green rice roll. Sooooo good! It took us a long time to get another plate of it, but it was worth the wait. This place was also better at explaining what dishes were other than the simple "chicken, shrimp, beef, dumpling" responses at other push cart dim sum places. Overall, the staff was friendly and whenever I asked for my favorite dim sum dish, the shrimp rice noodle rolls), they all said "coming, you wait." LOL. And they made sure that we had our favorite dish. Other dishes that were good were: -chow fun -shrimp cheung fun (shrimp rice noodle rolls) -har gow (shrimp dumplings) -pork shumai Dishes I would not get again here: -steamed beef short ribs with black pepper (too greasy) -fried tofu squares with shrimp (it was literally one piece of shrimp and all tofu) The restaurant is much smaller (much smaller) than Grand Palace Restaurant, but this particular Saturday, the wait didn't seem too long. Our party of 4 got seated right away at 11:30am. It did get busier as the day got later. I would definitely go back again the next time I'm craving dim sum and I'm in Philly. read more

Ocean Harbor - This was our favorite dish. Description of the dish is in my review. - Dim Sum Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Dim sum was meh... 5/10. Not as good as NYC or LA. Choices are limited. Also got a noodle soup, it was not good 3/10. I'd pass coming to this restaurant for dim sum. And by the way, they are really pushy for tips! read more

The dim sum here was pretty okay. Nothing spectacular but it wasn't bad. Many of the items ran out or we had to wait a long time for them to prepare additional servings. The variety of items was pretty standard for dimsum. Service was surprisingly friendly and they were very open to speaking English. It was a typical dimsum hall in terms of ambience. Decently noisy but not headache inducing. read more

I think this is the only actual à la carte dim sum that is solid and authentic when you are craving dim sum. The service is typical of Hong Kong style. The ambiance is classic as well. read more

Super quick service. As soon as you arrive, they direct you to a table. Soon the cart ladies will start coming up to you one by one. Each cart has different items so make sure to ask what they have. Don't get intimidated by the noise and don't rush your orders. I would suggest going through each cart first and only order once you know what you want to try. I saw a LOT of food getting wasted, almost everyone who left before us had food leftover on the table - felt really bad about it. The coconut jelly and custard tart were really delicious. I would pass on the eggplant shrimp. The pork buns were ok, would have liked more filling and a thinner shell. Bring cash. read more

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Front desk cashier lady and employees are extremely extremely rude. I went to pay for check and front desk cashier said "TIP," in a very aggressive manger. Tipping is optional...not required. I took one step to drop the tip off at the table and a waiter aggressively tapped me and said "TIP." Super super unprofessional and rude to physically touch someone as this was unwelcome physical contact. Will never come back to this restaurant again, no matter how good the dim sum or Chinese is! read more

My family's staple for dim sum. We usually come on Sunday during peak hours. We were seated quickly, but they had us come around the table before it was reset, so we were standing around waiting for a bit while they cleaned and set up the table. They have the traditional carts and Cantonese aunties that are trying to push everything onto your table. The items that we like here other than the traditional stuff are the fried squid, jellyfish, and black sesame roll. There was also this new item we tried with a green rice roll on the outside that was pretty good. read more

I remember a few years ago I tried to find a dimsum place with dimsum carts pushing around, but there wasn't any, except for this place. So I've been 'loyal' to it every time I want dimsum in Philly. The food here is pretty good too and reasonably priced. There's also a lot of option. I'd recommend not ordering beef organ because it has mainly daikon. read more

Ocean Harbor - Dim sum - Dim Sum Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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This is my first time here for dinner and it did not disappoint. Every dish was absolutely delicious! I've been here for dim sum plenty of times and dim sum is really good here. Probably the best location in Chinatown for dim sum in my opinion. Servers were all so friendly, nice and attentive. Restaurant is nicely designed and clean. read more

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Great dimsum place! Seated quickly and food came really fast in the prime hours! All the dishes were good and servers were really fast in getting us any additional condiments we requested! read more

Ocean Harbor - Dim Sum Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

This place was recommended by a local. Everything I ordered was fresh and delicious, and the service was excellent. Prices were very reasonable. The space is large and can easily accommodate big groups. I'll definitely come back if I'm in the area. read more

Ocean Harbor - Dimsum - Dim Sum Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Didn't stop in for dim sum (though I will be back to try that), and had a decent experience. Pretty quiet on a weekday night. The decor is nice and we were welcomed in. The sweet and sour chicken was a massive portion and was quite tasty. The chicken pieces were fried very light and crispy, and big pieces. Friends got the soup and dim sum sampler and said it was good. Everything came out very quick from the kitchen. Looking forward to try dim sum. Thanks read more

Ocean Harbor - Sweet Ans Sour Chicken - Dim Sum Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Long overdue review. I've been coming here for 25 years with my family and I have to say, up until this day, the food is still good whether it's the dim sum or Chinese dishes. The food quality & taste remains the same, just not the price of course. The owners, manager and servers are very friendly, service can be good or slow depending on what day you go, dishes are as authentic as it gets with generous portions. This is definitely one of my favorite dim sum places in Philly- my mom & I love their rice noodles- the one with meats, squid & pickled mustard greens, their beef pan-fried noodles and salted fish & chicken fried rice are really good as well. All their dim sum dishes are flavorful- my faves are the chicken feet, spare ribs and shrimp dumplings. My son loves their pork dumplings, curry cuttlefish and fried dough rice noodle rolls. You can't go wrong with any dish- they got a wide variety of options, everything from beef flank hot pot, braised abalone to shark fin soup. Ocean Harbor is a great restaurant to go to for breakfast, lunch or dinner and they can also host a Chinese wedding banquet, milestone birthday party or for any occasion. We'll definitely be coming back 4ever. read more

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Good, authentic dim sum. Everything we ordered tasted fresh and good. They have carts, and and the staff are attentive. It's a huge space that gets crowded pretty fast on the weekend. My favorites include the crystal shrimp dumplings, the rice rolls, the egg tarts, and the tofu skin rolls. read more

I've come here 3 times over the last 3 years and honestly the dim sum is suuuuppper average. the service is quick and definitely ask for the hotter fried foods cause they try to serve the cold stuff first if you don't realize. you need to check your stamp ticket to make sure they're not double stamping you bring cash (5% surcharge for credit cards) if you come, but fr i would not recommend you come cause they try to really cheap you out on all fronts unless you're super vigilant LOL and finally - this random lady comes by at the end if they feel like you can't speak chinese and tells you 'don't forget to tip' and then stands there and waits until you give her money. doesn't matter if you're not done with your meal LOL - she then says 'it's a 15% minimum' as you're p u l l i n g out your money ?? wack read more

Terrible service. Mediocre dim sum. The cart service is the only special thing about this place. I would not return again. Too many new and exciting places nearby to try again. read more

Not too many dim sum locations with carts in the area so I do appreciate that.. they have a lot of offerings. read more

Ocean Harbor - Dim Sum Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Food is good but service is subpar but acceptable for a dim sum place. Would I come again? Yes I would lol. read more

Ocean Harbor - Dim Sum Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The dim sum here is not as flavorful as in other Chinese restaurants. Service and ambience were fine but we were disappointed by most of the dim sum dishes (ie lor-mai-gai, jar-leung, seen-jook-gueng, etc). read more

I enjoy this place very much it has great food and their hospitality is amazing I have never had a better experience at a restaurant. They also treated my autistic son with kindness even when he was stimming unlike other restaurants I have went to! read more

Ocean Harbor - Sea food - Dim Sum Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

As everyone else is saying, this place is very mediocre. The food is ok. The service is ok. The ha gow (shrimp dumplings) get stuck to the basket so when you try to pick it up, the shrimp just comes out of the skin. There are two other dim sum places across the street, so I'll just try them next time. read more

We had a group gathering here and ate banquet style. The wines were decent but a lot of the dishes were nicely prepared from the vegetarian soup to the water spinach and marinated stir fried squid. Typical restaurant foods at a banquet style place but the cooking overall was delicious and very filling. read more

Came at the time of a private event (a wedding reception was occurring from what we guessed since a couple was making toasts on the other side of the restaurant). When we came, they had no dimsum available but instead recommended we did the fixed menu for a group of 8. Authentic food but really, it was very OK. Friends said it was cheap for all the food we got though. It was almost a competition of who would take home the leftovers because no one really wanted it... Place needs a makeover but it is authentic to what most traditional asian restaurants look like. Service was pretty fast but I don't know if it was easier because we did actually have someone who knows Chinese. I know this sounds like a really negative review but I honestly didn't hate it. It may be much better if you get a single dish to eat or maybe even dimsum? It was just a bit pricey for what I thought I got but all in all, it was still OK, and to me, that's still better than horrible. With a few changes, I think this place could have great potential. read more

Ocean Harbor - Dim Sum Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

my favorite place to bring people who have never had dim sum since this is one of the only dim sum restaurants in the area with carts still! they have all the classic dim sum items, including my all-time favorite item which is the shrimp cheung fun. i also always get the turnip cake and chicken feet! more of an older/traditional restaurant, nothing fancy, but the vibes are more authentic and true to the experience. like most authentic chinese restaurants, the service is subpar. i feel like my experiences here have been okay, but i also speak mandarin chinese. i have noticed that the workers are much more pushy toward my non-chinese friends and will try to dump as many items on them as possible when they are undecided. read more

Ocean Harbor - seafood dumpling, steamed shrimp dumpling, chicken feet, shumai - Dim Sum Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Food is good and tasty. If you want something savory and want a variety of Chinese staples, this is the place to go. This restaurant features dim sum to dinner. Authentic dim sum compared to alot of Philly places. Service is good and accommodating. Ambience is casual. read more

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Chefs come and go, food can be hit or miss, depends on what time you get there, dim sum can be fresh from kitchen, if it's not, don't order that item. The place can be really loud on weekends. So why 5 stars? This place has been existence for over 30 years. It's just like some old dim sum restaurant in Hong Kong, you go there not because the food is the best or even good, you go there for the memory. I hope this place can last another 30 years. read more

It is the Most authentic dim sum in Philly. Nothing else comes close. There are fancier tables, plates and nicely packed dim sum but nothing like the "ocean" experience. read more

Came for dim sum because they have the carts going around which is always fun. I will say though that they don't have everything out on the floor all at once so if you're wanting something specific or think you can only pick from what is out, don't settle! We made the mistake of filling up on a couple things we were mid and then the stuff we really liked came out when we were approaching fullness. You can also ask if they have something if you don't see it. They were really good about bringing me the stuff I asked for but didn't see. The food is all quite good. Upon entering they immediately ask what type of tea you want and trust me, you want tea to wash the oil down. The tea is also delicious. It's kind of hard to know how much everything is because you just point at what you want and they notate it on a check with no prices on it. However, we were pleasantly surprised at the end. We got 5 dishes they marked as Large and it came out to about ~$36. Food: Shrimp rice rolls: quite good 8/10 Shrimp ball: generous amount of meat 9/10 Shrimp dumplings: 8/10 Fish dumplings: taste like the fish balls found in soup 8/10 Pork bun: fluffy, good meat to bread ratio but still a lot of bread so it filled us up a lot 7.5/10 Egg tart: a little too much crust in comparison to custard but the custard was yummy 6/10 Price: 5/5 Taste: 4.5/5 read more

Ocean Harbor - Egg tart, fried shrimp ball, fish dumplings, char siu pork bun, Steamed Shrimp Dumplings - Dim Sum Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

I'm excited to find this dimsum restaurant. It's pretty challenging to find one that still serve dimsum the original way on the carts that go around tables. I are the pork siaomay, steam shrimp dumplings, shrimp fern rolls, fried shrimp balls, steam custard buns, pan fried leeks and steam brown sugar buns. They're all delicious. gave four stars dimsum selections and freshness and 3 stars for the service. read more

Ocean Harbor - Dimsum: Steam brown sugar buns - Dim Sum Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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Yeah, this is an incredibly mid Dim Sum / Cantonese Seafood restaurant in Philly's Chinatown. I ate two meals here with my family, one lunchtime Dim Sum, and one Seafood style dinner, so I've had both experiences here. For both, the food tasted fine, but not spectacular. Everything was fairly authentic, but nothing knocked my socks off. I had some concerns for how the dim sum was run. They didn't have people pushing carts, instead, there was a table in the middle of the restaurant where servers were dropping off plates of dim sum. Many of those plates of food were sitting there for who knows how long. From there, the servers would take the dim sum to the respective tables. Service was slow. Additionally, some customers got impatient and would walk up to that table, grab food, and then take it back to their table. There were even some customers who would camp the table, waiting for their favorite dim sum to arrive. Overall, everything was a clown fiesta so it made me a bit uncomfortable to eat there. Nothing too bad to say about dinner, asides from how the venue is a bit cramped. We had a big party and the tables were close together and not very comfortable. Looking back, the food here is fine but definitely not the best in Chinatown, and they have a weird dim sum system. Enough talk. read more

Ocean Harbor - Ocean Harbor - Dim Sum Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

My wife's family and I, who had been going here for years, are now done with this place! The food is usually good, but the employees and the owners are a bunch of nasty, untrustworthy toads. I know for a fact, that if you're not with someone who can read their language, they'll overcharge you. They also have a foul habit of chasing down diners for tips even when they leave the standard 20% for what is usually substandard service. I hope losing us as longtime customers (always 2 full tables) hurts their bottom line. read more

Food 5/10 Quite mediocre dim sum, nothing really exciting, the flavors were just missing. Besides the 流沙包，everything else tasted quite bland and boring. The 叉烧包 was way too sweet and not juicy at all. The shrimp dumplings were solid, they got the job done. Atmosphere 6/10 Large room with tables while carts are being pushed around. Service 5/10 The service was really pushing us to take more food, disturbing us a lot more often than I would have liked. read more

Ocean Harbor - shrimp - Dim Sum Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania