Dim Sum Cage Match - In this Corner, Ocean Jewels Seafood Restaurant

Restaurant	Ocean Jewels Seafood Restaurant
Address	13330 30th Avenue Flushing, NY 718 359-8600 www.oceanjewelsrestaurant.com
Hours	Mon-Thurs 10 am - 12 am Fri 10 am - 1 am Sat 9 am - 1 am Sun 9 am - 12 am
Cuisine	Cantonese Dim Sum
Scotch	Highland Park

Up first is Ocean Jewels Seafood Restaurant, one of the reigning champions of the Flushing Dian Xin (Dim Sum) scene. It has an established reputation for excellent food and is usually packed by its many fans. It employs the traditional push cart method of presenting dishes. The servers were prompt and courteous and the carts came around quickly.

Round 1 (a Scotch Chick parades around the ring in red stiletto heels holding up a sign): Xian Shui Jiao (football shaped glutinous rice balls filled with pork), Cha Xiao Bao (bbq pork buns), Cha Xiao Su (bbq pork pastries), Chicken Feet, Spare Ribs, Dan-ta (egg custard), and Bitter Melon Glutinous Rice Balls. In addition, throughout the meal servers made the rounds with trays of specials. From these Green Peppers stuffed with Shrimp, Chicken Wings, and Chao Mi Fen (stir fried rice noodles) made the line-up.

Round 1: From Back Left

Back Row: Xian Shui Jiao, Bitter Melon Glutinous Rice Balls

Middle Row: Black Bean Spare Ribs, Chicken Feet, Cha Xiao Su

Front Row: Cha Xiao Bao, Dan-ta

Ocean Jewels came out swinging with their Cha Xiao Bao and Cha Xiao Su. These bbq pork goodies depend on the proper ratio of filling to outside in order to achieve perfection. Ocean Jewels' were small, very tasty and packed with filling: a direct hit.

Xian Shui Jiao is perhaps CA Scotch Chick's favorite Dian Xin treat (which is why it appears twice in the picture). It is soft and savory on the inside and sweet and crunchy on the outside. Ocean Jewels' version was a solid effort. While they skimped a bit on the filling, the outside was perfectly crisp.

Ocean Jewels began to lose some of their momentum with their Chicken Feet and Black Bean Spare Ribs. Because these steamed meats are both eaten by placing the morsel in ones mouth, removing the good parts, and delicately extracting the bones, they must be tender and saucy. The Chicken Feet were just a tad underdone and undersaucy, and the Spare Ribs lacked flavor.

Ocean Jewels made a solid showing in the desert category: Dan-ta and Bitter Melon Glutinous Rice Balls. Dan-ta is usually served in the oval "Portuguese" style or the smaller round style. Ocean Jewels serves the smaller round versions. Their crust was flaky but their custard appeared to lack vanilla. Their Bitter Melon Glutinous Rice Balls are amazing confections packed with black sesame paste and covered with pine nuts (they are anything but bitter). CA Scotch Chick has scoured other cities searching for this tasty treat but has only had them at our two contenders. Ocean Jewels scored a few points for the flaky crust of its Dan-ta but scored big in the Bitter Melon Glutinous Rice Balls division.

The results were mixed with regards to the special: the peppers with shrimp were nice and crisp while the chicken wings were on the limp side. The Chow Mi Fen was excellent, with chewy noodles, crunchy vegetables, and a smoky stir fry sauce.

Chow Mi Fen

Just as CA Scotch Chick was savoring the last Bitter Melon Ball, she noticed Wise Woman glancing with renewed interest at the carts. Because she had heard CA Scotch Chick wax poetically about the Cha Xiao Bao, she scooped up three more buns. She also added an order of bacon wrapped shrimp. Time for Round 2.

Round 2 (a Scotch Chick parades around the ring in red stiletto heels holding a up a sign): Bacon Wrapped Shrimp, a plain bun, Cha Xiao Bao with a custardy top, and steamed Cha Xiao Bao. The Bacon Wrapped Shrimp was scored no points. While it was somewhat flavorful, it lacked the necessary crispiness. One of the buns also gave a score of zero. It was just a plain bun, nothing inside and nothing special. The last two buns really racked up the points, however. They were both entries in the Cha Xiao Bao division. One was a version of Cha Xiao Bao with what CA Scotch Chick thinks to be a thin custard baked on the top. The combination of salt and sweet was fantastic. The other was the steamed version of Cha Xiao Bao. Big points for the filling to outside ratio.

Part of Round 2 From Back Left

Back Row: Green Peppers w/ Shrimp, Cha Xiao Bao w/ Custardy Top

Front Row: Nothing Special Buns, Bacon Wrapped Shrimp

Steamed Version of Cha Xiao Bao

Before Wise Woman could renew her interest in the carts and launch Round 3, CA Scotch Chick decided to end this stage of the cage match. She signaled the waiter to tally the bill, snagged the check, and stumbled to the front to pay it. Ocean Jewels made a solid showing. Most of the dishes were quite good and some were excellent. It is going to take some doing to beat them in the Cha Xiao Bao division! Tomorrow, we'll see what the upstart can do.