Ocean City/Chinese/Bournemouth

Found this restaurant when driving past. It was quite late in the evening when we checked into our Guest House in Bournemouth and needed somewhere to eat.

It was suggested we went to a Thai Tapas Bar in Bournemouth, but unfortunately it was fully booked, on the way back to the Guest House we spotted this place, which looked nice, and they were still serving so we decided to eat there.

Inside was very funky with sparkly lights and a very modern feel.

One thing we did notice in Bournemouth was how expensive the starters are in Chinese restaurants, nearly as expensive as the main courses, so we skipped that course and went straight onto the mains.

I chose a "Sliced Cabbage in a Cream Sauce" dish, along with Pineapple Rice and Seaweed (no fish power stuff on the top, please)

Hubby had Chicken Satay and Noodles with Beansprouts.

The cabbage dish was quite horrible sadly, it was so tough and fiberous that I could hardly chew through it. I gave in after a couple of bites.

I asked for Pineapple rice and couldn't see any Pineapple so was searching through the rice in search of it, when I found something else! I called the waiter over to ask what it was and he said "Chicken". I explained I asked for Pineapple Rice, and he said it was Pineapple Rice, it came with Chicken in it. The chicken was so finely diced it was not apparent it was there.

It certainly did not say on the menu that the pineapple rice came with chicken, and as there was meat rices clearly offered it didn't occur to me to ask. Nearly ate it too!

The waiter did happily change it over for me though.

The rest of the food was ok, Hubby enjoyed his Satay, and the noodles were tasty.

We had to attract attention for extra drinks, and at no time were we asked if the food was ok.

Even when the plates were finally cleared, the staff did not ask why the cabbage was relatively untouched. I would have just explained that I did not like it, I wasn't going to send it back as I didn't know if that is how it should be or not, never having had it before, but it would have been nice to have had a satisfaction check.

We decided to treat ourselves to puds. The offerings were the usual 'bought in' iced deserts plus fritters and toffees. Hubby had his regular Orange Sorbet, and I chose Toffee Bananas. The bananas were gorgeous, crispy, sweet and syrupy.

Mistake - don't give a Cumbrian chopsticks, we barely even get offered them in Carlisle, and no wonder, just look at the mess I made!

The bill came to £47, not including tip, for 2 mains, 3 sides, 2 desserts, 2 wines and 2 cokes.

Would I go back? I believe everywhere should get a couple of chances, it could have just been bad choices on my part, but as we live a long long way from Bournemouth the chances of a return visit are quite low.

Cannot find a website, but the contact details are:

Ocean City
38 Christchurch Road
Bournemouth

BH1 3

01202 552 903