East Ocean - Decent Non-Westernized Chinese

I find my viewpoint of Chinese restaurants swayed by my heritage. In truth, there are two types of Chinese restaurants in any major city, those catering towards Westernized Chinese foods (think Ginger Beef, Chicken Fried Rice, Chicken Balls) and those towards traditional authentic Chinese cuisine. Having grown up on traditional foods, I always find it difficult to even try the Westernized restaurants ... and thus I have found a slight dirge of Chinese posts on this blog. You can imagine my joy when browsing through Winnipeg's Zomato I found East Ocean Restaurant.

Located in the heart of downtown on Hargrave Street, East Ocean Restaurant is not in the most pleasant of areas of Winnipeg. While the socioeconomic status of any region should not deter a customer to dine there, I could not help but feel a bit apprehensive about dining here. Nevertheless the welcoming sign beckons diners into the modest restaurant. The interiors are truly sparse and meant for speed and utility rather than aesthetics.

The menu is thankfully a nice combination of the usual dishes one would find in an authentic Chinese restaurant. The breakdown of the menu is through the different types of proteins including chicken, duck, beef and pork with further menu options for noodles and rice dishes. Sounds pretty usual, no? Well a good way to determine the authenticity of a restaurant is if they offer "Hot Pot" type dishes, a style of cooking that serves the one pot wonders in traditional stone bowls. Another way is to look for more luxurious items, such as Peking Duck, Chinese Style Lobster or special soups like a Fish Maw Soup. Finally the presence of a specific Chinese menu is also a great indication towards the authenticity (just go with someone who can read it though).

One of my favourite dishes growing up was Crisp Chicken w/ Green Onion & Ginger Sauce and while the version here was not exactly perfect, it was serviceability reminiscent of my childhood. The key to this dish is the dichotomy of the crispy exterior with the saltiness and sweetness imparted from the soy sauce and the sharpness given by the onion and ginger. I found the frying job here subpar giving the chicken only the slightest of crispy-ness. Further exacerbating the problem is the use of dark soy here which was missing the usual lightness and sweetness found in light soy.

Egg Plant & Minced Pork w/ Salted Fish Hot Pot is also a personal favourite of mine. Served in a hot stone (or metal) bowl, the dish is filled with tender eggplant, minced pork, vegetables and salted fish, all tossed and stewed in a thick soy based sauce. I thoroughly enjoyed the incredibly tender pieces of eggplant and thought the interplay between the creamy vegetable played well with the sharpness of the salted fish. Again the dish was overly salty and the sauce too one-dimensional and missing some of the sweet and bitter tones one usually finds in the dish.

Needing to make my parents happy, I always order a vegetable with every meal and the choice for today was Gai Lan in Garlic Sauce. Gai Lan, sometimes referred to as Chinese broccoli, is a leafy green that consists of a crunchy stalk with slightly bitter and sweet leafs. Classically frying it in garlic sauce imparts an incredible aroma alongside the wok imparted flavours of bitter, sweet and salty. I have no faults with the version here and appreciated the large portion of appropriately fried greens.

Overall East Ocean have to be commended for offering authentic Chinese cuisine, something that the majority of Chinese style restaurants here lack. While each dish had some faults and difficulties, the flavours were mostly there and each cooked well enough to be reminiscent of proper authentic Chinese food, and for that, East Ocean should at least deserve a visit.