Oceana
Address:
55 East 54th St
City:
New York, NY
Zip:
10022
Phone:
(212) 759-5941
Site:
Visit the restaurant site
Map:
Map
Chef:
Matt Howard
Cuisine:
American
2nd Cuisine:
Seafood
Area:
East 50s
Entree Price:
$25-$60
Payment:
Amex Visa Mastercard Discover Diners Club
Summary:
Oceana offers dishes inspired by the sea at its sprawling Rockefeller Center location. The menu features a full raw bar, fish served whole or fileted, and lobsters stuffed with crab meat.
Review:
Is Oceana floundering? It seems as though the restaurant which gave up its intimate townhouse for a sprawling fish mecca at Rockefeller Center is at the least swimming upstream. Empty tables and a half empty bar appear to be the norm most nights.
Here's my 10 point rescue plan.
1 - Greeters. If I'm walking into a restaurant I expect to be greeted at the door with a menu and a smile; not have to walk ten feet to the side to get it. This is a restaurant not a hotel.
2 - Bread baskets. Don't skimp on the cheap stuff. When I'm about to drop $100-plus for a meal two rolls will not suffice, especially if one is burnt on the bottom. So, more rolls and vary it up.
3 - Raw Bar. The marble bar with its high teak chairs should be brimming with people sipping cockails and slurping fresh oysters. Instead most days it sits empty. Maybe because it feels more like a service station. Here someone with a good personality would help. Think the Oyster Bar at Grand Central.
4 - Communication. If the staff is going to interact with customers they must speak clear, concise English. I could hardly understand the waiter describing the four sauces accompanying our oysters. It was pretty much a guessing game after that.
5 - Price. These are not the best of times and prices should reflect this. If I'm paying $12 for single rock crab claw it better be huge and delicious. Mine was stringy and difficult to navigate, while the chilled half lobster tail ($13) was about the size of a jumbo shrimp, and that's pushing it. Peekytoe Crab Cakes ($19) were not much better. Each was the size of a small potato croquette and not very memorable.
6 - Flavor. There's a difference between "simply prepared" and simply boring. The fish here is fresh but dull. Instead of wanting to savor every bite of my grilled swordfish ($31), I just wanted it to be over. Crispy skin on the wild striped bass ($29) whithered moments after its arrival. Even a classic Romanesco sauce couldn't rescue it.
7 - Specials. I'm not sure if daily specials are offered here. They were never announced during our visits, but they should be. Three or four daily would be enough to keep folks guessing, and repeat customers interested.
8 - Sides. Oceana has its ups and downs. The Apple Risotto ($8) with fresh mint and parmigiano reggiano is inventive and tasty, but you might want to take a pass on the fingerling potato confit ($9). While the portion's big, the skins are tough and the pototoes barely tasted marinated.
9 - Dessert. Mini vanilla/tangerine, and fudge popsicles (about the size of a Hershey's Kiss) offered gratis at the end of the meal are fabulous. They're dipped in cake crumbs and a pleasure to eat. But a smores sundae with melted peeps for Easter is a different story. The thought of tiny peeps melting is enough to give a 5-year-old nightmares, and I'm not so sure how a sophisticated crowd would interpret this.
10 - Fish out of water. Sometimes bigger isn't always better, especially if you lose that attention to detail. While Oceana is a fine restaurant, it's not yet living up to its full potential and that's a shame.
Review By: Thomas Rafael
Enter your thoughts (Limit 500 characters)We have enjoyed dinners at Oceana every time we visit from Williamsburg, VA -- can't imagine coming to NYC without having that wonderful experience.
Jack Hull
February 18, 2006, 1:11.03 pm ET