By Joanna Setow

1/21/20

Quincy, Massachusetts is home to a rich culture and eatery. One of many dim sum restaurants in the northern part of the city is East Ocean Seafood. From the second you enter the restaurant, you are immediately greeted with a bustling crowd. This place was packed. Although there was a bit of a wait and a language barrier, we were seated without a problem. Featuring traditional cart service, once you sit down, you are met with friendly servers, eagerly awaiting to sell you on their dish. The aroma from the various foods wafts in the air as you enjoy your meal.

The cart service allows for a unique journey-like experience and deep-dive into Chinese culture. The dishes themselves are flavorful and authentic to their Chinese roots. All the dumpling dishes came hot and ready from bamboo steamer baskets as severs pulled up with their carts beside our table. A few must-trys are the rice noodle roll, har gow, shumai, and fun guo. The shrimp rice noodle roll is a classic dim sum food and looks exactly how it sounds. The long tubular roll has meaty shrimps inside that would otherwise just render the rice noodle roll textureless. All the flavor comes from the soy sauce which is poured directly onto the noodles. The har gow is another classic dim sum staple. The name of the food roughly translates to “lobster claw” after the dumpling’s claw-like appearance. Its shrimp filling complements the dumpling’s dough exterior. Another memorable dish is the shumai. A round and somewhat cylindrical dumpling, the shumai is wrapped in square wrapped on the outside, which adds a nice textural contrast. The ground pork filling is seasoned and makes for a flavorful snack. The fun guo is certainly another good choice if this is your first time eating dim sum. Visually, the fun guo similar to the har gow due to its white dough skin, but make no mistake these two are not the same. The fun guo is slightly larger and not crescent unlike the har gow. It also is made of a shrimp and pork filling rather than a strictly pork filling. Nonetheless, it certainly was tasty and I would definitely have it again.

The pastries and desserts are also worth a try. I would recommend the egg tart and the pineapple bun. The egg tart is an outer pastry crust filled with an egg custard. The fluffy outside flakes while you eat the dish, but it just makes you appreciate how light and delicate the outside crust is. The inside egg custard is jello-like, smooth, and sweet, pairing very well with the outside puff pastry. The pineapple bun makes fun a nice pallet cleanser. Despite its name, it contains no pineapple. Rather, its name refers to the crumbling, bread-like topping which resembles the appearance of a pineapple. The bun itself is light and fluffy and filled with a sweet egg custard. With a hot cup of jasmine tea prepared by the servers, this dish makes for a nice treat after all the dumplings.

Overall, East Ocean Seafood is a hidden gem amongst other restaurants in Quincy. All the food here is filling and delicious. It’s perfect for lunch or dinner with friends and family. If you want authentic Chinese food, this is definitely a spot to explore. With such a large variety of food, it would be difficult to not find something you enjoy. A lot of the food is on the oilier side, but the complementary jasmine tea refreshes your mouth and makes you yearn for more food. Although it might be difficult for non-Cantonese speakers to order food here, a Cantonese-speaking friend can easily assist and you can just use gestures to point to the dishes you want. The price of the food for the sheer amount that was ordered was also a major deal, so it’s definitely worth taking your friends and family out here. I would absolutely recommend East Ocean if you want traditional Chinese dim sum. It’s more than worthwhile.