Ocean Harbor Cafe

(Originally written circa 2^nd Q 2008)
So, my first visit to the former Ay Chung… Most of the interior is the same with the two flat screens (one playing Taiwanese news, the other playing MVs), except that the wall map of Ximending is gone. The menu is pretty much the same and my friend and I opted to try a smattering of items…
Minced pork over rice (luu rou fan) — still a step below Queen House, with a little too much fat and not enough meat, but nonetheless, one of the better bowls in the South Bay. I really appreciated the pickled vegetables, though.
Fuzhou fish ball soup (fu zhou yu wan tang) — kinda puny, actually, with only 4 fish balls. Different than your standard fish balls (yu wan), as there’s an inner filling of meat that’s actually quite tasty.
Popcorn chicken (yan su ji) — as tasty as from a Taipei street vendor, I swear this stuff is laced with crack.
Stinky tofu (chou dou fu) — deep fried, like those found from Taipei street vendors, though not particularly fragrant. The dipping sauce is al little weak, too.
Fish stew w/​rice noodles (yu geng mi fen) — a bonus dish that was delivered to our table. We didn’t complain. Not bad, though the rice noodles were a little clumpy by the time we got to sampling the dish. The soup and fish were definitely the highlights here.
Overall, a decent representation of Taiwanese street food, though I’m not sure why their takeout menu talks about their influences being Beijing, Qingdao, Shanghai, Xiamen, Guangzhou and Lugang, when the food is so obviously Taiwanese. They do take plastic, which is nice.

Hmm I really don’t know why the reviews for this place are so bad. I mean, it wasn’t a five star restaurant, but for a quick bite in Milpitas, it was fairly decent. The menu consists pretty much of Taiwanese «small eats», with a large selection of soups and noodles. I came here for lunch a few days ago with a friend, right at 11am when they opened (we both had afternoon meetings so we were forced into an early lunch). I ordered the ginger fish soup, and he ordered the beef noodle soup. After paying at the register, we seated ourselves in the dining area (pretty big for a eatery in Milpitas Square, since most of the restaurants there pack their customers like sardines). I choose a nice table facing one of the big screen tvs, where they were playing Wang Leehom music videos (the second love of my life, after Jay Chou). Even though we arrived fairly early and were the only customers there, it took them nearly 15 minutes to bring us our food. In the meanwhile, I asked the guy at the register for some water, and he pointed me to a table in the corner with cups and jugs of water. I guess I was suppose to serve myself, so I pour some water for my friend and I, then grabbed some disposable utensils arranged nearby, because there were none on our table.
After drinking two glasses of water, our food finally came. The ginger fish soup consisted of white fish (tilapia maybe? Or cat fish) served in a savory ginger broth with slivers of ginger to garnish ($ 3.95). The beef noodle soup was AN ENORMOUS bowl of piping hot noodles and tender beef, all in a spicy beef broth topped with ginger, onions and chili flakes. Not bad for $ 6.95. I was eyeing my friend’s soup the whole time, so much that I couldn’t resist and ended up sticking my chopsticks in his bowl and starting eating. We ended up switching because the spice was too much for him to handle, but just perfect for me. The beef was a bit on the fatty side, but the noodles were cooked very nicely — just the right amount of chewy. Maybe it was because we drank too much water waiting for our food, or maybe it was the size of the portions, but neither one of us finish our food. Lunch for 2 people for less than $ 12 (there was no need to tip because the restaurant is self-​service). I’m tempted to say that I would come here again, but I’m currently on a mission to eat at every restaurant in Milpitas Square, so it will be a while before I return.

I came here on a whim with a friend. I’ve always parked near it when I’m in that plaza, it’s usually got a couple of empty spots close to it. I always thought this was because of it’s relative distance from the popular 99 Ranch and Quickly’s. little did I know it was probably more due to the quality of food.
I have to admit… Taste. wasn’t bad. There was some good stuff out of the 5 dishes that my friend and I ordered. But that didn’t stop me from rushing the hell out of there when we both noticed the sanitation conditions here.
I saw a worker go outside for a smoke, come back in, start wiping down the tables then start handling the food, without so much as a trip to the bathroom. And his hands were. I believe «all up in there» is what the kids are calling it nowadays.
Never again.

I liked the pork w/​noodle dish special; it came with huge chunks of slow cooked pork with the delicious fatty part! and some nice shredded spicy tofu. My friend hungrily devoured his beef w/​noodle bowl– which looked like a large serving. Tip: light eaters can share their food, the portions on big.
I don’t know much about Taiwanese food and the extensive menu looked interesting.
I will come back.
Customer service: you order first; then someone brings your meal.
Décor: ok, modern looking furniture and clean; big screen T.V.s too.

Came by for a late lunch and it was still 20% filled! This is an order and pay first, then food will come to you type of joint. Food came pretty quickly! :D
Satay Beef Egg Noodle — ~$ 6.5 — 3.5 stars
— Order taker informed me that this was not a soup and the satay beef was served on the side.
— This was my first time having this dish and it was mighty tasty, esp w/​the egg! :)
— Apparently, I’m supposed to pour the satay beef over the noodles and mix it up…
— Beef was slightly over-​cooked; thus a little tough.
Beef Stomach — 3.75 stars
— All the other times, I’ve had this dish served cold. It was interesting, to say the least, to eat this warm.
— Tasty and flavorful! :)
Fried Intestine — 3.75 stars
— Tasty and flavorful.
— Spicy soy sauce for dipping definitely was an added plus for flavoring.
All-​in-​all a pretty chill TW café with good food. 3.5 stars in my book.

Ocean Harbor Café has really good Taiwanese food at a really decent price! You basicaly order the food at the counter, pay, grab a number and wait for the servers to bring them out to you.
I didn’t know what to order after staring at the menu for a while. I noticed some entrees pictures displayed on the counter, and I decided to order the Taiwanese sausage plate. The food came out pretty fast. The sausage was tasty and not too fatty. The entrée included bok choy and a Chinese slaw salad. I think everything tasted really good. =)

I had just finished checking out 49ers training camp down the street, and decided to brave the mysterious shops of Milpitas Square. I rolled around for 10 minutes or so before picking this place out.
I chose this place primarily because of the name. I just thought it was a funny name for a place in the middle of a suburban shopping center, and that agreed with me. When I walked in, I was a little apprehensive since I didn’t see anyone else, but it was too late to back out at that point. And I’m really lazy.
As I looked confusingly at the menu, a guy walked out of the kitchen. He must have noticed the distress on my face, as he proceeded to walk around the counter, and look at the menu with me, standing at my side. I thought he was trying to help me out, but it was really because neither of us understood what we were saying (after I started talking). Eventually, we decided that I wanted the Chicken Thigh Rice. He then walked me over to the water/​tea area, and set me up (which normally, I could handle, but I was already so out of sorts, I’m glad he did).
More people filtered in, making me a little more cognizant of my non-​AZN-​ness, but my food came out soon enough. I was pretty excited when I got my plate, because for $ 6+ bucks, it was quite a bit of food. A generous sized chicken thigh, filleted, a pile of rice, and veggies.
To me, the food was pretty great. The chicken was good, fried in a tasty batter. The rice was solid, with a curry sauce, and the veggies didn’t taste a year old.
On top of that, I got to watch Chinese/​Taiwanese (I am assuming here) music videos, with the karaōke text. There was one song in particular that I liked since it was some sort of rap song, where the guy switched between whatever language it was he was using, and English. When the English came on, the karaōke text was pretty Engrished out, and I was trying not to laugh too loud, lest I make others nervous. I particularly remember the word ‘romorrow’ a lot.
Anyways, I don’t know anything about Chinese/​Taiwanese food outside of straight American Chinese takeout, but I liked this place a lot. I can’t speak on its ‘authenticity’, but the food was good, prices were good, and service was good. What more can you ask for?
I think I might go there ‘romorrow’!

I am always in search of Taiwanese food so this place piqued my interest. Our group was majority Taiwanese too so we were all excited.
I tried their new special meat ball (ba wan/​ruo yuan –>taiwanese/​mandarin). Dude, it was $ 4.25 each. That’s double the price at most places and it wasn’t even better. I think it was a little over cooked so the gelatin outside wasn’t as QQ anymore.
Also tried the Meat Soup (ba geen/​ruo gen) $ 4.50. Disappointing. I think I was expecting something closer to mom’s version. The meat paste wasn’t as tender, and it should have been hotter. Not enough flavor.
My friends did like their soup noodle dish — can’t recall the name but it was a basic noodle soup with no other meat or veggie. The flavor on this was authentic. The kong shin tsai was good too.
I think it’s a little hit or miss. Order wisely or take recommendations first for a good experience.

Being Taiwanese, I was hoping this restaurant would do Taiwanese food justice. I tried it when it used to be Ay-​Chung and decided to give it another chance when it introduced itself as Ocean Harbor. It was gross the first time and just as nasty the second.

I’m used to some of the borderline filthy restaurants in Taiwan, so maybe that was the feel Ocean Harbor was going for. The big difference is the food is 100x better in Taiwan. Ocean Harbor has the dirty part down to a tee though. You have to bus your own tables, which ends up being pretty disgusting since their customers seem to completely miss their mouths and half of the food ends up on the table.
We ordered:
Minced pork over rice– this is one of my all-​time favorite Taiwanese dishes… and they ruined it. When it arrived, I *gagged* when I saw all the fat on the meat. Instead of minced ground pork, it looked like chunks of uncooked bacon over rice.
Oyster pancake– yea, it may sound gross to some of you, but when made right, it’s tasty. This was…(surprise! haha) disgusting.
Pork stew over rice– this was the most edible dish we ordered. It was decent.
I’m sorry fellow Unilocalers, I do not agree with the 3.5 star review. It is definitely a 1 star restaurant to me.

A name change didn’t do much for my feelings about this restaurant. Formerly known as Ay Chung, I walked into this place expecting something different, something new, something seafood (Ocean Harbor), or just something good, but sadly, didn’t get any of the above.
All of the restaurants around here compete for the lunch business, and based on the many open tables, people are voting with their taste buds. I’ve had Taiwanese food many times, but the noodle dishes my friend and I ordered had that sweet twinge to it; I thought I was eating fusion food.
The fried tofu pictured on the counter turned out to be the infamous stinky fermented tofu, which really caught me by surprise. I was expecting the bland cousin of this, but I toughed it out and ate my share. Later I found out that my partner had a cold, and couldn’t taste a thing… and that turned out to be a good thing.
Too many other choices in this area; I would opt for them before I go back here.

I have NEVER been to a Chinese/​Taiwanese restaurant and given such awesome service in MY LIFE… Considering how this place is set up like a food court where you order first, take your seats and the food is then brought to you — I wasn’t expecting much other than loud Taiwanese/​Chinese being shouted back and forth between the cashwrap area and kitchen. They had typical batter fried asian dishes, and teas/​smoothies — I honestly expected this place to be just barely enough to feed my hungry bf with the prices on their menu… so we ordered:
1.) Duck meat w/​rice — it came with soy sauce, veggies, a boiled egg and some peanut sauce
2.) Fried oysters — battered and fried with basil, I imagine
3.) An extra side of chicken (because the bf questioned the portion size vs. price and the guy was hungry…)
3.) Citron tea (for the bf)
4.) Sweet plum tea (for me!)
Each individual dish was brought out as it was made, by the MOST POLITE servers I had ever encountered. They made sure to approach you with a «hello» without doing that «sneaky» approach some servers use because they love to scare the begeezus outta’ you, and didn’t put the food on your table by doing it over your head… they came to the side and somehow managed to get us to notice the dish as though they were presenting something really special, although they were quite simple, cheap, and hefty in portion. (we even noticed them bowing…) They were smiling the entire time, and we felt terrible we had not had cash to add to tip, but let them know we had left a tip on the credit card reciept — and the server at the door told us he was just happy we came in to visit. Insane…
Decent food for the price, I would give it an avg. rating of 3 stars — but because of the service, I’m pushing it to a full 4. They’re open LATE till 1am, so check them out if you need drunk greasy food in the area. The square footage is huge, so you don’t have to worry about being crammed in somewhere like sardines… ie: China Palace, Top Café, etc… AND you can feed a party of people here because the food is cheap… I think the priciest dish is HOT POT for $ 10.00… (which I am interested in trying one day…) and the cheapest would be in the $ 3 range… CRAZY TALK! =D

This review is a dedication to my friend Jacob. Proof positive that one should go out and try new things and why it’s a good thing to go against the norm. It’s not because he’s well cultured either. He just has the balls to ask people «what the heck is that?» and «do you think it’s any good?»
So yeah, my best friend Jake, his buddy Aurora and myself all went here the other night. Both of them were über eager to take me out for dinner and wouldn’t tell me where our destination would be. Well we started pulling into Ranch 99’s shopping center, where I piped up with,“Just so you know I’ve eaten Asian food for the last two days straight”. Well too bad, they wanted to go some place and I was being carted along.
First off, I dug the super huge menus plastered on the wall, with the items’ named in English. Secondly, the shadowbox tables? Awesome! (they’re little trenches of sand with shells and sea glass in them, set under thick glass). Unfortunately, I heard they took most of these out after this place changed an owners. Thirdly, I have to admit I was overwhelmed by the menu but Jake being the super cool guy that he is ordered me the beef stew. He explained it as being very similar (in concept) to a number 7 at New Tung Kee. Whatever Jake, I trust you.
I cursed myself for eating earlier that day. The broth was definitely flavorful and the veggies were either crispy or appropriately soggy. The noodles were tasty and thicker than most places I go to. If I hadn’t eaten with the hour, I certainly would have finished the whole thing.
Allright on this side of town, nothing screams «Look At Me!» more in a (reasonably) ethnic Asian restaurant than being a white guy with two Mexican chicks at your table. Sure enough, the wait staff recognized Jake right away and said their hellos. (selfish side note: I really appreciated the fact that there was a guy staff who spoke English fluently; he was able to answer everyone of Jake’s what’s that? questions). The head man discussed how Ay Chung was now Ocean Harbor and while the recipes are the same (take notes here), they will most likely change as summer passes. NO!!! Seriously, this place does seem quite grubbin’ and I think I’d be disappointed too (even it’s unrightfully so)

I come here for lunch with coworkers or the honey.
Used to come when it was Ay Chung noodle and became addicted to their popcorn chicken and rice plate. It was enough to last two lunches. Also tried their noodle soup which I thought was too thick. Not brothy enough and the noodles were really thin with almost no meat. ~$ 5. It was more of a snack than a meal.
Now that it’s Ocean Harbor, I have only tried their beef stew noodle soup. ~$ 7 and again, lasted me two lunches. It was pretty good. Not as starchy or thick as I thought it was going to be. The noodles were good, lots of pieces of meat that were tender and tasty. Would get it again.
Order at the counter. The menu is above the cashier and the specials are on the right hand side. Pay and get a number. Find yourself a seat and get your own water or tea, utensils, napkins and condiments. Food comes to your table. Get your own togo containers too.

Ay Chung is now called Ocean Harbor. There’s a review of it on Unilocal as well.
Pretty much the same place with a different look.
Update — Came here a few more times since my last review…
LOVE the stewed pork over rice. Good stuff!
My friends like the satay beef over rice. The Satay beef mixture comes in a separate bowl in case you don’t like it all over your white rice.
The portions seem a tad small for the price (although not very expensive @ $ 5 – 7 per dish), but maybe I’m spoiled by e-noodles’s (neighbor and competitor to Ocean Harbor) large portions.
Water, utensils and napkins are all self serve.
When ordering, you choose your dish and pay before you sit down (find your own seat).
And they take VISA! Something much appreciated and highly taboo in the bay area asian café scene… ;)

As I looked at the «grand opening sign,» the words «first to review» flashed through my head, but alas…
Wanting to try something new for lunch, I found my way over to the brand new Ocean Harbor Café in the middle of Milpitas Square. It’s on one of the two islands (not in the actual shopping center) and thus enjoys the wonders of space.
This is a restaurant but the food is served in a kind of cafeteria style. You walk in and order at the counter and are given a number. You take a seat and the food finds you. I like that it’s fast, efficient, and you don’t have to leave a tip.
The prices are low. I think I might have had one of the most expensive things on the menu: the noodle hot pot for $ 6.75. Most dishes are at the $ 4 mark. So although it was called «hot pot,» it was more of a hot plate. You know the type, things sizzle and steam as it’s brought over to you. The entire room turns around to see who ordered the loud dish. Yes, hello, that was me. A star for entertainment and the noodles sizzled even louder as I poured my sauce on it. I was told that it was going to be a bit spicy, but it was more sweet than anything. It was ok. Not great, not bad. I wish I had had more veggies instead of the 2 small pieces of broccoli that coloured my plate.
All in all, I enjoyed it. Nothing special but not bad at all. The people were incredibly friendly although confused that someone non-​Chinese would walk in. They spoke to me in Chinese and asked a white guy if he knew how to use chopsticks.

*Update 3/​18*
Well, I finally had the chance to make into Ocean Harbor, and as mentioned earlier, it is pretty much EXACTLY the same as the old Ay Chung. Obviously, all the trademarked menus are kaput, but the redesigned bill of fare (which looks like a 6 year old drew it with Crayon) has all the fixin’s carried over from the previous tenant.
Don’t ask me how they got away with this, but perhaps they had some type of agreement, since Ay Chung is no longer represented in the area. Décor has been slightly modified, but nothing to make you think you are in a totally different restaurant than you were in before.
Despite it’s downward decline, Ay Chung did still have its fair share of avid followers. They will be happy to know that their favorite place is still indeed alive and kickin’. As for me… I think I’ll pass the next time I’m in the area.
*Original ¾*
The popular Taiwanese chain Ay Chung (
) is no more. Both of their Bay Area branches (the other was at the Pacific East Mall in Richmond) have now officially closed down.
Despite much fanfare at the grand opening, interest had waned over the past few months, and packed houses with lines out the door gave way to waiters and chefs swatting flies with the newspaper (a Chinese expression for it being dead), so it was only a matter of time.
My inside source tells me that this Ocean Harbor Café, which is still being renovated, will basically serve the same type of fare as the previous tenant. I was never much of a fan of Ay Chung, but you know I’ll definitely be on hand when the new place finally opens up shop. Keep posted!

Possibly the best oyster omelette (o wa jian) I’ve had in the Bay Area. Then again, I’ve only had it at about five other places. Milpitas is a bit of a drive from SF, but I’d go back just for those pancakes … and the minced pork rice (lu ruo fan). Another good choice at Ay Chung, though I have had better elsewhere. The fishball that they promote I didn’t find anything too special about, and the house special noodles had a bizarre taste which I wasn’t too fond of, but to each his own.
Very cheap.
JONASAPPROVED!

I’m not sure if I’ve been to the «original» Ay Chung in Taiwan, so I’m not going to compare this one to another. Nor am I going to compare the food here to the food you’d find in Taiwan. Yes, they maybe the same food, and yes they may not taste «exactly the same», but you can’t go and compare an italian restaurant here to one in venice either. Like another reviewer said, somethings just get «lost in translation.» I think that’s the case with most «ethnic» food.
So back to this place. Located in the Milpitas Square (the 99 Ranch plaza off McCarthy Ranch), it serves most of the food that you could find in Taiwan. Seeing how I «cheated» my way through Chinese School, I can barely read (much less write) in Chinese. Luckily, I’ve eaten enough Taiwanese food (and came with my parents the first time) to know what to eat.
All the dishes that I remember eating were good, from the traditional «random internal cow/​pig parts» to the various noodles and rice dishes ordered. I can’t say I was particularly disappointed in any of them. I do remember the cold noodle, sticky rice, and the noodle in «thick soup», which were all tasty.
I would definitely come back again. If you’ve never had Taiwanese food and/​or don’t know how to read Chinese, it’s wise to invite someone that possesses either/​both of the aforementioned characteristics, as the pictures and english translations don’t always accurately convey what you’re ordering.

I’ve looked for food like this since I moved to the Bay area. This is the first place to actually deliver.
I’m going to guess they have their off days seeing how busy they are. In fact we arguably had some pretty bad service. 6 of us went. They brought the first 3 people’s food and forgot about the other 3. We finally reminded them 10 minutes later and they got 2 more but again forgot one person. Another 10 minutes we finally reminded them again and got the final food.
On the other hand it as all pretty delicious to me. They brought us free dessert as well to apologise for being late. Good food and politeness = apology excepted.
I’m definately going back.
— — — — — -
Well, after 3 times there and trying a few different dishes I have to lower my rating. I’ll go back because the Pork Stew Rice is so awesome but every time we’ve gone they’ve screwed up our orders and the other dishes I’ve tried have not been so good.

Omg this is like OG Taiwanese.
I got whatever #33 was, and it wasn’t bad. It’s your typical greasy Taiwanese fare that comes piping hot in a cute bowl.
70% of the menu is in written in Chinese and things get rather badly lost in translation, so if you can’t read Chinese — look at the pictures at the front counter or at other people’s food for an idea of what to eat.
Overall, it’s a cute authentically Taiwanese food place to go, spun off from an infamous food place in Taiwan that’s standing room only but notoriously crowded with people eating delicious things standing up. Or, that’s what I gleaned from my mom’s explanation to me. Things get lost in translation.