My decision to go to Ocean Sky came after I read it was voted Best Chinese Restaurant in the Eugene Weekly.
Ocean Sky is not the best Chinese restaurant in Eugene. Not by a long shot. And it wasn’t the family nearby passionately — and loudly — discussing the “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” that prevented Ocean Sky from receiving top honors. Nor was it the baby in the highchair diligently filling his dad’s water glass with fried rice. That was actually kind of cute.
It wasn’t the service either. It was a busy night, and the restaurant seemed understaffed. The food came fairly promptly, and even though the waitstaff were slightly abrupt in their demeanor, it wasn’t a problem.
It could have been the food. The mushrooms in the Shrimp with Double Mushrooms plate were undercooked. The sauce tasted a bit watered-down. The sauce that came with the lemon chicken, however, was good, but there wasn’t enough of it. The chicken was the disappointment in that entree. It was fried — Colonel Sanders’ extra crispy-style — which didn’t really complement the steamed rice and lemon sauce.
The vegetable chow mein redeemed the meal slightly, with its heaping portion of chow mein noodles and tasty broccoli, snow peas, carrots, cucumber and onions. Another person in my party said the vegetable egg rolls were pretty good, too.
However, good egg rolls can’t disguise the fact that Safeway has better Chinese food than this place, and at cheaper prices too.
But despite all this, it was a lousy fortune cookie that ruined the dining experience. “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.” What kind of fortune is that? That’s advice, not a fortune, and not even very good advice.
The fortune should be the pinnacle of the meal. How about, “That cute, tall guy from Friday night’s party totally wants your phone number”? Receiving a fortune like that definitely would have improved the dining experience at Ocean Sky.
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