Ocean Garden Restaurant — Restaurant in Victoria

DO NOT COME HERE!!

I wish I could give this zero stars. I don’t know what was worse: the food or the service. We were seated and almost immediately asked what we wanted to order. We asked for more time and the rude waitress stormed off in the middle of my sentence. Different waitresses kept trying to take our orders which made it seem like there was no organization or communication between them all. The food… oh the food.. horrible. Worst Chinese food I have ever had. I would have preferred days old leftovers from another restaurant than what I was served here. I even asked how the Beef Lo Mein was prepared (since there were no photos) and the waitress looked at me and responded with “I don’t know how to answer that question. It’s Lo Mein” then when the plate arrived it was Chow Mein. I was hungry so if it was somewhat tasty, I would have eaten it but I truly could not get past my first bite. I tried to cancel on of my orders before it came but (again since there was no communication between them) it was still brought out and we were forced to pay for it even though we didn’t want it, canceled it, and left without touching it. Possibly the worst dining experience ever.

We ended up leaving after reluctantly paying the overpriced tab (the 3 waitresses were yelling at us to pay for the wings we didn’t want) just so we could get the hell out of there.

We should have known this was a bad spot when we saw the waitress yelling at another table…

Left with a bad taste in my mouth, an empty stomach,...

DO NOT EAT HERE.

This is by far the WORST Chinese food I have ever had the misfortune of having. Terrible service, even worse taste. Absolutely flavorless. Tea was never filled up, never got checked in on by the waiter/waitress. It felt like they wanted us gone as soon as possible.

We got the chicken fried rice, chicken chow mein, almond chicken and sweet and sour pork. I don't know HOW you mess up fried rice. Dry, flavorless. The chow mein had like maybe 5 tiny pieces of chicken. Bland. The almond chicken was okay. The sweet and sour pork had a weird taste that was neither sweet nor sour. Probably was undercooked as well. The soy sauce on the table must've been sitting out for months because it did not taste like normal soy sauce.

After terrible food, no service outside of taking the order and putting the plates on the table they still had the audacity to ask for a tip. They absolutely try to pressure you into tipping and it's just uncomfortable. After hitting skip on the tip screen they asked "What? No tip? Did you mean to skip?".

If you're from the US, the best comparison I can give is that the food was like Panda Express but somehow worse in every way possible.

If you're visiting Victoria, please do yourself a favor and avoid this place. I don't know how people are giving more than 1 Star.

(I'm from Seattle and have been lucky enough to experience good Chinese food (Seattle Chinatown) and mediocre Chinese food...

My own review on Ocean Garden, considering years of multiple visits. (Possibly sounds like a love letter)

My fam and I (before getting married) really enjoyed going to Ocean Garden on random weekdays or weekends, whenever our family was too lazy to make dinner, or just enjoy some of our family favorite dishes.

I won't convince you that this food is the greatest or the best, or unique and new, but this restaurant has been consistent and satisfying for me and my family for many years.

This restaurant would be the place to go if you want to satisfy that Breaded Almond Chicken craving, or that Wor Wonton Soup, dishes made with seemingly the same taste that I would replay over and over should I feel the need to recall some of that childhood nostalgia. Favorites include the Sweet and Sour Lean Pork, as well as the Shrimp Egg Foo-Young.

What to expect: Usual North American (probably calling it the wrong thing) Chinese cuisine, but with some hidden gems like: Beef Flank Wonton Noodle Soup (pictured).

These days the decor could use some update, but the food is mainly what I go for. Comfort, consistent, heavenly taste, filled with nostalgia. Good bang for my buck, and the service is pretty good, the food doesn't take too long of a wait either (15 minutes after ordering, with 3/4 of the dining room full)

It's a 4-star for me, yes I will be back...