First Look: Ocean Sushi expands to add Chinese and Korean cuisine ... and karaoke

(In First Look, we visit a new restaurant or bar in Central New York to give readers an idea of what to expect. If you know of a new place, email me at cmiller@syracuse.com or call/text me at 315-382-1984. If I take your suggestion, I just might buy you a meal.)

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Syracuse, N.Y. — A massive new restaurant opened last week with the goal of blending Japanese, Korean and Chinese cuisine with an energetic atmosphere perfect for a late-night out.

Ocean Sushi took over 2960 Erie Blvd. E., a building that sat vacant for nearly seven years. It had been home to Grimaldi’s Ristorante for 40 years before becoming Fuji Chinese buffet. Two years ago, Paul Huang went to work gutting and rebuilding the dining room, kitchen and basement.

He also hired staff from all over the world.

“We have a Chinese chef for our Chinese menu, a Japanese chef for our Japanese menu and a Korean chef for our Korean menu,” he said through his interpreter and manager, Jinsoo Yun. “There’s something here for everyone.”

Paul opened the original Ocean Sushi 15 years ago on Route 57 in Liverpool. It’s a modest space with 12 tables. His newest restaurant is about 14,000 square feet that can accommodate 250 customers. It has a couple bars and a banquet/party room for private gatherings.

An elevator takes customers to the basement, home to another bar and five karaoke rooms that customers can rent by the hour. Three of the rooms can accommodate a party of up to 12 people, and two can handle groups of 35.

Each of the soundproof rooms are equipped with a large-screen television, leather sofas, lighted disco balls and four speakers that each can pump out 1,400 watts of tunes from the YouTube-based karaoke system.

“When you close the door, it’s your own world in here, and no one on the outside can hear you,” Jinsoo said. “There’s nothing around here that’s open past 10 p.m. Now you can sing your hearts out here until 2 a.m.”

They picked this location because it’s between the Le Moyne College and Syracuse University campuses. Students get a 10% discount.

You must try ...

Sushi (ranges from $3.50 to $19.99): If you’re going to a sushi restaurant, you really should try the sushi. And this isn’t just any sushi place. Jared Paventi, one of our restaurant critics, called Ocean the top sushi in Central New York back in 2018.

As you can see from my plate, I tried a little bit of a lot. I chopsticked my way through sashimi (thinly sliced raw fish served without rice) and nigiri (an oval-shaped mound of vinegared rice crowned with a thin slice of raw seafood). I tested fresh-never-frozen salmon, octopus, yellowtail and fatty tuna flown in from the Atlantic Ocean. (They aced the test.)

I also tasted a couple fancy sushi rolls. The Cherry Blossom is a California roll wrapped in tuna and covered with spicy crab (shown below).

My tray had a ball of housemade wasabi, that nasal-drilling Japanese horseradish that makes any good raw fish better.

The playboy roll ($13.99) has been Ocean’s most popular dish for years. It’s shrimp tempura, spicy tuna and asparagus rolled and topped with crunchy tempura chips and then wrapped in aluminum foil. Jinsoo flambéed my roll over a soft blue flame at the table.

The raw fish was gently warmed by the burning alcohol, but thankfully it wasn’t cooked.

Beef Bibimbap ($17.99): Bibimbap is a well-known Korean dish made with rice, seasoned sautéed vegetables and marinated sirloin. It’s finished with a fried sunny-side-up egg and served in hot stoneware. The Korean chef here seasons each vegetable separately when the order comes in before treating them with a sweet-spicy-savory sauce.

When it arrives at the table, you poke the egg and mix everything together with your chopsticks.

TIP: Wash the bibimbap down with a bowl of Haemul Sundubu ($17.99), that’s Korean for soft tofu seafood stew. (Pictured below on the right.) This is a spicy, seasoned stew made with silky soft tofu in a savory broth with mussels, shrimp, clams, squid and mixed vegetables. If you find your chopstick skills limiting, there’s no shame in reaching for a spoon and fork. You’ll likely save some time, and you’ll certainly eat more.

Chicken wings ($24.99 for 12): Who would order chicken wings at a sushi place? Well, I would, and I did. Listen, I would eat chicken wings everyday if I could. I would eat these wings twice a day. They’re that good.

Ocean uses jumbo wings, not the medium-size appendages you find at most bars. My dozen weighed nearly 3 pounds. But it’s not the size that matters; it’s the taste. These are lightly breaded and deep-fried. When they’re about finished, the chef stir-fries them in a soy-garlic sauce. Like the vegetables on the other dishes I sampled, the sauce is mixed for each individual order as the wings cook in the hot oil.

The wings come out crispy and not oversauced. They would be the perfect snack to pair with a group singing “Love Shack” in one of the karaoke rooms.

Details

The venue: Ocean Sushi, 2960 Erie Blvd. E., Syracuse. (315) 800-0010

Hours: Monday-Wednesday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Thursday-Friday 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.; Saturday noon to 2 a.m.; Sunday noon to 9 p.m.

Parking: Plenty in a large parking lot.

Credit cards: Yes. You can also order your food to be delivered through DoorDash and UberEats.

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Charlie Miller finds the best in food, drink and fun across Central New York. Contact him at (315) 382-1984, or by email at cmiller@syracuse.com. (AND he pays for what he and his guests eat and drink, just so you know.) You can also find him under @HoosierCuse on Twitter and on Instagram. Sign up for his weekly Where Syracuse Eats newsletter here.