Ocean Restaurant
Snapshot
- Area
-
Whiteladies Road
Clifton - Cuisine
-
Spanish
- Price
- Sub £15
- Tags
-
tapas
Ratings
- Overall
- 4.5 stars
- Food
- 4.5 stars
- Service
- 4.5 stars
- Ambience
- 4.5 stars
Opening hours
- Monday
- 8.30am - 11.30pm /… midday - 10.00pm
- Tuesday
- 8.30am - 11.30pm /… midday - 10.00pm
- Wednesday
- 8.30am - 11.30pm /… midday - 10.00pm
- Thursday
- 8.30am - 11.30pm /… midday - 10.00pm
- Friday
- 8.30am - 11.30pm /… midday - 10.00pm
- Saturday
- 8.30am - 11.30pm /… midday - 10.00pm
- Sunday
- midday - 4.00pm
- Alfresco dining
- Child friendly
- Cover charge
- Disable WC
- Disabled access
- Group bookings
- Open bank holidays
- Parking
- Private dining
- Quality wine cellar
- Reservation required
- Smoking area
- Special dietry
- Veggie friendly
- WiFi
It’s been a year since this little gem opened for business and it has rapidly established itself as a restaurant/bar of genuine merit offering an excellent bite to eat.
The original novelty in the decision by an estate agent to open a restaurant has long been replaced by admiration for a very simple, unpretentious café serving a range of authentic Spanish tapas and meals using the very finest and freshest produce.
And extremely good it is too. The cosy shop-front bar and café area leads through and down to a small back dining room which follows the Ocean style of clean, simple lines, reconditioned stripped pine floor, cream pale walls, stylish furniture, white linen tablecloths and lots of foliage. Twisted metal baskets full of limes and oranges, a marble-topped bar and mosaic tiles all add an understated but beautiful finish. The vibe is distinctly friendly and relaxed whether popping in for a coffee and snack or three hour lunch.
But it is the food which really scores so highly. From breakfasts of scrambled eggs with Serrano ham or a home-cured bacon sandwich with tomatoes, lettuce and allioli through to an extensive tapas menu and daily specials, the food is exquisitely fresh and clean. Talented Chef Stuart Seth, ex-Quartier Vert, sources local produce as much as possible and makes full use of his produce. The specials change daily – check out their site – but the tapas dishes include wonderful dates wrapped in bacon, clams with Serrano ham and sherry, or oysters with mignonette alongside favourite classics like the sardines and meatballs. All of this is incredibly well priced, as is the wine list.
A des res for diners indeed.
Seats 35+ or more for private buffet parties.
Open from 8.30am to 11pm, Monday to Saturday.
Restaurant Reviews
-
Avoid this place!
Rating - Overall: 1 Food: 3 Service: 1 Ambience: 1
6 Dec 2009
A truly farcical experience...
A catalogue of errors...
We booked a table for 8.30pm and were told that there was a 30 minute delay in preparing our table, but we decided to wait anyway. However, it was 9.45pm until we were finally shown to our table.
Our table seemed to comprise a makeshift table located in a corridor, bizarrely arranged with four of us sitting in a row. We moved a couple of chairs around ourselves and got settled, but then we were moved to a different table!
The plate I was given was unclean – numerous finger marks and unidentifiable smears.
The food didn’t arrive until after 10.00pm by which time we were rather hungry as you can imagine! The tapas menu looked promising; however we were advised that about half of the dishes were unavailable, leaving us with few options – this is ridiculous, how can a restaurant have run out of ingredients for half of their dishes!?
One of our dishes was incorrect (although they did attempt charge us for it!).
The food was adequate but pricey; however, the ‘sausage fantasy’ was very good.
I have never before experienced a restaurant so badly managed; the restaurant staff were not particularly apologetic and generally seemed oblivious to their poor service.
A truly unforgettable experience, but for all the wrong reasons.
Visited: December 5, 2009
What I ate: tapasThis review has no responses yet
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Lived up to our expectations.
Rating - Overall: 4 Food: 4 Service: 4 Ambience: 4
27 May 2009
We visited Ocean Cafe today for lunch, taking the opportunity while our son was sleeping in his pushchair. It has a compact menu for a compact cafe, which changes daily. In addition to the menu of the day there was a good selection of Tapas on offer. I had the2 courses for £9.50 and my wife had three tapas which included Calamari,(not too greasy), a great selection of cured meats and finally courgettes stuffed with sobrasada, honey and chilli. All were very tasty on generous in portions. I had octopus and potato with paprika as a light starter and followed on with the great venison and chorizo stew.
We were not going to have a sweet but the Churros con Chocolate for £2.50 could not be missed and was the perfect way to round off the meal. The service good and not too intrusive.
Visited: May 27, 2009
What I ate: See aboveThis review has no responses yet
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Tapas at it's Best
Rating - Overall: 5 Food: 5 Service: 5 Ambience: 5
30 Dec 2008
What a find this restaurant was!
This place looks like a cafe when you walk in and i was a little worried when my partner suggested going here but as soon as we stepped in the service was fantastic. It's a tiny little room at the back with approx 5 tables so i would reccomend booking but the atmosphere is so relaxed and enjoyable.
The food is tapa food - lots of unusual choices on a food board. It there are 2 of you i would recommend choosing 4 or 5 dishes.
The food was lovely. We had bread and oils to start with. Really interesting bread not just standard restaurant rolls. For main course we had pigeon salad which i would highly reccomend, calamari, roast potatos in a chilli powder, sausages... and desert was sticky toffee pudding. Homemade of course!
This is just a fantastic little restaurant. I can't wait to go back.
Visited: May 19, 2008
What I ate: As above!This review has no responses yet
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