I’ve never been a big fan of Western style seafood restaurants. Our local Chinese Sai Kung style, cooked in a wok, is the best in my book. So the very thought of trying out Ocean Grill wasn’t very thrilling for me.

Located in the heart of Soho, Ocean Grill isn’t that big at all (50 person seating capacity), but the high ceiling compensates for the lack of space. It’s your typical Soho “cozy” restaurant.

The main course choices, other than three or four dishes like chicken and lamb, are fish, fish and more fish.. The choice of fish is amazing with nine different varieties from the four corners of the earth. From Alaskan Black Cod to a Hawaiian Opakapaka to an Australian Barramundi, international it surely is. There’s no problem finding a complementing wine with over 50 choices in their inventory.

So let’s start with the appetizer. There are more appetizers than main courses and they are quite attractive, I must say. Since this place is famous for their fish, we decided to order the Fresh Boneless Sardines Lightly Grilled with Caponata as our appetizer. The presentation is attractive and the portion is generous. Seasoned with only salt and pepper, the taste of the sardine is unadulterated. Served with a nice portion of mixed vegetables and complimented with basil, raisins, and pine nuts, it was overall quite an entertaining dish. Reminder – as with any sardines, when they say boneless, it isn’t completely boneless but the bones are safe enough to swallow.

Next, we chose as our main choice, the Australian Barramundi, apparently their most popular fish selection. The Barramundi is served whole and big enough to be shared between two people. As for charcoal grilled fish, I have to say that I didn’t exactly taste the charcoal part, but I thought the seasoning of just salt and pepper was really divine. The fish is tender and most importantly, extremely fresh. According to the manager, freshness is very important to them. They keep fish for no more than a day or two and the restaurant gets their fish a few times a week.

If you don’t like the pure taste of fish, there are five different kinds of dressing, including a ginger and lime with honey sauce, herb butter, black olive, pesto and avocado lime and cucumber dressing. While the chef recommends the ginger and lime with honey, I personally think the black olive or pesto sauce is a better compliment because the other sauces are too rich for my liking.

We also tried the various side dishes with my favourite being the Kabocha Pumpkin and Sage Puree. The puree is not overly sweet and the portion is big enough to be shared amongst two to three people.. Another side high on my list is the Braised Sweet Peppers.

We ended our meal with the Sticky Date Pudding with Rum Raisin Ice Cream. This is their signature dessert and after one bite you won’t have to ask to know why. The date taste really stands out and the rum raisin ice cream balances out the fruity pudding quite nicely. I feel that with any sweet food, it’s good to share between your fellow diners so you won’t finish the meal feeling a too full.

Ocean Grill is a restaurant I would definitely go back to. It has a cozy ambience and because the menu consists mainly of grilled food, you won’t leave the restaurant feeling stuffed. I left feeling content (not too full, yet not hungry) after this experience which is always a good sign when choosing a restaurant.

The prices are a bit more affordable than your average seafood restaurant. They do a very good two-course lunch at $98 or a three-course lunch at $118. You can also enjoy their three course set dinner at $240 which is a really fantastic deal for a dining experience with great ambience, a great wine selection and most importantly, very fresh fish.

G/F, 49 Elgin St, Soho, 2147 0100. Daily 11.30am-3pm & 6pm-10.30pm.