Ocean Prime - Troy

Ocean Prime recently opened on a corner near Sommerset Mall and it has become a pretty popular place. (They do take reservations.) Yesterday I met a friend there for a late lunch. The crowd was professional looking and nicely dressed and there were plenty of people finishing still their lunches at 2 pm. The dining room has a modern, clean look with windows all around the front that look out on a pretty courtyard with outside seating.


The restaurant features fish and seafood, obviously, and had a 2 page lunch menu with salads, sandwiches, and entrees, most priced in the teens at lunch. It was the kind of menu where so many things sounded good, so it was hard to decide what to order. My friend ordered the Amish chicken. It came with half a chicken, nicely seasoned and moist, served with asparagus draped over top. But the best part of her meal was the side portion of truffle mac and cheese - oh my goodness, was this ever good! I would order just that if I could!


I had salmon with ginger soy sauce that was served with sugar snap peas and sticky rice. The salmon had a crunchy bread crumb topping and the ginger soy sauce was wonderful. It was one of those sauces where I wanted to get every smidgen of sauce off the plate - I could have licked it clean if I weren't in a classy restaurant!


For dessert we ordered the Baked Alaska to share. Wow, it was so pretty. It had layers of chocolate, raspberry, and vanilla ice cream covered with meringue. Actually it didn't taste as good as it looked - it was just ok. The ice cream tasted ordinary and the cookie crust had nutmeg (we think) in it that gave an unusual flavor that didn't quite mix with the ice cream flavors. There were plenty of other tempting options on the dessert menu for next time.


I really enjoyed this restaurant - the food was wonderful and the portions were a good size even at lunch. The food presentation was lovely and the service was polite and attentive. I'd like to go back at lunch again, or even in the evening for a special occasion.