Ocean Prime @ Denver (2024)

One of the steak and seafood restaurants in Denver Technology Center that doesn’t suck, and has since become a regular dinner place whenever I am in that part of town.

Ocean Prime is a white table cloth steak and seafood fine dining restaurant chain that has an excellent outlet at DTC. This was a second visit and we came with an expectation of what to we would be getting, as one expects of a fine dining chain restaurant of this price range.

It came with a full service bar that made a really mean Martinez, which is similar to the Manhattan which a reverent downtown Denver bar is excellent for. Made with equal parts gin and sweet vermouth, plus maraschino liqueur and bitters, this old-school variation of the Manhattan is often said to have inspired early iterations of the Martini we know today.

The interior decor is tacky at best, and suitable lit at the table for taking some excellent food porn. Other than that goodness, there’s nothing impressive about the dining experience. Except for three private rooms, the rest of the dining tables are in open areas visible to all.

This time our dinner party decided to stick to just the seafood section for the mains, and shared everything we ordered family style.

Hamachi Crudo

Pickled Mango, Sweet Peppers, Cilantro, Sesame Ginger Vinaigrette

When it was served, I frowned. The hamachi (yellowtail) was drowning in the sauce. The surprise was the pickled mango which turned out to be refreshing. sweet and delicious, not the sour pickled mango we are used to in Asia.

Dynamite Roll

Tempura Shrimp, Spicy Mayo, Sesame Seeds

I didn’t expect a steakhouse to offer Japanese sushi rolls as appetisers. Of course these are Americanised maki rolls, like this cheesy named Dynamite Roll (yes, there’s cheese in some of them), it came with prawn poppers on top of tempura prawns sushi rolls drowning in a spicy mayo sauce.

Prime Roll

Tempura Shrimp, Cream Cheese, Scallion, Beef Carpaccio

That’s not tuna, it’s beef carpaccio on a traditional dragon roll (tempura prawn roll). I liked it a lot, it has two elements that I enjoyed – beef carpaccio was made a good cut with sufficient marbling, and tempura prawn.

Florida Grouper

Lobster, Gnocchi, Spring Peas, Lemon Jus

Pan-seared giant grouper filet served on a bed of gnocchi drowning in lobster bisque. What can go wrong except that this course is really difficult to share without a spoon. And throughout the meal, they didn’t provide one.

Chilean Sea Bass

Broccolini, Pearl Onion, Potato Purée, Truffle Vinaigrette

Chilean sea bass, or Patagonian toothfish, was a commercial name invented by a fish wholesaler named Lee Lantz in 1977 for the US market. In Singapore, we know it as a cod, which is not the true codfish that you get in US or UK. Other than the confusion in the name, these fishes (toothfish, sea bass, cod) actually taste different. Nevertheless this was a nicely done Chilean sea bass, dressed with truffle vinaigrette and served with broccolini.

Sea Scallops 

Parmesan Risotto, English Peas, Citrus Vinaigrette

And finally, St Jacques pan-seared and served with a cheesy risotto with peas lifted by a citrusy dressing. Nice.

Jalapeño Au Gratin

Hands down one of the best dishes of the night were the Jalapeño Au Gratin potatoes were the best sides of the evening. These had such a nice creamy cheesy texture with just a hint of heat.

Loaded Whipped Potatoes

This side was not on the menu, but you can ask to fully load the whipped potatoes like a normal baked potato.

American steakhouses at this level are quite uniform in quality and taste. It is difficult to fault, nor is it easy to find anything that’s worth remembering. Ocean Prime falls into this category. While the service and food quality were all above average, but for the price point it was the minimum expected.

Ocean Prime @ Denver Tech Center
8000 E Belleview Avenue, Suite C10, Greenwood Village, CO 80111
Tel : +1 (303) 552-3000 (Reservations)

Visited Dec 2024