It's All in the Ambiance

Ocean Zen's new location feels simultaneously swanky and submerged.

This place is cool. It’s cooler than me, but I don’t mind. I love being there. Ocean Zen has moved from South Glenstone Avenue to a bigger and better space across town on West Battlefield, and it takes the whole “ocean” thing pretty seriously. I never thought a world existed where both of these things could be true at once: (a) The restaurant’s décor makes me feel like I’m having dinner on the ocean floor, and (b) the look totally works. The “under the sea” feeling is not exactly subtle, but it’s miles from overdone. It’s dark inside Ocean Zen. Like deep-sea dark. Like little glowy ocean animals dark. We walked in from a bright and sunny summer afternoon through two metal doors that look an awful lot like the ones at the old location, and it felt like marching into the abyss. But once you give your eyes a second to adjust, you can see a back wall with a multi-sized bubble effect. There are aquariums filled with lazy fish. The large bar in the middle of the dining room, with more light than the areas around it, looks like an aquarium itself because of the way it’s illuminated. There is lots of black and shades of blue, from bright turquoise to the deepest midnight. Next to some of the booths are glowing blue lights that look like seaweed flowing in the water. Planters next to them hold greenery that looks like it belongs in the ocean. The other half of the restaurant—the western/left half—is a little brighter, a little bigger, a little less bar-like. Take your dates to the left of the giant wine cooler that’s in the entrance; take your mom and dad to the right.

I have eaten at Ocean Zen several times, whether for a big dinner or a sushi roll at lunch. It has become a favorite of my dad’s when he visits from St. Louis, so that has increased my number of visits significantly. Given past experience, I was expecting to be impressed with the new duds and with the menu. I wasn’t disappointed. As usual, the server started us with a simple little piece of a crusty white baguette with a balsamic reduction drizzled on the plate, as well as a little bowl of olive oil flavored with full garlic cloves. Tasty, but it came out a few minutes after our entrées, so by then we were already distracted by our meals and not that interested in bread.

There have been a few changes to the food selections. One of the new dinner entrées is the herb-encrusted pan-seared halibut ($26.95), so that’s what I ordered. It came with a bacon-wrapped scallop, roasted red bliss potatoes covered in mozzarella cheese, roasted asparagus and a white cheddar–basil cream sauce. Drizzled on the plate was a wasabi aioli. The meal had the usual Ocean Zen presentation, meaning the food was stacked high in a beautiful tower of mouthwatering awesomeness, and I’m not exaggerating. As you might have guessed already, I enjoyed all of this. I have had several very sweet dishes at Ocean Zen, and this dish, with nothing sweet whatsoever, was a nice change of pace. The buttery scallop melted in my mouth, and the halibut was rare, which is perfect.

My colleague Kari Engel went the seafood route as well, ordering the macadamia nut-encrusted mahi mahi for $22.95. She raved about the macadamia-lobster-basil sauce that came with it. On the side were garlic-herb roasted potatoes and roasted asparagus. Both meals were very rich, but Kari’s had an earthier flavor because of the crunchy nuts on top, and it was offset by the creamy lobster sauce.

Perhaps the most amusing aspects of Ocean Zen are the ridiculously gigantic round white plates on which our meals were served. Ocean Zen is not stingy. We each had lots of food to work on. But even with lots of food, our meals didn’t even come close to filling the plates. The two of them covered our entire table. A circumference half an inch bigger, and we’d have had plates hanging off the table. But it’s all part of the presentation. I can’t say it wasn’t impressive-looking when it came out.

Our service was fantastic. The host who opened the door to us was friendly and grinning, but not saccharine. The hostess who seated us was efficient. Our server always seemed to show up at the right moment and was amiable and effusively helpful. Shortly after we showed up, a young man who was dining alone in a booth next to ours apparently had a problem with his food. There was nothing wrong with it. He just wished it had less cheese. His server was incredibly kind to him and apologetic, offering to do just about anything to make the situation right and happy. Then chef Johnson Tan came out to chat with the guy as well. I was glad to see all of it. I think a restaurant should try hard to make you happy, especially a restaurant with prices on the high side like Ocean Zen. Even if something is less than great, if the restaurant makes up for it or convinces me that they’ll do anything to make it right, I won’t hesitate to come back again. I hope that guy gives Ocean Zen another chance.

Ocean Zen
600 E. Battlefield, Springfield, 417-889-9596
11 a.m.–3:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m.–10 p.m. daily
Open until 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday

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Reviews are written by our editors as a service to readers, without advertising consideration. Visits are as anonymous as possible, and all expenses are paid by 417 Magazine. New restaurants are allowed four weeks to establish themselves before a first visit. To comment, please e-mail editor@417mag.com