Ocean Beach Cafe, Bar and Bistro | Restaurant Review

We love going to the beach! The kids love being in the water, they love the sand, and we have basically made it so we can pack up for the beach and unpack afterwards in under and hour. This includes making lunch, packing up all our towels and beach toys, and getting water shoes on! Now that restaurants are back open, we figured we’d try some out near Shoeburryness, our favourite beach of choice. Our first adventure was to the Ocean Beach cafe, bar and bistro.

Provencal Meatballs, Parrilla Chorizo and Cajun Crab Croquettes

Jupiter and I decided to get a bunch of little bits and bobs to eat together. The first three things we ordered were the provencal meatballs, which were covered in basil and Parmesan cheese. There were five decent sized meatballs in the bowl, which was more then we were expecting, and they were very tasty. We couldn’t pass up chorizo, so we got the parrilla chorizo which came in a bunch of peppers. Both the chorizo and peppers tasted delicious – we just needed some bread to dip it up really! The cajun crab croquettes were my favourite – they were creamy, crunchy and full of crab flavor – the sauce was good too and complemented the fish well.

Gnochi & Nduja Sausage, Tomato Bruschette and Aubergine

The Gnochi and Nduja Sausage was quite surprising, as it was a very dry dish. The basil crust on it took away from the sauce and we couldn’t really taste sausage in it, though we hadn’t had Nduja before and it was a bit flavourless. The tomato bruschette we got as a sort of light bite, as Jupiter is a big fan of bruschette, and these were nice, refreshing bites in between the more meat-heavy foods. The aubergine (just called aubergine on the menu) was pretty nice – it’s a big textural item, being crunchy and soft. I really didn’t care for the garlic / herb sauce that came with it and felt it cheapened the dish, but Jupiter loved it, so there is that.

BBQ Pulled Pork Burger & Children’s Lasagne

Kai ordered the BBQ Pulled pork burger which came with chips and mayo. He really seemed to enjoy the burger, even though he didn’t understand exactly what pulled pork would look like and thought it would be a burger patty. He actually picked this from the adult menu and was delighted it came with a stick, which he kept posing as if it was a sword during the meal. Robin and Amelia both got the same dish; children’s lasagne with chips and salad. The salad had honey mustard dressing, their favourite, so that was a plus and they both cleaned their plates. They said the lasagne was good! “A little like Daddy’s and a little like Jupiter’s” was the official word, as it seemed to have a small layer of bechamel – much more of that sauce is featured in my lasagne, while Jupiter’s lasagne has a ricotta layer instead.

Kid’s Ice Cream, Malibu Creme Brulee and Summer Berry Sundae

Each of the children got to pick an ice cream from the kid’s ice cream menu at Ocean Beach. Kai went for chocolate while the girls continued matching with them both picking strawberry. The strawberry had big bits of strawberry in them and all of them had cookies on top and a little fruit. The kids were well impressed and really enjoyed them! My summer berry sundae was like a bigger version of their ice cream, covered wafer cookies, berries, syrup, meringue bits, and probably more. It was a very good, very filling sundae that I quite enjoyed. Jupiter opted for something different with Malibu Creme Brulee. Her ice cream was quite coconut forward with bits of coconut all in it. The creme brulee was nice too, but the melted sugar on top was a bit thick for her liking and she quickly took the ice cream off to drag through the berry syrup on her plate and to not allow to melt on top of her creme brulee. It was a nice end to a lovely day.

The venue at Ocean Beach is so nice, right on top of the beach front. We were seated outside, with the top and windows all open, taking in all of the fresh air and ocean sounds. Though this restaurant is at the beach, they do have a dress code that requires everyone to be wearing footwear and have dry clothing, which wasn’t an issue for us. We really had a lovely time out and will probably be back again, as they all pointed out how good the food was and how close it is to the beach.

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