Live From Monterey Park . . . : Ocean Star--where the seafood isn’t just fresh, it’s still swimming

Ocean Star is one of the hottest and most authentic Chinese restaurants in Monterey Park and it is still relatively unknown outside the city.

Blame the location. It’s partially hidden from view on a side street off Garvey Avenue, Monterey Park’s main thoroughfare. And blame the crowd--the clientele is 98% Chinese. It’s a young, exuberant crowd favoring the late hours the restaurant keeps. But don’t be hesitant. It’s a welcome place for anyone to dine, with English-speaking waiters and a highly accessible menu. Just don’t expect a fast table there at dinner time. There is almost always a wait.

The restaurant belongs to Bob Lee of nearby NBC Seafood Restaurant, and any resemblance therein is pure coincidence. NBC is one of those Hong Kong-style palaces: comfy chairs, spacious decor. Ocean Star is a glorified cigar box. NBC has a huge menu: plenty of finger foods and familiar dishes. Ocean Star serves bare bones Cantonese: soups, live seafood, and a few meat dishes. NBC is a restaurant you can almost languish in; the cordial waiters even wear tuxedoes. Ocean Star has food on the table before you can pour the tea. Did you come here to eat, or did you come here to schmooze?

The menu’s first page is devoted to soups. Varying degrees of shark’s fin, from superior on down, are available in soups with such delicacies as bird’s nest, fresh crab meat, and herb-marinated chicken. Prices can soar to as much as $125 per bowl.

There are medicinal soups, too, for around $15 per individual crock. Soei yu tong is made with fresh sea turtle, and dan tong ji gai is a ginseng chicken preparation. But I’d advise you save your money for some of the more irresistible seafoods, and order the more humbly priced soups on the bottom of the page.

Shredded duck with dry peel in thick soup is an unqualified smash, a rich, meaty soup with celery, leek, and the faintest hint of citrus in every spoonful. Sour and spice soup is not unlike the familiar hot and sour version--with an aromatic twist: cinnamon, ginger and anise.

The only real appetizer at Ocean Star is found on the brief Chinese menu insert: siin ha gyn , or shrimp spring roll. For this dish, batter-fried tripe is stuffed with live shrimp and a pork forcemeat, then whisked to the table with black soy and spiced salt on the side. It’s wonderful. The flavors are penetrating and pungent--and probably not to everybody’s taste.

Be sure to try “swimming” shrimp and scallops (from the Chinese menu); these are live seafoods prepared in the simplest Cantonese fashion. They are steamed, then served with a light vinegar dipping sauce.

Clams are another dish that you absolutely want to experience. Have them with see chap , fermented black bean sauce with braised onion and sauteed green pepper. It’s a thick, intense sauce, and it mixes well with steamed white rice.

At any given time you’ll see waiters pulling sheepshead, tilapia and fresh shellfish out of tanks to present to customers. Ask one to do the same for you. Our waiter dashed by with a 5-pound Maine lobster, a coral giant with claws flailing. Everyone nodded in instant approval. Inside of a few minutes we had it on the table, drenched in a delicate sweet-sour sauce and cut up like a grapefruit. I haven’t had sweeter lobster in years.

The entire gamut of Cantonese specialties is featured--sea cucumber, squid, oysters, abalone, crab--any of which can be prepared with chile, duck feet, black mushroom, or any of the light sauces for which the Cantonese kitchen is famous.

But you needn’t make Ocean Star an all-seafood experience. Steamed chicken with ham and vegetable is one of many other possibilities; this features layers of baby bok choy , salty Chinese ham, and soft chopped chicken. Baked pork ribs with spicy salt is yet another: deep-fried pork with a crunchy coating that is close to perfection.

The back page is devoted to hot pots, sizzling plates, and vegetable dishes. I tried the Cantonese beef stew hot pot with turnips--it was good and hearty. Braised tofu in brown sauce was another hidden delight in which carrots and Chinese greens add an extra dimension.

The Foodies should be here any day now.

Ocean Star Seafood Restaurant

112 N. Chandler Ave., Monterey Park. (818) 300-8446.

Open daily 5 p.m-3 a.m. (until 4 a.m. on Friday and Saturday). No alcohol. Parking in lot. Visa and MasterCard accepted. Dinner for 2, food only, $20-60.

Recommended dishes: “swimming” shrimp, $8; shredded duck with dry peel soup, $6.25; baked lobster, seasonal price; pan-fried clam with black bean and chile sauce, $6; crispy deep-fried chicken, small $7.50, large $14.