Seward couple opens new Chinese restaurant in Whittier

Soft warm lighting, clean and spacious, with an attention to detail

By Ken Smith
Turnagain Times

Ok and Young Yoo are a husband and wife that have run two restaurants in Alaska in Homer and Seward. They owned the Oriental Garden Chinese restaurant in Seward for ten years and prior to that owned Young’s Downtown Inn in Homer from 1987-1997. They sold their restaurant in Seward in June and opened the doors to their new restaurant, The China Sea, in Whittier on Aug. 11.
The Yoos bought the China Sea from Andre’ Shin in January and began extensive renovations of the interior in February. The entire restaurant is newly remodeled with track lighting, new wallpaper and carpet, and a rebuilt kitchen. They also added more booths to the indoor deck, which has a beautiful view of the small boat harbor via large windows adjacent to each booth.
The track lighting is soft and warm, and a red carpet along with the gold and brown oriental designed wallpaper, adds to an elegant yet understated décor. The restaurant is meticulous, clean and spacious, with comfortable newly upholstered booths. A lot of care and attention to detail obviously went into the entire remodeling job.
The Yoos had a quiet opening, and have kept the menu simple for now, offering a large buffet style lunch and dinner. The food is varied with both spicy and non-spicy dishes and two soups.
They expect to receive a beer and wine license in the next couple of months. There is an upstairs space available for business too, but Ok, 50, said she was not certain what they were going to do with the space at this time.
I visited their restaurant for lunch on Labor Day. It was quiet with only a few people. I tried an assortment of the buffet dishes: a spicy shrimp dish and a Sichuan style chicken dish. I added some slightly spicy chicken wings and drumsticks, and fried vegetables in a tempura batter.
Being fond of spicy food, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality and authenticity of the dishes. It was clear that Young, 55, was adept at cooking fine Chinese cuisine—he’s been cooking Asian cuisine for over 25 years. The Yoos are originally from Korea, and Young, whose wife spoke on his behalf, said he would likely expand the menu to include Korean dishes and perhaps Sushi next year. Ok added that they will also offer take-out and catering service.
The restaurant will be open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., but it will not stay open year-round. This year it will close at the end of October and reopen in March.
Ok said the reason they will not be open year-round is because their daughter is still in high school, now entering her junior year at Seward High School. They also have one son who attends college. Young said they would like to see their daughter finish high school and go to college, at which time, they plan to move to Whittier and keep the restaurant open year-round.