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BEST THING I EVER ATE
Season 8 | Episode 6
UGLY DELICIOUS
Season 1 | Episode 7 | Fried Rice
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“The house-special lobster is the dish to get” at this midpriced Chinese chainlet incorporating Vietnamese, Cambodian and Thai influences into its “excellent” menu; “massive crowds” “are the only downside”, but “service is prompt” once you’re seated and the settings are “tasteful”too; P.S. “bring a large group so you can try as many dishes as possible.”
Certificate of Excellence (2014-2019)
Rated #1 of 152 Restaurants in San Gabriel
TripAdvisor gives a Certificate of Excellence to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travelers.
50 Best Chinese restaurants in the United States
Newport Tan is one of the most acclaimed Chinese restaurants in the San Gabriel Valley, especially known for its house special lobster. It’s smart to come with a large group so you can order a variety of seafood, such as fish with basil-and-walnut shrimp. If you’re craving red meat, the filet mignon cubes are outstanding.
LA’s 23 Most Iconic Restaurant Dishes – Spring 2018
A legendary dish that draws crowds every night, this stir-fried lobster, pulled live from massive tanks in the front of the restaurant, is a classic Cambodian-Chinese showstopper with green onions, ginger, and garlic. Everyone will fight for the tails and claw, but the true aficionados go for the the head, best eaten with some sauteed greens and bowl of fresh rice.
The story behind the spicy lobster at Newport Seafood
In today’s chef-driven culture, significant attention and praise are given to the culinary brains behind the stove, and here that credit belongs to Lam’s husband, Ly Hua, who developed the restaurant’s signature dish, a massive Maine lobster blasted in a wok with green onions, jalapeños, black pepper and clarified butter.
99 Things to Eat in LA Before You Die
Newport Seafood’s Spicy Lobster — There are other things on the menu at Newport Seafood, and some of them are even good, but the Vietnamese-Chinese restaurant, which occupies a remodeled Marie Callender’s, might as well have no menu at all: The throngs, most of which have waited a couple of hours for a table on a Saturday night, are there for the house-special lobster, a mammoth beast fried with chiles, black pepper and scallions, a dish as essential to Newport Seafood as chili dogs are to Pink’s.
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“The lobster of Newport clocks in at 5 pounds or more; it comes out fried and fiery red, showered with black pepper, chiles and scallions and not so much placed as heaped on a plate. Most tables, you’ll notice, also have a spread of clams, shaking beef (bo luc lac), pan-fried pork chops and fried rice, all of which are very, very good and, as it happens, pretty much represent all that is wonderful about eating in the San Gabriel Valley.”
Taste Test: Newport Seafood
“The seafood was good quality, and the lobster looked amazing, so it would be worth another trip to try it. The bill came out to $20 each for the five of us, including tip, with just tea to drink– not bad for very satisfying six course dinner.”
Alive with Pleasure by Jonathan Gold
“First among equals, of course, is the spicy lobster, which is as essential to Newport Seafood as chili dogs are to Pink’s. People take Newport lobsters home to Saigon, Taipei, Tokyo and Phnom Penh, the waiters boast. The lobsters are like the ones at Crustacean in Beverly Hills, they say, only twice as good and half as expensive…Did the lobster live up to the dream? Yes, I confess: It did.”
Best Los Angeles Seafood Restaurants
At this family-run restaurant, the menu — in English, Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai — expresses the cultural blending that is the experience of the Chaozhou Chinese, who migrated to Southeast Asia in the 1850s. There are influences from Cambodia and Thailand, resulting in seafood fare that is refreshingly light.
Newport Seafood is an SGV classic. It’s an upscale restaurant, popular with families out for a nice Sunday lunch. And when you’re out for a nice Sunday lunch here, you should be ordering the whole lobster. It’s covered in spring onions, chilli, and ginger, and the smallest one you’ll be offered will be at least four pounds. That doesn’t mean you should ignore the rest of the menu – the peppery, slightly sweet Beef Lak Lok needs to be ordered too.
YELP
Newport Seafood Restaurant
3134 reviews- Bo Luc Lac (French Style Beef) is popular because it is tasty and tender. Salty really, with soy and beef stock taste. It was served to me in literally 3 minutes after ordering.
- Food was awesome as was the service. We couldn't get a reservation online but were able to get through by phone and reserve a time slot.
There was five of us and we were able to get a private room which made it very quaint and we felt COVID safe.
Gotta get the lobster as well as the garlic and basil clams and house special fried rice.
Very pricey but for special occasions, definitely worth it. - This has to be one of the most legendary spots in the 626- You can make reservations ahead to avoid the long line at the restaurant
- House Special Lobster: the famous Chinese style lobster with lots of scallions and lots of flavors! You can also get it with noodles underneath to soak up all the sauce
- Hot and Sour Soup: literally can't go wrong with this, super appetizing and comforting
- Clam with Basil Sauce: perfectly cooked clams drenched in delicious fragrant basil sauce, it's got a tiny kick as well
- Sautéed Pea sprouts: usually prefer pea shoots but these sprouts were yummy as well
- Beef Loc Lac: so so tender, juicy, and peppery!
-Special fried rice: off the menu item but MUST ORDER! It's got dried scallops, masago, and big chunks of shrimps
Overall an amazing spot and a great place to celebrate any kind of occasion! I would recommend going with a big group so you can try more things - Delicious and then some!
Service is fast and efficient...don't come in with the expectation of the warm and fuzzies as you won't get that here, lol. I recommend you have an idea of what you want to order in advance as they get very busy here and for good reason. We barely sat down and they wanted us to place our order right away...typical at most restaurants like this though so all good. The restaurant itself is a bit older in decor but still very spacious and clean.
Now that that's out of the way, I highly recommend you come with a large group if you want to try several dishes as portions are very generous. It was just the co-habby and I and so we barely made a dent.
Let's get to the food, shall we? We ordered:
Off the menu House Special Fried Rice: Perfectly cooked fried rice with dried scallops, masago and tons of shrimp. It is $50 and worth every penny. It could've easily fed an entire family and we could only finish not even 1/4th of it. Loved how it was chockfull of seafood and they didn't skimp out.
Honey Walnut Shrimp: lightly battered with their traditional honey walnut glaze. Tasty and filling.
Beef Loc Lac: For us, this was the shining star and featured super tender cubes of soy-marinated beef that paired well with our other dishes. I couldn't get enough of this one!
Highly recommend, but with a big group of family/friends! - Superb! You can smell the delicious lobster from the parking lot. This place is packed. I wasn't able to make rsvp because it was too last minute. They have a waitlist you can sign up. The owner was super nice and friendly and was able to squeeze us into the list. Service was phenomenal. We ordered the traditional lobster. It's about $30ish per pound and smallest lobster is about 4 pound. It's fresh lobster and taste amazing. The dish came out hot and pretty huge! Flavor was perfect. Reminds me of a typical Cantonese restaurants. We also ordered clams with black beans and snow pea. Both dishes was delicious. Bill came out to be about $94 per person for two people with the 3 dishes.
- One of the most satisfying meals I've had in a while.
The thing that stands out most about the lobster and clam dishes are the sauces. Just pouring the sauce over rice makes a good meal. It's savory, salty, and full of umami. We ordered the small special lobster in house sauce, clams with spicy hot sauce, fried tofu, and dry rice noodles for a family of 4, and we had leftover.
Clam dish was my absolute favorite, but not spicy at all. Dry rice noodles though were quite bland, so we will not be ordering that again.
I was also very impressed by the speed of service. Can't wait to come back. - The restaurant might as well be called Bikini Bottoms because this is the place to be if you're looking for [Larry the] LOBSTER! (I'm no Jimmy O'Yang, I get it...)
No matter what, my family and I will always make time to eat here if we are in the area. This place has modernized a little bit from their first-come-first-serve-take-a-number system to now having a waitlist on Yelp. They even now have complimentary valet parking in their lot, too! So no more worries of your car getting towed elsewhere, looking for sketchy outdoor lot parking or neighborhood parking! There was no wait around 5:00p on a weeknight, but the place definitely started to pick up and the entire restaurant filled up when we were leaving at around 7:30p.
Due to the pandemic, you have to order white rice by the bowl now as opposed to the pot. Hot tea, ice waters and beverages are also served in disposable cups now, too.
The food here is delicious, but it has become a lot more pricey throughout the years. But despite the increase, it's because the food is so delicious every single time that we keep on coming back every single time. The Family Set is very reasonable and the portions are big, but we always add on anyway! We always get either the set for 3 or 4 people and add on from there, and everything is so, so, good. Apart from their star dish (super well-seasoned and well-cooked lobster with TONS of green onions), their kung pao chicken (family favorite) because it's SO crispy and not at all oily. Then you also have the honey walnut shrimp, salt/pepper spare ribs, sweet and sour pork... all worth getting. - Food, service and parking are all very good here. In the evening, they offer complimentary valet parking and there's also some street parking available nearby.
I enjoyed all the dishes I've tried -- beef loc lac, fillet fish basil, lobster with noodles, chinese broccoli and walnut shrimp. But, my favorite dish at Newport Seafood is definitely the beef loc lac (shaken beef). This restaurant is known for their lobster with noodles, so we got it last time we went. It was really good to try, but I don't think I would get it again. It was about $180 for 5.5 lbs of lobster (including the huge, hollow lobster shells), so it's definitely more of a special occasion type dish. - This place has the best lobster dish in Alhambra for sure. It's not the only great dish to be found either. We go here for at least one family birthday dinner a year and any other special occasion we can think of.
The HOUSE LOBSTER with green onion and jalapeños is perfection. The price is steep but this dish does not disappoint. Lots of succulent lobster!
The CLAMS WITH BASIL are another must for my family. I didn't think I would like this as much as
I did. So bomb!
The BEEF LOC LAC is a great dish. Every time we've gotten it is perfectly seasoned and super tender.
You can't go wrong here! Loooove it!
There is some street parking and valet parking in
the lot. - Not sure why people rate this branch lower than the one in San Gabriel.... I've been to both many times and I think the quality is same.
Newport style crab, beef, clam with basil, salt and pepper squid, crab fried rice are my favorites here. Service is not necessarily friendly but efficient and attentive.
I'd highly recommend this place for people looking fir good Asian style seafood. - This place is great for fmaily gathering as the portions are very big
We ordered the lobster special it was very flavorful and perfectly cooked. We ordered a small one to share for 2 and it was more than enough it could easily feed 3 to 4
Fried rice was good with variety of meat and seafood in it perfect pairing with the lobster
The service was slow but besides that i will def. Come back for fresh seafood - Had reservations for 12
Loved the private rooms
Newport Lobster 6lbs was on point
Ordered many dishes
Rice, pork string beans, honey walnut shrimp needed more sauce, Mongolian beef, seafood noodles, chicken crispy noodles, salty pork chops
We definitely loved every single one
We always vote as a Family and yes we will be coming back!!!
We're all Food critics for life
Ps. The only thing when the server told me the chili oil would cost me .25 cents
Come on after ordering the big plate of lobster you think I care - one of my favorite spots in la 🙂
have been coming here for years!!
get the beef luc lac - Another amazing experience. Food speaks for itself. Definitely go here if you want authentic Chinese food.
- I recently had the chance to go to Newport Seafood with a bunch of my friends and I have to admit, this is probably one of the best Chinese restaurants in the Los Angeles/SGV area. I went to another spot called Boston Lobster a month ago and that place did not compare to Newport Seafood. Both good, but Newport Seafood is definitely better. It was so popular that there were many groups ahead of us. But I don't think the wait was too long. About 30 minutes or so, but we were one of the last groups to be seated and also the last one to leave the restaurant.
Because it was towards the end of the evening, they provided us the menus while we waited. They recommended us to order prior to sitting down, but as we were viewing the menu, the waiter called our group and next thing we know we were being seated.
We ordered the special lobster dish Newport Seafood is known for. They give the option of ordering a medium or large dish so we went with the large for a group of 7 people. I would also highly recommend the French style beef as it was very tender and nicely seasoned. Highly recommended as I believe this was one of the favorites from everyone in our group. Can't go wrong with this dish.
I thought the walnut shrimp was fantastic. It still had its crispy texture even though it was lightly marinated in the walnut shrimp sauce. We had to order a vegetable dish so we had gotten their green beans which still had its crunch but also cooked well for it to be pleasing. Also, I've been to a lot of places and felt they would drench a lot of oils to their dishes, especially their vegetables but definitely didn't feel this way with their green beans.
We also ordered the fish, maw soup which I'm okay without but it wasn't bad either. The basil clams had a very slimy sauce that smothered the dish, which I'm not used to but tasted really good with the aromatic basil they used to cook with. The crab fried rice was good, but I can do it without the crab because it wasn't very noticeable to be honest. Surprisingly, the fried tofu was really good. Tofu to me is quite bland and whatever, but the fried exterior mixed with the soft tofu texture and the fact that it was served piping hot made it all that much better. Lastly, we also ordered a very thick, clear noodle beef dish, which I would recommend. Definitely perfect for those larger parties and family gatherings. I do plan to bring my family and in-laws here someday because it's that good.
There's ample parking. When we got there, it looked like there was a complimentary valet service. However, my husband and I ended up parking right across the street since we didn't want to deal with the parking at the restaurant.
Also, last call was at 7:30PM. Legit have to order everything (including drinks) before last call. So, just keep that in mind. - Came to try this place after watching Mikey Chen's youtube video and we loved it! We had made a reservation for Thursday afternoon, but when we arrived a bit early, they were able to seat us right away since there were many table available. We ordered the salt n pepper shrimp, the Bo Luc Lac on rice and a cup of hot tea.
The salt and pepper shrimp was great! I would've preferred it to be coated in a bit more batter as I love my shrimp extra crispy, but it was still satisfying. It is so simple, but so good! *note: the menu says "baked" salt n pepper shrimp, so I asked the waiter to clarify that they indeed have fried crispy shrimp.
The Bo Luc Lac was AMAZING. One of the best I've had. The meat was so tender and had great flavor. The tomatoes it was served with gave it a nice refreshing taste, along with the side of lime and seasoning!
All of the food came out very quickly, as we went on a slow day, but it was freshly made. Their servings are quite large so I would definitely come again, but with a larger party than 2 next time. Such a nice restaurant! - Dinner in San Gabriel, Los Angeles, California...
Originally, my friends and I met at another place for dinner. Sensing their hesitancy about ordering their meals, I said,
"It's National Lobster Day!"
We discussed nearby options for lobster and decided to carpool (in my rental car) to Newport Seafood Restaurant.
I had been here before, but I slacked off and didn't post photos nor finish my review.
My bad. I like this place because of the free street parking, convenient restroom, and efficient service.
On this visit, we had a feast of Lobster, crab, squid, and Snow Pea Leaves (because we can't get it in Honolulu). I was so happy! (And I'm so glad that I had gloves with me because crab and lobster have lots of shells gravy and is slippery!)
The best food with some of my best Yelp foodie friends! Portions were generous - we took delicious leftovers home!
Thanks to Tim, Gloria, and Ran for making my return to LA such a fun one... As always! - Overall rating: 5/5
Wait: 5/5
Arrival time: Saturday 11am
Food: 5/5
Order: House special lobster, walnut shrimp, pea sprouts, beef lok lak, yang chow fried rice, black bean clams, seafood soup special
Service: 4.5/5
Price: 4/5
Definitely coming back - Must order (forget what everyone else says, you have to get these 3 things and then whatever else you want lol):
The lobster (expect minimum $140 for their smallest which feeds two hungry af adults with a little left over)
Pea sprouts (unfkn believable like how is this so addicting!)
Off the menu: dried scallop fried rice (the best fkn fried rice in your life if I'm wrong come get me! Juicy shrimp bright green chopped veggies I think it was asparagus? I dunno it was fkn delish) - Came here for lunch with my parents in the afternoon and we were seated immediately. The staff there were all very friendly and helpful. We ordered the newport special lobster, crispy tofu, clams with basil, and sautéed pea sprouts. Everything tasted delicious and the service was excellent. Prices are higher than other similar restaurants in the area and in the OC, but I feel like the service and ambiance (not to mention distance from home) makes up for it. We couldn't have asked for a better dining experience! I'd highly recommend this place to anyone looking for really good seafood with exceptional service and ambiance.
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