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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.
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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.”
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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
2957 reviews- Visited Arcadia and after seeing so many 5 star reviews on Yelp, I had to try this place! We placed our order over the phone and scheduled a pick up time. By the time we arrived, the food was ready and still warm! We got honey walnut shrimp, beef loc lac, and pea sprouts to go. Honey walnut shrimp is one of my all time favorite dishes and it did not disappoint. Definitely also try the beef loc lac! Everything was yummy and super generous portion sizes - had a ton of leftovers for 3 people!
- Picked up some lunch from Newport over the weekend and they prepped in record time (15 min).
The food is absolutely delicious: Newport Special Crab, Beef Luc Lac, Pea Shoots (small leaf), and rice. Everything was piping hot and eaten as soon as we got home.
The staff is efficient and super-friendly. Highly, highly recommend. - The prices are great, the portions are huge, very authentic, very fast service and always busy. Great Chinese seafood. Restaurant gets very crowded, people start to line up 30 minutes before it opens. Good thing they move people in and out pretty quickly. If you are in the 626 area, you must at least try Newport Seafood once in your lifetime.
- This is our first time coming to the restaurant and we were very impressed with their efforts to space guests out for indoor dining and provided hand sanitizer at every table. Additionally, they provided disposable cups for water and tea to ensure safety for their guests during COVID.
We ordered the house special lobster, thai basil stir fried clams, spot prawns, and steamed fish. The house special lobster was super fragrant from all the aromatics and also had a light but buttery finish. The lobster was savory and tender with a sweet finish. The steamed fish was super tender as well and was steamed to perfection. We also really like the stir fried clams because all the clams were super fresh and the thai basil rounded out the flavors very well. We were very satisfied with our meals and you can tell they put a lot of care into their food! - Newport Seafood hands down is one of the best places for lobster noodles. Cam here unplanned with our extended family and ordered a feast. Their lines maybe long sometimes but the food is worth the wait. We came and order the lobster noodles, the giant clam, fried fish and even ended with durian. Overall one of my favorite places and will definitely be back again.
- This is my favorite place to come for steamed shrimp. They have the best ginger sauce to dip it in and it's incredibly hot and fresh when it comes out. I love it so much. Everything else here I could take it or leave it, you could get about the same kind of stuff at any restaurant in SGV. But the shrimp here is the best.
- This restaurant was very nice and spacious. There were a lot of people but the employees thrived and was very friendly. There was a lot of food options so i definitely recommend eating here!
- Visited Newport Seafood on a weekday afternoon.
We called in an order:
-House and Seafood Crispy Noodles
-Honey Walnut Shrimp
-Salt & Pepper Pork Chop
-Steamed Rice
*All items were in the lunch menu except for the walnut shrimp, but it's a must order for us anyhoo.
Once you walk through the door, you'll notice signs encouraging social distance and directing you where to stand. Entire team was wearing masks and gloves. Quick transaction at the register and completed orders are placed at the table on the side.
Highly recommend and will definitely be back. - Newport Seafood, definitely a staples in San Gabriel.
Lobster Newport Special - fantastic sauce with a nice kick of spiciness secondary to the jalapeno. Piping hot and large chunks of meat. I easily counted 4-5 claw pieces in our order.
You can ask for the smaller lobsters 3-4 pounds or the large one at 5-6 pounds. The smaller lobster with a portion of garlic noodles is more than enough to feed 3, maybe 4, people comfortably. The sauce they use is amazing and has some great, great flavors.
Can't wait to eat at this spot again soon. - A great seafood restaurant for a big party, you'll be highly satisfy with the food and service. My family and I came here to celebrate Father's day dinner. We made reservation 3 days before so we wouldn't have to wait. The great thing about this place is that they have their own parking and there a lot of parking spots. The waiters were very attentive to our table and provided excellent service. They also provide hand sanitizer at every table. The food came out pretty quick and I really like their Kung pao chicken. My other family members got some beef, soul fish, chicken noodles, their vegetables deluxe, crab and rice soup. Be aware that they don't take American Express here so have a Visa or Mastercard. Getting out of the parking area could be difficult if they are busy, I got stuck while trying to pull out of my spot because cars were parking.
- Here's what to do. Order the Newport Special Lobster, and make sure you get a six-pound lobster so that there's enough meat. Also, get it with noodles, and don't worry if you don't see noodles on the menu. They'll know what to do. Remember to get Beef Loc Lac, Shrimp with Walnut, and Sautéed Pea Sprouts.
The lobster is fried with a sauce of garlic, scallions, and sometimes chilies, black pepper, and butter. The lobster chunks are firm and sweet. The sauce is insanely tasty. You will want to pick each bit of scallion just for another taste. And when no one is looking, you will lick the shells. There are also some tidbits of red lobster roe. The noodles also soak up all the flavors really well.
The Beef Loc Lac are tender morsels of filet mignon cubes that inspired by French cuisine, namely lots of butter and black pepper. - Hand down, these are the best lobster noodles that I have ever had. This restaurant is open during the COVID pandemic and you can order for pickup. Their phone lines get busy, so keep trying to call until you get through. It is worth it.
They have a large parking lot and everyone working there was wearing a mask and taking the proper safety precautions.
You can ask for the smaller lobsters 3-4 pounds or the large one at 5-6 pounds. The smaller lobster with a portion of garlic noodles is more than enough to feed 3, maybe 4, people comfortably. The sauce they use is amazing and has some great, great flavors.
It is not a cheap meal, we end up spending about $120 every time we eat here, but it is worth every penny. Please support them, they are awesome! - Loooove Newport Seafood. Go to to bring the family. Never disappoints. Looove the fish basil TheBomb.com
- Newport Seafood is now open for indoor dining with masks and social distancing rules still in place. I had never been, but my friend had, so the birthday girl got to choose the restaurant and the menu 🙂
We had the beef Loc Lac, basically a sauté of tender beef plated over raw onions, pea shoots with garlic and their renowned small (4-5 lb) house special lobster.
The meal was pricey ($$$ per person) but the gift of a 30+ year friendship enjoying great food and wine is priceless. - We went there on Father's day due to the special occasion. We put our name in the "waiting list" at 11:20am for 3 people and finally got seated 2h later. :/ We suspected there must have been a line formed before 11am before the door opened for this to happen. Sooo.... Be there way before the opening time or go between lunch and dinner. Or avoid any occasional days not to wait too long to be seated. Lol.
Service:
I expected their service to be ok there, I don't usually complain. Yet, due to the busy situation, garlic noodle came way after the lobster. They had to come together to really enjoy the dynamic of lobster they served. So, we were a bit disappointed.
Food:
It was still exceptional to me. Quality was still the same as I remembered last time. I was happy about that. 😀
Parking:
Their parking lot was "complementary valet" which I never heard of in LA, still you need to tip the valet workers. We parked a block away from the restaurant for free, it wasn't bad at all.
Price:
I read enough reviews ahead, so I expected what I would pay. We ordered Medium lobster, Clams in basil sauce, Shrimp with honey walnuts and Pea sprouts. The total was over $300 including tip. Definitely they increased their price. Yet, I gladly paid due to the special accession and support their struggled business for over a year. I hope they will get back on their foot soon to recover what they have lost during the pandemic.
I will be back there again since it is one of our memorable special places. But I will avoid occasional days and rush hours for sure! XD - Believe the hype, kids. Came here based on a recommendation from someone, with no prior knowledge of this restaurant's existence. My boyfriend and I were both so stoked on this meal.
MENU/RECS: The menu had lots of yummy options. We checked Yelp for recommendations and asked the server for his opinion on what we should get. The responses aligned. For first timers and visitors looking to sample their star dishes, the suggestion is to order: 1) the Newport Special Lobster (ask to add noodles); and 2) Beef Loc Lac. That's what we did and I am so happy that we listened to the recommendations.
PORTIONS: Huge. We ordered the small size of the Newport Special Lobster and it was massive (more than enough for two people). The Beef Loc Lac was ample too. We had plenty of leftovers.
TASTE: Amazing. Everything was so delicious. The seasoning was perfect. Had a little bit of a kick but the spice did not overpower the flavoring.
PRICES: Not cheap. The lobster is market price and the small size of the Newport Special Lobster ended up being around $100. However, I have never eaten this much lobster in my life so I felt okay with splurging for once. Also, it was delicious and unlike any lobster dish I've had before. It was a terrific meal and felt totally worth the price tag.
SERVICE: Quick and efficient. Our food came out really fast. Also, very friendly and helpful.
PARKING: They have complimentary valet parking (tips only).
Overall, this place is awesome. Delicious food with lots of options and large portions. Friendly and fast service. Easy parking. Big interior space that's great for small or large groups. It's relatively far from where I live but I felt like it was totally worth the long drive. - One of my favorite seafood restaurants. We have been coming here for many years. We just love their lobster and crab dishes. The flavors and tastes are quite unique for the food. The restaurant combines South East Asian spices and Cantonese cooking techniques to create these delectable popular dishes.
Before the pandemic, this restaurant is always packed. Have to book way ahead of time for dining here. Most patrons come here for the lobster and crab dishes. I have a friend who used to drive from San Diego to eat here every other week.
Besides the lobster and crab dishes, the filet mignon black pepper beef in French style is quite popular too. The beef is cooked with black pepper and honey. The resulting dish is an East meets West creation. Even with all these black peppers, the beef doesn't seemed to taste overly spicy.
I also recommend their Kang Pao chicken. Again, the restaurant uses South East Asian spices with Cantonese cooking techniques to prepare this. The taste is unbelievable. The fragrant smell of the spices made me very hungry. I can eat two bowls of rice with this dish.
For the people who have money to burn, the restaurant offers a whole king crab for $700. This dish is steamed in garlic sauce. The crab leg meats are very sweet and tender. Can't get enough of these. But the price tag is too steep.
The restaurant is now open for indoor dining with fewer tables. So you can imaging how hard it's to get a reservation here. Fortunately, there is Yelp waiting list. So put your name on the Yelp waiting before going to the restaurant. - Best seafood fried rice I've had in a long time! We had just visited San Gabriel Nursery nearby. We were craving some seafood fried rice and steamed fish. We knew there were lots of restaurants in the area, but didn't know which one to visit. Luckily Yelp directed us to this place.
There is no signage outside that indicates the name of the restaurant. It was clear from the parking lot that it was a popular place. Luckily there were still enough parking spots for additional guests.
There is limited dine-in seating due to COVID. Guests need to sign in on the tablet. We were called within a few minutes.
In addition to the seafood fried rice, we had yummy steamed rock cod, steamed live shrimp and Chinese broccoli. The food came out quick. Service was pretty attentive. The place was clean too.
I'm not used to spending extra money for seafood but it sounds like the prices we paid were reasonable relatively speaking. That said, I will definitely come back to try some other dishes. - One of the best meals of my life.
The Newport special lobster with noodles is incredible.
Now on my list of restaurants friends that are visiting town have to go to -- - This place is spacious and clean. We checked in at the Yelp check in when we got there but we still had to get someone to get us a table. It didn't seem like the hostess cared that we were even there. There were plenty of tables since we got there about 11:30am.
Anyway, the waiters were super nice, attentive and got our order in and out quickly. The food tasted super clean. I love how we got a combination of Chinese and Vietnamese food. The food didn't taste super oily and there were lots of flavor. This is definitely my go to place for great seafood. - See More
