Best Seafood Restaurants in Newport

The location high atop Dana Pt Harbor was breathtaking with all the Christmas decorations glowing in the dark night sky. The atmosphere was very nice because we ate out on the patio and the gas heaters kept us toasty. The restaurant was super busy but with our reservation we didn’t have a wait. The appetizer of calamari was delicious and different than we’ve ever had anywhere else. The main dishes were a bit disappointing in that the seafood a la mere of black linguini and seafood was disappointing in that the seafood appeared to have all been cooked prior to the order being placed … it was dry and overcooked. The salmon was slightly overdone. The chocolate lava cake is definitely worth ordering ahead of time … yummy!

Christmas or New Year dinners at a restaurant are, by their very nature (i.e. a time everyone wants off and demand outstrips supply) going to be a compromise scenario. The experience here was surprisingly uncompromised. The service was fantastic, the appetizers (clam chowder, spinach salad, artichokes) were uniformly wonderful and generously proportioned, main courses were very good as well, although the prime rib wasn’t quite as well seasoned as one might expect, it too was cooked properly and properly proportioned. Don’t read that as a complaint, not on Christmas, nope, that was a minor compromise that did not diminish from a wonderful experience.

Harpoon Henry's has been a wonderful restaurant on the harbor for many years. I have enjoyed many great meals and happy hours here over the years. Ambiance is warm and cozy with great harbor views, the Christmas Day turkey dinner was prepared to perfection and the service was outstanding as usual. I understand that this wonderful restaurant will close in the spring. It is so unfortunate that Dana Point Harbor Partners is driving away all that is good around the harbor for the love of more money. Thanks to all at Harpoon Henry's for today and for all the happy times in the past.

Absolutely incredible lunch experience! We were sat at one of the tables by the window, and we had such a spectacular view of the iconic California coastline, with surfers enjoying the breaks of the Pacific Ocean and plenty of wildlife to be seen. Service was wonderful as well, very attentive but not overbearing. Our cocktails were delicious, as was our starter, the swordfish dip. We loved our entrees as well, the seafood enchilada + lobster chowder. We ended with the lemon cake and salted caramel ice cream. We absolutely loved our meal and are already making plans to go back.

Very happy I chose Coastal Kitchen to bring my son and his family for our Christmas celebration. They had never been here and raved about the food! Entrees ordered were the ahi salad, the ahi entree, pork chop (it was huge!), ribs, and my personal favorite, the salmon. All were delicious! And, of course, we had to order the key lime pie--better than Tommy Bahamas; the crust is amazing!