3305 Newport Blvd.
Newport Beach, CA 92663
My aunt Hiroko has converted to a pescatarian in the last few years. For those of you that unaware, a pescatarian is someone that eats fish, but no other kinds of meat. She did this mainly for health reasons, but it appears to have agreed with her. She appears to have stopped aging and has felt the best she has in years. If you've read this blog for any amount of time, you know I could never do what my aunt has done, but I'm very happy it has worked out for her.
We were all getting together for a family dinner, and she was actually the one that suggested Hook and Anchor. Opened early in 2018, Hook and Anchor describe themselves as a fast-casual lobster and fish house, with a fine-dining touch. In the three-plus years, they have been in business they have gotten glowing reviews online for their food, and briefly opened another location at Rodeo 39 food hall in Stanton, but that spot recently closed this month suddenly.
This Newport location showed no signs of having any trouble whatsoever. During our hour-long visit on an early Saturday evening at 5, there was a consistent crush of people filling in the rather small dining area, and the line to order grew at least eight parties deep once during our stay. We quickly snagged one of the larger tables available for our party of six.
The menu here is pretty extensive for such a small spot. The menu starts off with a quintet of lobster dishes and then continues with various offerings of sandwiches, tacos, fish and chips, salads, and various fresh fish plates. There's also a small chalkboard with even more specials located right behind the cashier. We all made our selections rather quickly and waited for our food to be run out to us.
Whenever I'm eating in a seafood restaurant for the first time, there's no question that I'll be trying the Clam Chowder ($6). This one was pretty impressive with its inclusion of clams, potatoes, carrots, and celery. For a thinner chowder, this was better than most. There were plenty of clams, the potatoes were not cut into large chunks, and there was a nice creaminess in each spoonful. Definitely worth trying if you like clam chowder.
For part two of my meal, I went with this Lobster Quesadilla ($15). This was an unusual selection for me, and I'm still not entirely sure why I picked this. The ten-inch tortilla was filled with lobster, and cheddar cheese then topped with a lemon herb sriracha aioli, which did its job of boosting the flavor a bit. I liked that the tortilla was grilled on the flattop, which provided a nice crunch to each bite. I just felt this was not the best way to highlight their lobster. I'd probably try a lobster roll or maybe just get a surf and turf plate the next to I visit Hook and Anchor.
If you know Katie, she's never really been described as crabby, unless she doesn't get one of her two Starbucks coffees a day. Here she is though, having the Crusty Crab Sandwich ($15) for dinner. This crab cake sandwich was dressed in shallot caper lemon mayo, lettuce, and tomato on a brioche bun. Katie was pretty pleased with this sandwich. The crab cake was nicely breaded but was not overly stuffed with filler. The crab was present, and you could actually taste it in each bite. The bun was spongy, but they could have used a little more in the way of the mayo to help moisten things up a bit.
Both my cousin Chris and my aunt tried the Lobster Roll ($28.50 was the market price when we were here). There are two sizes, a four and six-ounce version of this roll filled with buttered claw and knuckle meat stuffed inside a brioche split-top bun with butter and herbs. This won rave reviews from both of them. I'm not sure if they got the four or the six-ounce lobster meat sandwich, but there appeared to be plenty of lobster on both sandwiches. This sandwich also came with a side of chipotle crema, but I did not observe either of them using it to any great extent. The fries were crisp and hot. A very rich sandwich for these two.
My uncle had these good-looking Fish and Chips ($15) for his dinner this evening. At Hook and Anchor, they use Mahi for their fish and chips, which is a definite upgrade from the usual cod you get at most places. I was excited by the thick and crunchy batter used, as it looked delicious from across the table. No complaints about this meal from my uncle, who ate all of this at his usual leisurely pace. The fries were nicely seasoned. He also added a three-ounce side of coleslaw for an extra buck, which looked to be worth it for people that get excited by coleslaw.
As we were walking out the door of Hook and Anchor we all found it necessary to thank my aunt Hiroko for suggesting this restaurant. I think we were all pleased with our meals this evening. This is another great option for a fast-casual seafood restaurant, joining the ranks of Slapfish, California Fish Grill, Santa Monica Seafood, FishBonz, and Bear Flag Fish Co. I do look forward to coming back and trying more of their menu, as the fish and chips caught my eye, along with the Lobster Cajun Fries, their fish plates, and the numerous other specials offered. With food this good, it might make it easier for me to convert into a pescatarian. Definitely not going to happen, I just wanted to make sure you were still paying attention.
Out of five tattoos, (because one of the most popular tattoos that people get is an anchor), five being best to zero being worst, Hook and Anchor gets 3.5 tattoos.
For more information about Hook and Anchor, head to their website here: https://www.hooknanchor.com/
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