Mastro's Ocean Club
8112 E. Coast Highway
Newport Beach, CA
Newport Coast Drive
949-376-6990
Mastro's Ocean Club is doing 475 reservations on the weekends, close to 300 on weeknights and, according to our waiter, there's never a slow night. Curiously for a seafood house, it's selling more steaks than fish, he says. Mastro's particular shtick is to make every one of those hundreds of customers feel like royalty. As you enter, two hosts swing open the doors. Drop a napkin, another appears. Waiters hover. Water is poured every few minutes whether you need it or not.
-- S. Irene Virbila
Times Restaurant Critic
Nov. 23, 2005
Hours: Sun.-Wed., 5-10:30 p.m.; Thu., 5-11 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., 5-11:30 p.m.
Venue Details
| Cuisine |
Seafood
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| Rating |
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| Ambience |
Sprawling fish house from Mastro's, the Arizona restaurant group best known for its steakhouse in Beverly Hills. The look is glitzy, about as understated as Vegas, with a crowded bar, several dining rooms with leather banquettes and widely spaced tables.
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| Best dishes |
Shrimp cocktail, Dungeness crab cocktail, oysters on the half shell, Arctic char oreganata, braised red snapper, wild salmon, sea salt and vinegar fries, mashed potatoes and lobster.
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| Best table |
One under the massive tree in the courtyard garden between the bar and dining room.
|
| Of Note |
Full bar. Valet, $3; also lot parking.
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| Prices |
Appetizers, $5.50-$26; main courses, $20-$40; desserts, $8-$12. Lobster is market price.
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| Service |
Snappy and pitched to make diners feel important.
|
| Wine list |
Safe and unadventurous. Corkage, $25 for 750 ml, $50 for 1.5 liter.
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