Duke's Huntington Beach — Restaurant in Huntington Beach

My wife and I had an outstanding dinner at Duke’s last night! Exceeded our expectations in every way. First of all, the service, from our server, Michael, was one of the best experiences ever. He really delivered unbeatable service. He had great knowledge of the menu, was extremely personable, guided us through all the options, was VERY flexible with any modifications we requested, and did it all with a smile. I mean, I felt the service was genuinely warm and welcoming. It’s not that often that a restaurant’s service is MEMORABLY good, but it sure was here.

Then there’s the food. WOW. Honestly, I was a little worried that because of its location, it would be a tourist trap with mediocre food and just one of the places with a great view and not much more. Nothing could be further from the truth. We were were on a Thursday night (and by the way, returning tomorrow night BECAUSE it was such a great experience) and they had some awesome surf and turf options, and we opted for New York Steak and Lobster Tail. But we substituted the scallion fried rice for the side dish. The steak was cooked perfectly to medium well, as we’d requested, was absolutely delicious, and the lobster tail was also excellent. Sometimes you get a skimpy little tail that isn’t even that tasty. Nope again, this was a good sized lobster tail, with succulent meat and the standard drawn butter. Another hit. Then there’s the scallion fried rice - wow, I wasn’t expecting it to be THAT good, but it really was. Absolutely delicious.

Oh, and we started with a shrimp cocktail appetizer, and not only were the shrimp a good size and very flavorful, but the slaw served aside the shrimp just blew me away, I LOVED it! And Michael noticed and brought us some additional slaw with the entrees. AND they recognized our special wedding anniversary with the signature awesome Hula Pie (which is not to be missed and must be shared).

Ambiance was great, of course, excellent view of the ocean and pier. Hawaiian theme really shone through without being over the top.

But as good as the food, service, and ambiance were, there were several additional details that I took notice of, which really pleased us. They didn’t charge us a split plate fee. They substituted the scallion fried rice (I know I mentioned that) for the regular side dish, but let’s start with the fact that the entrees actually came WITH a side dish in the first place. You know how many restaurants - even fancy high-end steakhouses - don’t include a side dish with your $80 steak (which obviously really irks me)? A lot. Not Duke’s, though. Also, every staff member I encountered whenever I left or returned to my table greeted me with a smile, and they thanked us on our way out. We left feeling very satisfied and very pleased, on a day where a lot of things went wrong for us prior to arrival at Duke’s, and Duke’s turned it all around with an amazing dining experience we’ll...

I took my +1 here on a Wednesday night for a nice dinner and we had a great time.

Valet parking is offered if you drive up to the front, but we pulled in from PCH just south of the restaurant and parked in a prepaid parking lot and saved some cash, and we walked up a flight of stairs and were right there anyway.

The inside of the restaurant is decorated like an upscale restaurant you'd find in Hawaii with tasteful foliage, bare wood, bamboo and classic Hawaiian decor. The windows were plentiful with beautiful views of the beach and the pier. We had a beautiful view of the sunset as we ate.

Our server was great and offered helpful suggestions on our dinner. We started with a couple drinks. They had a large beer and wine list but we opted for a couple tropical drinks. The Pineapple Express was a strong vodka that had been marinating in pineapple. The Laca Flow was a Pina Colada with strawberry. Both met our expectations and were delicious.

For an appetizer, we opted for the coconut shrimp, which was delicious. It was not too greasy and the dipping sauce was light and mildly sweet, which added to the flavor without overpowering it. The sweet pickle chip garnish complimented the shrimp.

My +1 ordered the prime rib, medium rare, dry-rubbed as suggested. It was a thick cut of beef that was incredibly tender, seasoned and cooked perfectly. It was wonderful.

I ordered the seafood hot pot which was described by the waiter as a cioppino but with a coconut broth instead of tomato soup. I was hoping for a zesty Thai tom kha style broth, but instead the coconut broth was bland and completely overwhelmed by the jasmine rice that practically absorbed it. To its credit the helping of seafood was generous, and even included a small lobster tail amongst the shrimp and other shellfish. However, I wouldn't order it again unless I was looking for something mild and easy on the stomach despite the variety of seafood.

For dessert we had to try the Hula pie. It was practically a hot fudge sundae with chopped macadamia nuts sprinkled on top and placed on an oreo cookie crust. It was delicious and we finished every bite.

Be forewarned, we ate well at an upscale restaurant with a wonderful view of the water, and the bill certainly reflected that. Overall we had a great time and 4.5 stars would be a more accurate score, though it misses the 5 for my entree...

We went to Duke's for Thanksgiving Dinner and it was somewhat of a disappointment. We had a reservation so our wait wasn't bad, about 10 minutes. We were taken to our table, which they had removed a chair from in order to accommodate my mother who is in a wheelchair. Our waiter came over promptly after sitting down, which gave us absolutely zero opportunity to look at the menu. He took our drink order and said he would be right back to run down the fish offered and take our order. We told him he didn't need to do that since I absolutely hate fish and he seemed to be thrown off and offended. His attitude completely changed and when he came back told us about the panko shrimp and another fish dish anyway. The rest of the night he would do his job but he spent as little time at our table as possible. There were several times I wanted to ask him for something when he dropped something off and by the time I opened my mouth to speak he was already gone and I was talking to no one. I had to ask another employee for some butter, which brings me around to the food. We ordered appetizers, calamari and sticky ribs. My brother had made a comment when ordering about it being octopus and the waiter made it a point to correct him and said 'to be correct it is squid ', but he did it in a manor that was very much like he was exasperated by our stupidity. He left us with our mouths agape thinking holy sh**! The appetizers were delicious and freshly cooked. We then ordered our dinner and all of us ordered their Thanksgiving dinner, which was turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, yams, vegetables and cranberry sauce. The food came out within minutes of being ordered and the amount of food on the plate was very generous. It's just too bad the food was mediocre. Everything was dry, I had to ask for butter in order to eat the side dishes. Once I put the butter on the side dishes and moistened them up they were tasty. We had asked for a separate bill for my alcoholic drinks because I wanted to be able to try multiple drinks and not have my mother paying for those since she was treating us to dinner and when the check came out was all on ONE check. All and all it was NOT a great holiday dinner experience. If you go here on a holiday be prepared to feel like they ate just trying to get you in and out as...