Local Ocean Seafoods — Restaurant in Newport

My family of 5 (Wife, 3 children and myself) looked forward to having dinner at Local Ocean Seafoods, after having a good, long/wonderful day exploring the beautiful coastal city of Newport. Anyhow, we had reservations and didn’t have to wait long at all for seating. The atmosphere was pretty descent, however the views while dining were spectacular. Our dinner order consisted of a “limited special” calamari, large order of coconut shrimp and large order of Dungeness crab cakes for starters. For our main course meals we had the Chinook Salmon Dinner “Grilled wild King Salmon, Roasted poblano pepper, Oregonzola cheese, pan-seared vegetables, linguini, tomato saffron sauce,” the Fishwives Stew “Crab, shrimp, scallops, mussels, clams and fin fish in garlic herb tomato broth. Comes with herb butter-toasted focaccia,” the Fish Tacos “Two tacos, breaded & fried rockfish, flour tortillas, grilled pinapple-cactus pico de gallo, al pastor sauce, cotija cheese, cilantro,” the Kids Fish & Chips “ Panko-breaded catch of the day, fries, tartar sauce, lemon” and we wanted some crab so we ordered a Whole Crab. The food presentation was pretty great, but that’s about where the good ended. All of the food was extremely bland, with the exception of the crab cakes and the grilled salmon. The salmon was pretty much in a soup with noodles and an assortment of vegetables. The tomato base for the soup was pretty awful, but the salmon had pretty good flavor and grilled very well. The fish tacos, the fish n chips, the coconut shrimp, the fishwives stew and the whole crab (which was very dry and tasted old) all were extremely bland and we just could not believe it. I did have a lemon drop martini, that I must say was very delicious and well presented. The waitress was polite and attentive. However, my family and I tried to eat as much of the food as we could, but we just couldn’t get passed how extremely bland the food was. The bill came to nearly $300 and I gotta say, we were not impressed, not pleased. Service was good, but overall the food was unpleasant. We didn’t want to make a fuss about the food, although I thought about speaking to a manager; so we just enjoyed the views and family time, went back to our hotel (Hallmark Resorts, Admiral Room) and ordered some takeout. I really don’t want to come across as negative, as the Local Ocean Seafood restaurant definitely has a lot of good going for them. I’m just not sure myself or my family would eat there again, but everyone deserves a second chance. I can’t say I would recommend dining there. I do feel they make very good drinks and their appetizers for the most part seem fairly well. So maybe next time Local...

Had dinner with 4 of us, two vegetarians and two seafood lovers. TLDR: Upstairs lounge area was very pleasant, and service was attentive, but not always on point, with some missteps. The vegetarian food was a hit. The seafood had more misses than hits. Had one outstanding dessert and another that was a trainwreck.

Ordered seasonal raw seafood trio, crab cakes, hoisin black cod, brazilian coconut seafood stew, mushroom fettucini, and ponzu udon. The round of cocktails we had before dinner ranged from solid (pink negroni) to very good (bear).

Vegetarian dishes were solid, but needed more noodles to be filling.

For the seafood trio, the cod component was VERY good (best savory bite of the evening), with a nice simple sauce that highlighted the fish. The tuna with citrus was fine. The salmon got lost in the avocado and the sauce, and it was upsetting not to be able to taste it.

The crab cakes had good flavor and crust on the outside, but the crab was shredded so much that the texture was completely lost, and it made me sad.

The seafood stew had a great flavor with big crab pieces on top, and nice vegetables, but the seafood components were overcooked. The fish in the stew was only slightly overcooked, but the scallop and shrimp were absolutely hammered.

The black cod was grilled absolutely perfectly, but there was so much sickly sweet hoisin with the noodles and vegetables that the fish was completely lost. The dish made no sense.

For dessert, we were told there was a pear blue cheese ice cream with balsamic topping, and we ordered it with a dessert wine. They brought out mango ice cream and apologized that it was the wrong one. We sent it back and ordered the chocolate taza dessert and one scoop of the mango. The chocolate taza was one of the best chocolate desserts I've ever had in the US. It went great with the sauterne dessert wine as well. Perfect balance of sweet/creamy/bitter. The mango ice cream was really really bad. It was chunky with big ice crystals in there and it had other strange textures and flavors as well.

The issues with the service besides the ice cream were recommendations toward the main dishes that we didn't care for, and the timing on the crab cakes, which should have come after the cold appetizers.

We expected more from a place that seems like they should know how to treat seafood, considering they are also a fish market, especially at the price point (nearly $400 after...

If I could give this place 6+ stars I would. Or even a Michelin star- hand it over!!

Looking through the reviews, you may see people complaining about the 20% automatic service charge. Ignore them. The service here is top tier from the fantastic waiters & bartenders to the kitchen staff. I was more than happy to have that 20% put on the bill and I decided to give a little more ontop just because they handled my nut allergy in the best way, I have never felt so comfortable in a restaurant. I love eating out. I travel and try food. But I know with an extreme nut allergy, there is always a risk. They have a solid system for allergies and were so sweet about it! I even ordered dessert, something I rarely do because of my allergy. It was AMAZING. I will be dreaming about this place for years to come. Too bad it's over 20 hours away from home. 😭

The location, gorgeous! We got to sit in their beautiful upper level space right next to the large windows filled with views of the bay. Perfect!

The food was to die for. Not only was it one of the best meals I've ever had, it was the best seafood I have ever had. I had the halibut overtop grilled peaches, mozzarella, and a poblano pepper. Man, I cannot express with words how insane the flavors were. Such a well thought out dish. The halibut was locally fished, and you could tell.

My friend had the coho salmon dish cooked medium rare. Delicious!

I ordered their marg cocktail, and highly recommend it. It had fresh grapefruit squeezed overtop and was beautifully executed.

My mom got their burger, which was pretty good. It could have used a bit more seasoning, but to be fair this is a seafood place. I only expect greatness from the seafood, but atleast non-seafood lovers still have a few options.

Lastly, their dessert was fantastic. I got the Taza De Crema Con Chocolate (I am not allergic to pistachios so I was excited to finally try a dessert with pistachios in it). It was heaven!

My friend got the peach whiskey cake, it was also excellent!

Overall, I love this place. It was a pricey splurge, but so very worth it!!

A note to Local Ocean: You guys are amazing thank you so much for your amazing service! I can tell you all are very proud of the service you provide, and you should be. I got myself a t-shirt and some pictures to remember the evening we spent in your beautiful restaurant. 💜 I hope to be...