Kat's 9 Lives

As you all know, I love Newport Tan Cang Seafood in San Gabriel. On Thursday I went to check out the Newport Tan Cang Seafood in Santa Ana since I had a huge down time before my dinner at Kaori Sushi with friends. I debated on where to go because Veggie Girl needs a place where she can forage for food and I can hunt! lol O=9 It was pretty out of the way and located in a sketchy-ish area. The place was pretty deserted around 3:30PM, which is not a surprise. They didn't give us a lunch menu =*( so we had to order off the regular menu. The decor was a little bit dinky and just lots of white. It was your typical low-class Asian joint. They need to come out of the Dark Ages and start accepting credit cards! Warning! Cash Only! =*(
I debated for a while about what to order because my favorite thing is the Newport Special Lobster. They were $14.99 per lb. and the smallest starts around 4lbs! I was torn because I really wanted lobster but I also knew that I would be eating a full $50 dinner in a few hours... with the possibility of lobster... which I did get! ^_- In the end I forgo the delicious lobster and tried the Bò Lúc Lắc, which is the Vietnamese-French Style Beef. Normally I am a big fan because it should be tender chunks of Filet Mignon in a thick Black Pepper Soy Sauce. The flavor was decent but waaaay too congealed. It was a bit gunky and had too much baking soda flavor. Blech! For $12... I've definitely had better. The Lime they gave was also really dry so it was really hard to add the tangy citrus kick.
Veggie Girl decided to get the Bean Curd in Brown Sauce. This dish came out smelling really good and the sauce was flavorful. I even ate some Snow Peas! lol The Bean Curd was only alright to me because it was a bit overcooked and dry, but luckily the sauce made up for it. I am glad that Veggie Girl really liked it and the portion was pretty good. She ate a ton of rice with it ^_-. Unfortunately I was grossed out because I found a huge and LONG piece of lint embedded in the rice! >=O Geh! That really made me gag but I just smiled so that we can enjoy the meal.
At the end they gave us a Red Bean Dessert Soup. As soon as I saw the color, I knew I wouldn't like it so I didn't even bother to take a sip. BLECH! I hate Red Bean. Veggie Girl actually liked it first bite and then didn't afterwards. It's a free small dessert to end the meal so it's all good. The gigantic crabs in the background really caught Veggie Girl's eyes so we had to snap a photo! ^_- Imagine this big thing chasing after you and trying to eat you! lol Luckily we eat it! Mwahaha! O=9
All in all it does NOT hold a candle to the SG location. I would not recommend this place. The service was only so-so at best and they didn't even have a drink menu like the SG location. =*( There wasn't really much promise to make me want to go back there. Luckily I had some delicious Lobster Sashimi later that night! Thanks Gino! ^_-

Newport Tan Cang Seafood
4411 W 1st St
Santa Ana, CA 92703
(714) 531-5146