The Albright
| Address: | 258 Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica, CA 90401, USA |
| Phone: | +1 310-394-9683 |
| Site: | thealbright.com |
| Rating: | 4 |
| Working: | 12–9PM 12–9PM 12–9PM 12–9PM 12–9PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 5
CH
Chelsea Madren
New England Clam Chowder (served in a cup or sourdough bread bowl) is creamy, thick, and rich. The clam pieces are big and meaty. Its served piping hot and oh so good. Even on a hot day, you wont be able to stop eating it. Rating: 5/5 Oysters on the Half Shell are clean and fresh tasting. Fanny Bay oysters are slightly briny. If you want to bring out the sweetness, add the champagne mignonette. Kumamoto oysters are naturally sweet and creamy. They are best on their own or with the spicy relish for a refreshing flavor. Rating: 5/5 Poke is fresh diced raw ahi tuna with green onion, red onion, garlic, chile sauce, shoyu (soy sauce), sesame oil, and sesame seeds. The poke flavor is pretty authentic with shoyu, garlic, sesame oil and seeds. I would trade out the avocado and red onion for some ogo (seaweed) to add a bit of brininess and crunch-texture. The tuna is cut to the perfect size, not too small and not too big so the flavors penetrate the fish. Rating: 4/5 Fish & Chips are hand-battered Icelandic cod served with French fries and coleslaw. The batter is light and turns a perfect crispy golden brown. The fish inside is succulent and juicy. French fries are crispy and taste like kettle chips. The coleslaw is creamy, but needs something to kick up the flavor - maybe turn up the sweetness with pineapple or make more savory with salt and celery seed. Rating: 4.5/5 Shrimp & Chips are hand-battered black tiger shrimp served with French fries and coleslaw. The batter is light and turns a perfect crispy golden brown. The shrimp inside is perfectly cooked with a snap to it. It is sweet and delectable. Rating: 4.8/5 Whole Dungeness Crab (from saltwater tanks inside the restaurant) served with potato salad, corn on the cob, and drawn butter. This is one of the only places in California where the crab is served whole with the "miso" intact. The top shell of the Dungeness crab has a natural soup that contains the head fat (miso or tamale) and other goodies that you can spoon out or mix your crab meat in for a more intensified crab flavor. When it was served, I almost screamed in delight. The crab meat is so fresh that it just falls out of the shell without extensive picking. It is also really sweet and the drawn butter accentuates it. The corn on the cob is sweet and juicy. The potato salad is creamy but could use a little more herbs like dill or oregano to pair better with the seafood. Rating: 5/5 Whole Maine Lobster (from saltwater tanks inside the restaurant) served with potato salad, corn on the cob, and drawn butter. It is served whole preserving the "miso" inside. It is so fresh that the meat easily falls from the shell. The flavor is sweet and the drawn butter makes it even sweeter with each bite. We were lucky to get a female with a line of beautiful red roe. There is more meat than just the tail and claws. The body has meat too, at the base where the legs come out and inside the legs as well. If you split the legs at each joint, you can use your teeth and squeeze the meat out like tube of toothpaste. Growing up on seafood, I never leave any shells unpicked. Rating: 5/5 If you need something sweet to end your meal, dont forget to pick up a homemade chocolate chip cookie. Its a hefty cookie being slightly larger than you would make at home and about an inch thick. Since they leave them in a jar on the counter, the chocolate chips stay slightly gooey. When you bite into them, each morsel melts and coats the each bite of cookie. Rating: 5/5
JE
Jeffrey Yip
OVERPRICED BLAND FOOD! Rarely do I give 1 star for a review based on food. I mean, it is the most important thing over ambiance and service! But to be frank, the reviews of people giving this place 3 or more stars is beyond me. They must either come from a place that thinks Twinkies are gourmet heaven or their so-called foodie runs are done with the taste buds left home. The fare is completely bland and just plain lackluster for the price. $59 for 3 clam chowders, a fish and chips, and a lobster roll. Really. In short, all three were lackluster or simply not worth the money! Clam Chowder. BLAND. In the words of Robert Irvine, wheres the salt? The shattering of Cajun spice is sooo misleading. At first taste, you think its good, but once the spice runs out, the lack of flavor is overpowering. Whoever said this is better than Boudins is plain off. The best chowders I ever had were at the Oyster Bay Oyster Festival and some old restaurant near downtown Philly. Superb. But this place? About as special as school lunch on pizza day. Fish and Chips. Seriously, did we forget to season the batter again? Its like a serious epidemic here. Just even some salt and pepper would be nice. Im afraid the flour by itself didnt cut it. Even the fish tasted weird. Inedible. Even with the tartar. Lobster Roll. The only thing that didnt completely fail. Not a traditional mayo mix, which was good. But forgettable. And they actually skimped on the portions. Could never beat Old Port for about ten bucks more.
NA
Natalie Haviland
My Mother and I came out to Santa Monica pier on the evening of June 22, 2017, and being from Vancouver Canada we didnt know that it happened to be the first night of the summer Twilight Concerts hosted on the pier. With 60,000 people on the pier that night, you can try to imagine how insanely busy The Albright was, as their restaurant was right next to the stage area. Despite their surroundings being an overwhelming, chaotic mess, the staff members all continued to be polite and friendly. This positivity from the staff was carried on through to the end of the concert, even as the restaurant was trying to close. My Mother and I shared the Angus beef burger, and we were glad we did as the portion was very large. Burger was great, as well as the fries. The only complaint that we could come up with was that there were a select few staff members who seemed a bit overwhelmed with the situation (and understandably so), who looked right past us and walked the other way as we were seeking service. All in all, a very quaint and rustic style atmosphere within the casual eatery, and it was easy to tell that the managers are knowledgable and experienced at what they do. Great Job!
KO
Kosti Kamenica
2 mediocre burgers for 29 dollars.. This place is honestly a joke and In n out has better quality food than this. The fries were so dry and no salt, beyond bland even though they stated that they were seasoned. The wait for the food is roughly 20-25 minutes and customer service is terrible. The cashier gave me attitude for asking why it was 29 because the board had it posted for 12 dollars. Oh, lets not forget on the receipt they charged me tip even though down below it CLEARLY stated tip is NOT included. Im not opposed to tipping. In fact, I always tip based on service. However, if youre going to charge for a tip even though it says its not included on the receipt make sure the CUSTOMER is aware of the charge instead of trying to sneak it in. The only reason this isnt a 1-star was because of the burger and nothing else. Do yourself a favor and go somewhere else.
GL
Glenn A
This is a great seafood restaurant on the Santa Monica Pier. It is a little pricey but you can expect that because of the location and its seafood. As you walk into the restaurant, you will need place your order at the counter. The cashier will give you a number and the food will be brought to your table. I ordered the Mussels and fries for dinner. When they brought it to the table, I thought this wont be enough to fill me up. Oh boy I was wrong. They give enough Mussels to fill you up along with fries. The sauce with the Mussels is very tasty. I ended up dipping the fries in the sauce. The service is great here. They forgot to give us the calamari with our order so I had to go ask at the counter where it was. The manager apologized and gave us our calamari. A few minutes later he came to our table to ask if everything is fine with our food and service.
