Restaurant: World Seafood Restaurant [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
Location: 1412 S Garfield Ave, Alhambra, CA 91801 | +1 (626) 282-3888
Date: October 26, 2025
Cuisine: Chinese Dim Sum and Seafood
Rating: Sunday Gang Seafood Feast!
Sunday Chinese with the gang has become one of those reliable rituals—the kind of meal where the focus is less on chasing Michelin stars and more on enjoying good food, good wine, and good company. This time we landed at World Seafood Restaurant in Alhambra, a sprawling banquet-style spot on Garfield Avenue that’s been a fixture in the San Gabriel Valley’s Cantonese dining scene for years. With a name like World Seafood, you know exactly what you’re getting into: live tanks, lazy Susans, and the kind of seafood-forward Chinese cooking that defines the SGV experience.
We rolled in with a big crew—apparently there was a massive Halloween party happening in the main dining room, which added a festive backdrop to our Sunday feast. World Seafood is the kind of place where you come for quality ingredients cooked with straightforward Cantonese technique, and that’s exactly what we got.
The restaurant specializes in the kind of seafood-centric banquet cooking that Chinese restaurants do so well—live tanks stocked with crab, lobster, and geoduck, alongside classic Cantonese preparations of pork, chicken, and vegetables. It’s not fancy, but it doesn’t need to be. The focus is on freshness and proper execution.
We brought along a serious bottle to class things up: from my cellar, 2010 Morey-Blanc Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru—a stunning white Burgundy from one of the most prestigious vineyard sites in the Côte d’Or. This Chardonnay showed beautiful minerality, layered stone fruit, and that characteristic Grand Cru depth and complexity that makes great white Burgundy so compelling. It’s an interesting pairing with Chinese food, but the wine’s texture and acidity handled the rich seafood and sauces admirably.
Big gang at World Seafood, ready to tackle the feast while a huge Halloween party roared in the main room.
Cantonese Roast Suckling Pig—one of us insisted on it, and this was a solid version with that lacquered mahogany skin crackling into glassy shards, revealing milk-sweet meat beneath. That said, it’s a touch of an overrated dish in my book; the spectacle often exceeds the actual eating experience.
Then came the geoduck, prepared two ways.
Geoduck Sashimi—nice version, the clam sliced thin and translucent, showing that characteristic snap and sweet brininess.
Soy sauce for dipping.
Fried Geoduck Neck—the tougher portion given the crispy treatment, turning what could be rubbery into something crunchy and addictive.
The real star of the meal was the king crab, which was running as a super bargain that day.
King Crab Legs Steamed with Garlic—these were nice and VERY juicy, the garlic adding aromatic punch without overwhelming the sweet crab meat. At the price point, this was a steal.
Crab Body Ginger Scallion—tasty, but not as much meat as the legs. Still, the ginger-scallion preparation is classic Cantonese and always delivers on aromatics.
King Crab Fried Rice—because you can’t let all that precious crab go to waste. The kitchen studded the rice with generous chunks of crab, each grain glistening with wok hei.
Corn and Chicken Soup—soft and delicious, the kind of comfort-food soup that shows up at every good Cantonese banquet. Creamy, sweet from the corn, with tender shreds of chicken throughout.
Steamed Pork with Salty Egg—I like this dish, but it’s ugly. There’s no getting around the fact that steamed ground pork looks like what it is, but the combination of silky pork with the rich, crumbly salted egg yolk is deeply satisfying.
Tofu and Mushrooms—goopy but I really like the texture. The sauce clings to the silken tofu and earthy mushrooms in that particular way that only Cantonese sauces manage, creating this luxurious, slippery mouthfeel.
Fried Lo Mein with Beef—also a guilty pleasure. I love this dish when it’s good, and this one was. The noodles had that perfect char from the wok, the beef was tender, and everything came together with that addictive soy-based sauce and wok hei.
World Seafood delivered exactly what we came for: a solid Sunday Chinese feast with the gang, anchored by excellent seafood at bargain prices. The king crab was the clear winner—juicy, sweet, and prepared with classic Cantonese restraint that let the ingredient shine. The geoduck two-ways showed versatility, and while the suckling pig looked impressive, I still maintain it’s more showpiece than substance.
What I appreciate about places like World Seafood is their commitment to quality ingredients and straightforward technique. There’s no pretense here, no fusion flights of fancy—just fresh seafood from the tanks, classic Cantonese preparations, and the kind of banquet-style dining that’s meant to be shared with a big group. The corn soup, the tofu and mushrooms, the lo mein—these are comfort dishes done right, the kind of food that makes you understand why Sunday Chinese with friends has become a ritual worth repeating.
Is this revolutionary cuisine? No. But it doesn’t need to be. Sometimes the best meals are the ones where you’re passing dishes around the lazy Susan, arguing over the last piece of garlic king crab, and washing it all down with Grand Cru Burgundy (because why not?). For a Sunday afternoon in the SGV, surrounded by good people and good food, World Seafood hits the spot.
