THE JOURNAL
The Lobster Roll. Photograph by Mr Sang Hoon Park, courtesy of The Lobster Roll
You don’t go to Long Island for Nordic-inspired tasting menus, new-school Taiwanese noodle shops or genre-bending natural wine bars. When you’re on Long Island, you eat seafood. And not aspirational, chef-y seafood. You slurp briny raw oysters and pick at clams with abandon, while trying to keep pace with a rapidly warming beer. You dip pieces of fried calamari into marinara and shrimp cocktail into spicy, horseradish-laden cocktail sauce. You stare longingly at the crispy, golden, griddled exterior of the bun holding your lobster meat, before polishing it off and contemplating another.
The best Hamptons restaurants embody these verities. They embrace simple, modestly prepared seafood, most likely served in baskets instead of on plates. What that means is that the food might be served from a small building on the side of the highway, a kitchen tucked into a fish market, or a new-school Montauk hotel, but any way you shake it, the stuff you want to be eating isn’t trying to be something that Long Island hasn’t always been: a place to enjoy local seafood. Here’s where to do just that.
The Lobster Roll
Lobster roll at The Lobster Roll. Photograph by Mr Sang Hoon Park, courtesy of The Lobster Roll
Some call it The Lobster Roll, but most call it “LUNCH”, thanks to the well-lit red, white, and blue sign saying as much on the roof. This is arguably the best-known seafood stand on Long Island and the best bet for a lobster roll, among an even mix of locals and tourists. Tourists tend to go for the lobster roll, but you’ll see folks in faded caps and not-so-tailored swim trunks (read: locals) sitting down with a shrimp roll. Either way, get some onion rings. Bonus: The Lobster Roll is right across the highway from The Clam Bar, so if you’re feeling ambitious, go for a back-to-back lunch. That’s what you’re supposed to do on vacation, right? Right.
Duryea’s Lobster Deck
Photograph by Mr Jason Penney, courtesy of Duryea’s
Duryea’s Lobster Deck is not trying to deceive you with its name. This restaurant serves lobster, and it also has a deck, which extends triumphantly into Fort Pond Bay. A bit more polished than its roadside neighbours, Duryea’s is the spot to really commit to the raw bar. And we don’t mean an order of two dozen oysters. We’re talking about a legitimate raw bar tower. Montauk Pearl oysters. Shrimp cocktail. Chilled lobster. Snow crab claw. Top and little neck clams. The whole damn thing. Show up with a group. Order a tower and some bubbles. And then maybe another tower. And then... maybe some more bubbles. Claim a spot on the deck while the sun’s up and stay far past the point when it dips beneath the water.
Morty’s Oyster Stand
Cioppino from Morty’s Oyster Stand. Photograph by Mr Noah Fecks, courtesy of Morty’s Oyster Stand
This new oyster joint took over the longtime Cyril’s Fish House location off of Montauk Highway and is opening for its first summer this year. As the name implies, this is going to be a hub for oysters and a much-needed breath of fresh air in the Long Island seafood scene. We’ll happily eat oysters and fried fish on repeat for the entirety of the summer. But a change in location from time to time is what keeps things interesting.
The Clam Bar at Napeague
Photograph courtesy of The Clam Bar
In an ideal scenario, you’d be pulling up to The Clam Bar in a 1971 Mercedes Benz 280 SL convertible. But however you are rolling up, this roadside stand is the spot to really lean into the top-down, wind-whipping, sun-shining, salt-in-the-air beach highway vibe. If you’re the perceptive type, you’ll realise clams are the business here. Raw, fried, or steamed, they all satisfy. But don’t feel obliged to take the namesake bivalve. Some fish and chips would be pretty damn good eaten off the hood of that convertible, too.
La Fondita
Quesadillas de Camarrones at La Fondita. Photograph by Mr Eric Striffler, courtesy of La Fondita
It would be a betrayal to talk about simple seafood and fail to mention the fish taco. La Fondita’s Baja-style fish taco – fried in a light, transcendently crispy batter and topped with crunchy, bright, shredded cabbage – is the only bit of the West Coast we want to see on Long Island. Order a few and hold court at one of the picnic tables beneath the strands of bistro lights in the tree-lined Amagansett yard. And if you need a break from all this seafood, the tacos de tinga – filled with shredded, gently-smoky braised chicken – do not disappoint. Also, some general life advice applicable to La Fondita and beyond: don’t stop after your first Victoria lager.
**lafondita.net **
Southold Fish Market
Courtesy of The Southold Fish Market
The North Fork’s best seafood market calls a nondescript brown building off 25 home. And while the building isn’t bursting with personality, the quality of the seafood sold and served at this half-restaurant, half-market is the only thing you really need to worry about. Grab scallops, lobsters, and fillets of flounder from the ice counter to take home for dinner. Or order a dozen oysters and a basket of fried clams to ferry out to a picnic table on the lawn. Any respectable personage would likely do both.
The Crow’s Nest
Gazpacho at The Crow’s Nest. Photograph courtesy of The Crow’s Nest
An oddity on Long Island, The Crow’s Nest is cool. And not in a beach bum, authentically weathered type of way. This Montauk inn is cool in a real, contemporary sense. You can drain a bottle of funky, naturally carbonated pét-nat with your Beausoleil oysters (as the name suggests, not from Long Island, but delicious nonetheless) and finish your meal with a glass of Amaro Nonino. In the cottages you’ll find indigo tie-dyed pillows, Smeg fridges, and neatly tiled bathrooms, which inspire a level of trust in the proprietor’s taste that justifies this suggestion: if you’re going to go for a fussier, batter-less seafood experience, the restaurant at The Crow’s Nest – serving dishes like chimichurri-drenched sea bass and local fluke crudo – is the place to do it.
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For more travel recommendations, go to MR PORTER’s Style Council