250673 Sun Jul 01 14:26:00 -0700 2001 6 20 Tristate Region 0 1332320 I am going to unmask a sleeper in Montauk. It has only been open for about two years, and I want to make sure it stays open, because it is great!! The place is called Oyster Pond, and it is on the right side of Montauk Highway as you head into town (past the IGA store). The food is amazing! We started with this salad that had orange slices, carmelized nusts and a really good dressing (I am not a salad person, but this was the best salad I have ever had!). Then we got mussels steamed in a chardonay cream sauce (with lots of really good bread to sop up the sauce). Then, for entrees, we had macadamia crusted monkfish and a seafood stew over soba noodles. Both were really good. This is one of the best restaurants in Montauk, but it is unpretentious, quiet, there was jazz playing and the service was very friendly. Oh, did I mention that our entire meal was part of a two or three course price fixed special that cost only $19 or $25 (depending on the number of courses)? (you have to get there before 7:00p.m.) We drove by Harvest, which is a restaurant across the street that everyone goes to, and the lines were out the door. Granted, Harvest does have good food and a great view, but it is noisy, they don't always honor the reservations when it gets overbooked, and there is always too much food when ordering for two (it is family style). I highly recommend Oyster Pond - please keep my new favorite restaurant in business!! Sun Jul 01 14:26:00 -0700 2001 0 Lori 1 1332372 Sounds like a great find! Can you suggest a nice place to stay also? I've been yearning to go out to Montauk for a long weekend or so. I'm just fearing the traffic. Thu Jul 05 21:19:46 -0700 2001 1332320 0 Wendy L. 2 1332429 hey, just did a ton of research on this very question (though I can't do anything about the traffic). panoramic view motel on water $200/nt, says a 5 night min. but we were able to book a 2nt. weekend. white sands motel $550/3 nts. also on water lenhart cottages supposed to be nice probably a bit cheaper Gurney's supposed to be nice and fancier was all booked up when we called. good luck Tue Jul 10 15:44:05 -0700 2001 1332372 0 sharon 3 1332503 Sorry I didn't reply sooner, but if you check back, skip Gurneys - it has gotten run down over the last few years. Panoramic is nice, but it is a steep walk down to the beach. The traffic is a pain - we usually try to go out at night (after 8 p.m. or so) on a Thursday night, but that doesn't really work if you are going to check into a hotel. One thing you can do is take the "back" road from South Hampton through Sag Harbor to East Hampton. If it is bad traffic, it can save a lot of time, and is fairly scenic. Once you get into South Hampton (the road narrows to one lane), after a few traffic lights you will see a sign for Noyac/North Sea road/Sag Harbor. Make the left at the sign (there is a left hand turn light) and follow the signs for Noyac road. You will go for about 15 minutes or more, with lots of turns in the road. Towards the end you will past a very small shopping center on the left (only one or two stores) and a little past that you will see a turn-off on the left that looks like it is going between two bodies of water, and there is a small sign that reads "Sag Harbor" (the road is right past a restaurant called the Salty Dog or something like that). Make the left and follow the road past the beaches (which are really, really nice) until you get to a traffic circle. Follow the signs for Sag Harbor (it is a right turn, but you have to enter into the traffic circle to make the right), and you will go over a bridge and enter Sag Harbor. Pass the first intersection and follow the signs for Route 114 (you have to make a right turn after the first intersection onto Rte 114). Then just follow Route 114 until you get back to Route 27 (about 10 oe 15 minutes)(at the end there is a very sharp left curve in the road - almost a 90 degree turn). Make a left onto Route 27 (or if the traffic is really, really bad, make a right and make the next left and the next left, and that will put you back on 27) and continue on your way. The whole diversion takes a little more than half an hour or so with moving traffic, but the local roads can take twice that long. Good luck!! Wed Jul 25 20:54:22 -0700 2001 1332429 0 LoriP 2 1332505 Also, some other good restaurants in Montauk are Navy Road (the best place to see a sunset - it is on industrial road, and you definitely need to make a reservation, and it is not known for its seafood); Harvest, which is down the block from John's Drive In on Route 27 (Harvest is always booked up, but the outside tables are first come, first serve, and if you are there before 6 pm, you can get a table. It is hands down the best restaurant in Montauk,, but they serve family style, so it is a bit much for two); the inlet restaurant at Gossman's is usually good, and they added a really good sushi menu this year, but the regular Gossman's restaurant is overrated. If you want lobster, head for Duryeas near the train station (up the road that looks like it is falling apart) and you can eat outside on Duryea's Deck (it is also a great place to see the sunset - it is on Fort Pond Bay, the same as Navy Road, and it is BYOB). You can also get steamed lobsters to go from Duryea's. For dessert, you can go to the fudge shop which is in the circle in town on the side closest to the beach (just look for the lines at night and follow the people). They have great fudge and every candy you used to have as a kid (their ice cream is not as good as the ice cream at John's Drive In). If you like Indian food, there is a place in Amaganset called the Hampton Chutney Company located in the "square" (look for the sign that says "square", because it is not obvious from the main road) that makes these huge wraps called dosas, and they are really great. So, that ought to be a start, and at least take you through a weekend! Wed Jul 25 21:07:25 -0700 2001 1332372 0 LoriP 1 1332509 Just a bit of feed back: I printed out your post to give to friends who were just in Montauk for a week. They liked their meal okay at the Oyster Pond but also ate at Harvest where they felt the food was far, far better. Aside from these meals I think they consumed mass quantities of lobster everywhere they could.Thanks for the tip anyways! Thu Jul 26 15:01:30 -0700 2001 1332320 0 Heidi Claire 1 1345074 upon your three year old recommendations, we decided to go to Oyster Pond. We spent last weekend at the Ocean Resort Inn, which is right on the beach and just south of the "town" roundabout. Oyster Pond was about 2 blocks from our lovely Inn, which I highly recommend. We strolled by and realized that it was 6:15pm. Looking at the meny, the early bird ends at 6:30 so we hustled in, confirmed with the hostess whether the early bird was available, and sat down to one of the most pleasant meals we've had in a long time. price fixed meal was $22 for app. and entree., and does not include anything else. but a great steal. mussels marinara were incredibly fresh, plump, tender, juicy, and generous portion. bread was good for the dip, a foccaccia and some other bread . . . I had the "Oyster Pond" salad which apparently hasn't changed much . . . caramelized pecans not whole but ground, fresh orangs, a spicy creamy sauce, and fresh lettuce, extremely simple but really good . . the other app choice was I believe split pea soup. for entrees, flounder over mash w/ fava and tomato . . ended up being a supremely fried fillets of flounder over mash w/ crab meat . . a little bit too fry-ey but still delicious, I opted for veal milanese over a lovely lovely salad, this time the salad completely diff. from the app., tomatoes, arugula, extremely hearty and earthy and perfect partner to delicious hunk of veal. service was lovely, the sorbet was a bit too icey, but my apple tart, deconstructed somewhat, was delicious. casually dressed clientele but extremely professional staff and really really lovely. and also had casual gosman's, clam bar on the dock, generic fried clams and lobster roll salad was too cold and tasted bland and refrigerated, but steamers were absolutely amazing, huge, plump, and all the sea gulls were trying to eat our food! had a real sloppy herhey's from next door, strolled around the little gosman's village and had a nice lunch. mr. john's pancake house for breakfast on main street, really seemed like town centre, really pleasant, typical food but well prepared, and delightful staff as well, pancakes were huge, delicious, different . . . looked like everyone was enjoying their meal and it was packed! also ate at shagwongs of course, but only for lunch, perfect for llunch actually, real casual, and we were stuffed so the lunch portion was perfect. had bacon wrap monkfish, flounder francase (better than oyster pond, light egg batter like korean style pan friend fish), decent baked clams and calamari 3 ways (skip it). wanted to try so many things on the menu but no chance . . . nice place though, bar looked equally as tempting as the dining room. all in all, a seafood fest that we will repeat throughout the summer. again, recommend Ocean Resort Inn (Ginny is the proprietress), really new fittings and very close to all the good stuff. any recs. are welcome, as well as comments or additions to my observations. had a lovely weekend, next time will hit not lunch (lobster roll) but the place across montauk highway (CLAM BAR). any other must eats? Fri May 21 18:20:58 -0700 2004 1332320 0 bigjeff