Navy Beach

Labor Day weekend marks the end of the summer. Tis a sad time indeed. For the long weekend, Page Six and Forgot My Pants came to keep Cookie Monster and the Hungry Korean company.  They had both been to this great restaurant right on the water in Montauk called Navy Beach and they were impressed not only with the setting but the food. So Saturday night we all decided to pile into the car and head over there.  As soon as we rolled up to the restaurant we were greeted by a blue eyed and bronzed Adonis telling us where to park our car (Page Six exclaimed “Is he a model?!?”) and the night was off to a delicious start!

The restaurant has a very beachy feel with 50′s style women’s bathing suits encased in glass greeting you as you walk through the door. It’s very surf shack feeling and you can get a bottle (or drink) at the bar and wait outside by the water until they called your cell. We did just that. Grabbed a $25 bottle of house white and waited outside.

The four of us sat down. Page Six got her two favorites appetizers as a meal and Forgot My Pants, who’s not a huge fan of seafood, got a burger (which she loved – esp the fries).  Cookie Monster started with the crab cakes with the apple fennel slaw.

I didn’t ask him how he liked it but I found the crab cake a tad dry. Maybe I just got the edges which tend to be drier.

I myself got the scallop ceviche because there is nothing better (in my opinion) than fresh raw scallops.

Plump juicy sweet scallops were drizzed with basil oil, preserved lemon and capers. Sounds good right? It was. For the most part.  It was almost perfect. BUT they failed to mention that there was also CILANTRO in this dish. UGH. Way to ruin what could have been a perfect dish for the Hungry Korean. I managed to avoid most of the herb so still enjoyed the dish but seriously – why do restaurants not list cilantro in the ingredients if it’s included? Most ppl either HATE or LOVE the green so you really should forewarn diners. Do I really have to ask everytime I order a dish if cilantro is in it? :c

For main course, Cookie Monster had the salmon.  It was pan roasted with a tamarind glaze on a bed of garlic noodles. I was going to get this dish but decided to get the lobster roll the waitress raved about instead. Bad move. His dish was SO GOOD!

See that wonderfully cooked skin? Cooked to lovely crispiness….  The dish had an asian accent to it and the salmon was so fresh, so succulent and cooked a perfect rare. Delicious!

I had the butter poached lobster roll. I hate all claw meat lobster rolls and since the waitress said the entire lobster shows up on the roll, tail and all, (and the fact that it was butter poached), I decided to give it a whirl.

The whole lobster did show up but it was so boring! No mayo, no crunchy celery bits for texture…nothing. Literally poached lobster chopped up and placed on a roll. The roll wasn’t even buttered or grilled! The fries were a little too brown for my taste as well (although Forgot My Pants loved them so it’s a matter of opinion). I gave away bits to the table after I picked out the tail pieces and focused on what I believe to be the BEST dish on the table.

The truffled mac n cheese!!

Behold the glory. Cookie Monster got it as a side but I ended up eating 2/3 of it. SO delicious. Totally cheesy and raised to a whole new level with the truffle oil. Nice crust on top for contrast and I’m not kidding, I was chowing down. Heaven in a pot. I want more. Scraping the bottom good. Gotta go back before we leave the house at the end of the month. Yum.

So Navy Beach was pretty good. Just know what to order and you pretty much have the perfect summer restaurant. It’s on the beach, the restaurant has pretty cool, laid back patrons and the food is comfort food meets the beach. I would go definitely back. Thanks to Page Six and Forgot My Pants for the great rec!

Navy Beach, 16 Navy Road, Montauk, NY