Star Island Yacht Club Restaurant
The following article originally appeared in Dan's Papers.
The restaurant at the Star Island Yacht Club has three teriffic things going for it; a wonderful view of Montauk Bay, fresh locally caught seafood prepared in a casual atmosphere, and a glimpse for its patrons of the beautiful yachts that flide in and out of the harbor while you dine poolside.
On a lovely Saturday afternoon over perfect Bloody Mary's, peppery and well balanced, we started with shrimp poppers, which are lightly fried with Monterey Jack cheese that is hot and melty. Next, we took our waiters suggestion to try the jalapeno poppers, which were super-spicy and full of flavor. In addition to a full bar including beer, wine and frozen tropical drinks, the menu includes a casual selection of mostly seafood-based favorites. The beer-battered fish and chips was excellent, hot and crispy, and the grilled tuna that included a side of waffle fries was just the way fish this close to the docks should be - super fresh and simple. Fried calamari, homemade chili, broasted chicken and fried clam bellies rounded out the menu.
In addition to the beer-battered fish, the Yacht Club's outdoor restaurant offers a variation of this fish with shrimp. Hungry for salad? Caeser salads are offered with grilled tuna, shrimp and chicken. Colombo yogurt serve as dessert in various flavors. We were told that the restaurant gets much of its catch from friends who are sport fisherman. "We don't buy anything at the fish markets," she said. "We can see when the boats come in and we go over and buy from them directly."
When asked about the seasoning used in the grilled tuna dish, our waitress informed us that it was to secret. She did tell us, however, that the base of the marinade was an Italian dressing flavored with a variety of herbs. When we're open full time, we have jerk tuna, homemade codfish cakes and, lobster rolls in the summer. We always have Manhattan and New England chowder as far as lobster and soups go." Our waiter explained that the restaurant only uses fresh ingredients and never anything "out of a can."
The restaurant attracts a wide variety of visitors - boaters ashore for the day or a week in Montauk and day tourists as well as locals, who are looking for a casual but beautiful place to grab a cocktail, sit by the pool and gaze out at Montauk Bay. The friendly staff and extraordinary view, combined with the fresh seafood selections and great Bloody Marys made, makes the restaurant at the Star Island Yacht Club a definite go for any time during the season.
Star Deck Grill At Star Island Marina, Montauk
The following article originally appeared in the Montauk Pioneer.
Guide your car into the yacht club’s marina parking lot and you’re likely to find charter boats pulling into their slips as crowds gather to watch the day’s fish haul being cleaned on the docks. Star Island Yacht Club in Montauk, besides being a favorite tie up site for sports fisherman who go after everything in the water from striped bass to thresher sharks, also boasts a casual eatery right on the banks of the harbor. In fact, many of these fish end up on the menu at the Star Deck Grill, the Club’s own restaurant.
Fresh local tuna, a popular favorite with diners, is served grilled on a seeded bun and – if you wish – accompanied by an ice-cold draft beer. Alfresco dining is the rule at the Star Deck, there are no indoor tables.
You can sit at a booth under the awning or pick a table poolside where boaters come to cool off after a day or a week at sea. After being introduced to the Deck’s new chef, Karim Fard, we started off with a wonderful New England-style clam chowder, followed by the Grill’s famous tequila popper appetizer: a cheese and hot pepper finger-sized combination that’s deep fried and spicy.
Snacks such as spicy wings, shrimp poppers, shrimp cocktail and mozzarella sticks can be enjoyed with frozen drinks like strawberry margaritas, pina coladas or daiquiri-style drinks. The Star Deck Grill offers a full bar. In his heavily-accented French, Fard recommended the Fourth of July special that was being promoted last weekend – a generous amount of barbecue ribs and chicken served with an ear of corn.
The ribs were some of the best around, so tender that they fell right off the bone. Of course, both of these entrees are offered all summer. The Grill’s broasted chicken is carefully prepared in the kitchen, seared in a special pressure cooker that the chef says, "makes it crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside." Other entrees that are from the sea include fried shrimp, flounder and calamari.
For just a sandwich, a visitor to the restaurant can order turkey, ham and Swiss cheese, corned beef and rye or chicken salad, all freshly prepared. In the mood for a marinated, grilled, 10-ounce rib-eye steak?
They have it here, tender and full of flavor. For dessert, the Star Deck Grill offers several varieties of frozen soft-serve yogurt.
As we ordered another round of watermelon daiquiris and enjoyed the sight of the sun setting over the mammoth yachts tied up on Lake Montauk, we realized a simple fact: this has got to be what summer is all about. – Amy Patton |
