Montauk Pioneer - August 7, 2009

Located on the Napeague Stretch of Montauk Highway heading east is a very recognizable and family-friendly place known as The Lobster Roll Restaurant. The local restaurant, which is celebrating 44 years of business this year, is about as charming a place as you can get and is owned by Andrea Terry.

I want to get right to it and explain that the food here is absolutely incredible. Andrea, who is extremely passionate about the quality of the food at her restaurant, knows what she is doing. I have to be honest, I went in expecting a manager of this restaurant, not the owner, to show me around. I don't think that I'm the only one who thought that this restaurant was a small seafood chain around the country with a big corporate office somewhere. But I learned quick that that is about as far away from the truth as you can get, and the Lobster Roll is as locally owned as you can get.

Andrea, with decades of experience, is there every day and is even in the kitchen baking new desserts that are unreal, but we'll get to that later.

The Lobster Roll is decorated with a throwback to the 60s, with music from that era playing in the restaurant. The place gives you a feeling of old-fashioned Americana, and you feel like you are in a Norman Rockwell as an oldie sings throughout and smiles from all the employees greet you as if they have known you for years. It really is just this all-round great place.

Do not be fooled into thinking that The Lobster Roll offers only a wonderful nostalgic thrill. Even the harshest critic would agree that the food here is out of this world. The menu is large, the max price of an entréée is only $25 and the menu offers food for the health-nut all the way down to the fried-fish-and-chips lover.

We started out with a Lobster seafood bisque that was just insane, I was extremely impressed with this dish. The bisque was perfect and filled up to the brim with lobster, shrimp and scallops and was a meal in itself. We then were delivered seafood nachos that were created by chef Paul DeAngelis and I highly recommend that you get this to share. The nachos are piled high with a seafood chili that once again impressed. You get more than you pay for at this restaurant when it comes to seafood.

We then had, of course, their famous Lobster Roll. I have been one of those guys that thought lobster rolls were overpriced, and in most places, they are. Many places that offer lobster rolls add diced shrimp or crab meat mixed in with the lobster salad, skimp on how much they put on the roll and then want $20. Here, however, the lobster meat is piled on high with the weight in your hand of the lobster roll heavy and the taste delicious. The lobster roll here is just that, 100 percent lobster, with no cheap fillers. A real stunner was the Puffer 'n' Chip entréée that we had. This light and delicious fish comes out on a plate that is like a fish and chips dish, and offers a large portion of fish that is deep fried and can be dipped. Again, lots of food, deliciously prepared and also a unique experience. Fabulous, fabulous, fabulous. I highly recommend this dish.

Andrea came over to our table to ask us how we were doing and the two of us were in restaurant bliss. I was so happy to see that this restaurant is run so well and is not a "tourist trap." Glancing down at the menu I noticed how family-friendly some of the prices were, with a kids menu that offers a shrimp dish for around $7 and even a Chowder and Crackers dish for just $5. If you're going on a budget there are also plenty of options such as the pub sandwiches for less than $10. In the mood for a steal? Lobster Roll has you covered with a hand cut, premium shell steak that Andrea takes pride in, as well as many various, non-fried dishes such as Tuna Steak, broiled shrimp and broiled scallops. Andrea also explained that they are now offering lobster roll sliders for just around $8 if you don't want to go for the full roll.

New to the menu are home-baked desserts that include cupcakes to die for that are very large, and come out warm from the oven with homemade icing. For $4.50, a large cupcake such as the Coconut Cream is an amazing value and an amazing dessert. The Frozen Key Lime pie is perfect and the Andrea's Obsession Chocolate Cake is like a chocolate dream. All desserts can be served aa la mode. I would come to this place again and it is one of my new favorite spots. If you have a family, this is an absolutely excellent place, as Andrea offers crayons and puzzles. For the grown ups, fear not, you can get yourself plenty of specialty drinks from the full bar.