Surf Lodge Review

As promised last week, we went to the Surf Lodge for dinner on our recent trip to Montauk to see if we sided with the haters or its fans. Well...we loved it! Even our SO, aka the Cranky Gourmand, enjoyed it—and he hates going anywhere entrees crack the $20 mark.

We got there at 7 on Monday and the adorable hostess offered to seat us inside right away (they don’t take ressies). We opted to wait for a table outside, despite her warning that it would be 40 minutes-ISH in a way that made it sound like it could easily be twice that. We weren’t starving and the idea of watching the sunset over the backdoor pond was too appealing to pass up.

Following the advice of a fellow patron, we ordered a “Summer something or other”-- a delicious (and deceptively strong) concoction of Snow Queen Vodka, chardonnay, muddled grapes, simple syrup and lime juice. Our bar tab of the cocktail plus a Corona was $18, which seems perfectly normal to us. We settled in our comfy, deep-backed chairs to watch nature do her thing—and people watch. It definitely has the most interesting crowd in town (read: no families or guys in muscle tees and cutoffs).

Our table wasn’t ready til about 9—so our wait time was close to two hours before we were seated. We had guessed with the hostess’s 40-ish minutes it would have been 90 minutes, but we were in vacation mindset and the extra time didn’t get to us. It helps that we were prepared to wait, and did we mention those Summer-something cocktails?

The food was delish. We wanted to order every salad and appetizer listed on the menu. The entrees didn’t sound quite as appealing. In the end we went with 2 salads (they use the term loosely), one appetizer and an entrée. Our fave was the salad of local roasted corn with nectarines and crab meat.

As for those who complained about the service, our question is: Does any place in Montauk have good service? To whit: We left our Amex at the check in desk of our hotel. We didn’t realize it until a few hours later. After a frantic search, we checked with the front desk. They had it waiting for us. A phone call from them to let us know it was there would have been nice!

Sadly for us, there were no celebs at the Surf Lodge and we didn’t have a chance to check out a room. We do want to point out to those that are thinking of going there for din din, that we went on a Monday. We could see how the place could go off on a Saturday night and potentially be obnoxious. If you ask us, this is just what Montauk needed!

That's Annie, above, after many of those summer cocktails posing with the hotel's vintage Land Rover shuttle. The hotel provides complimentary rides around town to guests.