Michael S.
Yelp
The Fish Farm at Amagansett owned and operated by Multi Aquaculture Systems is as special an experience as one could hope for when going to the eastern edge of the continent. The place, which is more of an ongoing event, can be found on the Cranberry Hole back road off Montauk Highway on the east end of town. Just go north and keep going until you see an a row of aging steel industrial buildings and an osprey nest. A carryout restaurant curiously called 'The Sea Slug Lounge' can be reached by parking and walking the short hardpacked driveway at the Fish Farm. It is a true, working farm, originally dedicated only to finfish, but now sporting Ushamwari ridgeback dogs, chickens, African and Emden geese, chickens, Philippine pheasants, regional feral cats, and 22 fish ponds containing blackfish, flounder, lobster, koi, striped bass, black fish, and other regional marine foodfish, including oysters and channeled whelks.
The setting is rustic, to say the least. The farm property head ends at the edge of Napeague Bay, which arguably offers some of the most beautiful scenery of the eastern archipelago in the country.
The carryout menu includes fresh, freshly prepared seafood comprising a number of dishes featuring the native fish and shellfish that are caught wild in the area or ranched, hatched or raised at the farm. You know it's fresh. You can taste it, as I have, including the spectacular swordfish chili (my favorite), and grilled, broiled, broiled battered or breaded versions of fish. Shellfish are also available. Scuttlebutt from the proprietors indicates they will soon be farming native shellfish a few thousand feet from the shore on a newly-acquired leased area in the Bay. They already are growing and selling striped bass they grow in net pens farther up Gardiners Bay to the north.
As with all seafood in the area, you always know that you are eating something seasonal, when it is available, except for the ocean grown fish brought to shore for the winter. The home-grown striped bass have been fantastic the few times I've eaten them, which is probably due to their being grown in the ocean instead of completely in onshore facilities like most hybrid versions available in supermarkets.
An eating area near the shore allows visitors a place to eat in the open, surrounded by wide vistas and an everpresent breeze.
The overall ambiance is rustic, rural, marine, and real, with flavors to satisfy. Overall, the best place to eat on the East End, and to get food to bring home or to the hotel. One final note: BYOB if you need it.