Trying the $97 lobster Cobb salad at Duryea's Lobster Deck in Montauk
Duryea's lobster Cobb salad at Duryea's Lobster Deck in Montauk. Credit: Newsday/Marie Elena Martinez
Would you pay $97 for a lobster Cobb salad? That’s the question of the summer if you frequent Montauk. Over the past month, social media food fans and foes have been posting their opinions about Duryea’s lobster Cobb salad’s staggering price.
For the uninitiated, Duryea’s is a Montauk institution, as much for the fresh lobsters as for the views. Down a gravel section of Tuthill Road, a bevy of luxury SUVs and Tesla hybrids loiter from 4 p.m. onward waiting for available parking. The whitewashed building, shop and adjacent pier overlooking Fort Pond offers one of the most breathtaking sunsets on the East End. Each evening, the skies erupt into cotton candy pink, burnt orange and cerulean blue sunsets, as the din at Duryea's heats up. Slowly, tables are seated, and swaths of white linen, fancy flips-flops, and wide-brimmed straw hats fill in the open spaces. On nearly every table? A heaping wooden salad bowl piled high with $97 worth of local ingredients ( The same dish ran $58 in 2019.)
The salad itself is made up of Cobb staples including baby gem lettuce, bacon, sharp Cheddar, hard-boiled eggs, diced avocado and heirloom cherry tomatoes. But this salad is topped with 8 ounces of fresh, steamed lobster meat tossed in a buttermilk tarragon dressing. Worth it?
For this humble reviewer? It delivers. Why, you ask? Happy to explain.
Many of Duryea’s dishes are family style, Cobb included. Quite large and very tasty, it easily serves three to four guests, more even, depending on what else is ordered. According to Duryea’s publicist, they source a good amount of the produce from Balsam Farms in Amagansett and others, which always comes at a premium. Plus, it’s no secret that lobster is a pricey protein. An 8-ounce portion of claws and knuckles can be retrieved from a 1.5 to 2- pound lobster, which currently runs about $18-20 per pound. If you do the math, it’s not nearly as outrageous as it seems. A third to nearly half the price only covers the actual lobster itself, with no accounting for other ingredients, overhead, service and other line items that restaurants take into account when they price their menus.
Last, and equally important: Location, location, location. Montauk is glam destination where everything comes at top dollar, and this particular spot delivers one of the most prized vantage points for an evening sunset dinner on the water. It's laid back, it's casual and it embodies summer in Montauk. A once-a-year indulgent, $97 lobster Cobb? Absolutely.
Duryea’s Lobster Deck, 65 Tuthill Rd., Montauk, 631-668-2410, duryeas.com. Open Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m., Friday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Note: Duryea’s doesn’t take reservations, so plan ahead. Waits can be grueling. The restaurant closes for 2023 season on Sept. 23.
A global freelancer who has checked her suitcase to raise her young daughter on her native Long Island, Marie Elena will always make time for good mezcal, even better tacos and killer conversation. Preferably, in a corner bar seat. She can be found on Instagram at @mariesworldeats.
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