H2O Seafood & Sushi opens in East Islip
Hazelnut-Parmesan-crusted swordfish is a main course at H2O Seafood & Sushi in Smithtown. Credit: H2O Seafood & Sushi
One of Long Island’s best fish restaurants, H2O Seafood & Sushi of Smithtown, has spawned a sibling on the South Shore. (Say that three times fast.)
Main Street in East Islip is the site of the second H2O from the Bohlsen Restaurant Group, but it’s a location that has special meaning to the Bohlsen family: The restaurant it replaces, Beachtree Café, was the family’s first. John Bohlsen bought it in 1983 and over the next 30 years he and his sons Kurt and Michael opened Tellers, Verace and Pizza Parm in Islip, Monsoon in Babylon, H2O in Smithtown, Prime in Huntington and another Prime in Stamford, Connecticut.
Originally a classic seafood house, Smithtown’s H2O got a makeover in 2014 that expanded the sushi offerings to about half the menu. The restaurant earned 2 1/2 stars from Newsday and, for the last three years, a spot on our Top Seafood restaurants. H2O in East Islip has a similar menu, although executive chef Luis Polanco, a veteran of Tellers and Prime, may change things up as he gets his South Shore sea legs.
Seafood classics at H2O include New England clam chowder ($9), jumbo lump crabcakes with Creole mayo ($18), moules frites ($16), miso-glazed salmon ($28), hazelnut-Parmesan-crusted swordfish ($36) and lobster thermidor ($42). On the sushi side: H2O roll with shrimp tempura, cucumber and spicy tuna ($17), fried-potato wrapped tornado roll with king crab, avocado and cucumber ($17) and Japanese cowboy roll with wagyu beef, lobster and avocado ($29).
For now, hours are Tuesdays to Thursdays 4 to 10 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays 4 to 11 p.m. and Sundays 3 to 9 p.m. Monday hours, lunch and brunch should begin early in the new year.
166 W. Main St., East Islip, 631-277-4800, h2oseafoodsushi.com
