Positioned on the edge of Montauk Harbor, Gosman's Restaurant offers an oasis for families and groups of friends to relax and indulge in delicious food. It epitomizes the kind of classic, unfussy seafood restaurant visitors have come to associate with Montauk.
The three-story restaurant has an open-air patio on the second floor and rooftop dining on the third. There’s a dedicated clam bar and fish market where guests can come in and purchase the same great seafood the restaurant uses to take home. There’s also a walk-up window for those who don’t want a full sit-down meal, where you can order the restaurant’s generous lobster rolls and fried calamari to take away for an impromptu picnic by the water.
Arriving in the afternoon for a late lunch, we could see that the bright and airy dining room was still bustling. And after scanning the menu, it quickly became apparent why. There’s an ample amount of regional comfort food, from Atlantic cod fish and chips to baked stuffed clams, steamed lobster, and crab cakes. Our mouths were watering before the waiter even had a chance to tell us about the specials.
After ordering a glass of Italian Pinot Grigio and a Long Island Rosé (from Macari Vineyards, also on Long Island), we were ready to order. The starters boasted a wide array of seafood offerings — vibrant clams casino, crab cakes, ahi poke tuna, and bright salads. The breaded calamari was lightly fried, crispy, and especially delicious with the accompanying spicy tomato sauce. Meanwhile, the generous serving of plump PEI mussels in a white wine broth transported us to France.
Perhaps the most impressive thing about Gosman’s is its dedicated lobster menu, where the crustacean is served up five different ways. We decided on the stuffed and broiled 1½–pound lobster, and we weren’t disappointed. Bursting with a salty and herbaceous seafood stuffing, the juicy flecks of lobster arrived covered in breadcrumbs, alongside a creamy and fresh coleslaw, lemon, drawn butter, and perfectly crisp french fries.
The meat menu was brief, offering a steak, burger, and roasted lemon chicken, and we skipped over it to honor the restaurant's specialty. Seafood stuffed shrimp was sumptuous in a bed of rice and scampi sauce, and the shrimp and penne pasta looked too good to pass up. Hunks of spiced dry chorizo offered a welcome balance to our seafood-dominated meal, with sweet corn and a Cajun cream showcasing the shrimp pasta beautifully.
A few glasses of wine in and after a generous banquet of seafood, we were as stuffed as our lobster. As we discussed walking around the surrounding restaurants and shops and perhaps popping into the ice cream parlor close by, it was time to decide on dessert. But ice cream would have to wait as we ordered the decadent flourless chocolate cake with espresso ice cream and raspberry sauce, as well as a tiramisu topped with generous lashings of whipped cream — a delectable end to an excellent meal.
