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NEW YORK TIMES

A LA CARTE; Fulfilling a Fantasy While Eating Lobster
By RICHARD JAY SCHOLEM

Published: June 25, 2000

EATING lobster near the water, under blue skies, in a lovely landscaped garden, at diner-like prices, sounds like a fantasy, especially on Long Island.

It's a reality on an inlet of Reynolds Channel. There, diners savor summer at a charming seaside spot with a view of the Long Beach Bridge. They pay $12.95 for a superfresh Maine lobster with corn on the cob, coleslaw and potato chips or, better yet, $29.95 for three one-and-a-quarter pounders with two ears of corn, potato chips, coleslaw and pickles.

Five years ago, Jordan Lobster Farms, at 1 Pettit Place in Island Park (516-889-3314), a major distributor of Maine lobsters for a quarter of a century, opened a lobster bar.
It is nothing more than a counter under a jaunty red-and-white stripped awning where savvy seafood lovers place their orders for oysters, clams, shrimp, crab cakes, bisque, chowders and, of course, lobster. They then rough it in style, devouring these delicacies using cardboard plates and plastic utensils on sturdy steel picnic tables in a fastidiously maintained, vaguely Asian outdoor garden. Bordered by manicured shrubs, it is a place of wooden fish, flowers in boat-shaped boxes, bird houses, a miniature lighthouse, hanging plants, pagoda-like trellises, neatly trimmed trees enclosed by low wooden fences and, last month, when I made my first visit, vivid blooming azaleas and rhododendrons.

More important, the same fresh, top-of-the-line crustaceans, delivered to the area's luxurious restaurants and high-quality markets from Jordan's vast holding tanks, are also available at the lobster bar at almost wholesale prices. The straight-from-the-tanks-to-the-tables lobsters come with corn on the cob (too soft and water-logged), a load of chips and a thimble-size portion of slightly sweet coleslaw. Plastic lobster picks and extra melted butter are available at the counter.

Jordan's also serves the only Maine or New England lobster roll I have come across on Long Island that is worthy of the name. Although anemic, even laughable imitations abound, the $9.95 version here, on a soft, eggy hot dog-style bun, overloaded with mayonnaise-laced meat and celery, requires a fork to scoop up the excess lobster.
Hefty baked clams (four for $4.95, eight for $8.95) are piled high with a mix of the mollusks, tasty filler and enough pepper to make them interesting, though not spicy hot.

The same is true of an opulent lobster bisque (12 ounces for $3.95) thick with tiny bits of lobster meat and full of rich, creamy flavor as well as a velvety New England clam chowder ($2.95) laced with specks of clams. Manhattan clam chowder ($2.95), though not quite in its class, is spunky and satisfying as well. Jordan's Lobster Bar is also one of the few Island eateries where an eight-shrimp cocktail costs $6.95. (They are medium-size, tasty, firm fellows.)

Oysters and littleneck and cherrystone clams are every bit as fresh and fine as you would expect at a seaside spot. The $8.95 cold combo plate, with four oysters, four littlenecks and two shrimp, is a good raw bar sampler. Caesar salad, with shrimp ($5.95) or without ($3.95), passed muster too, although its cherry tomatoes and large, hard-to-manage lettuce leaves might turn off purists. (Its Ken's bottled dressing is quite respectable.)

A crispy, soft-shell crab sandwich special ($7.95), with lettuce and tomato on a hamburger bun, with tartar sauce on the side, is a winner. It was so large its claws protruded beyond the bread. Less successful was the Maryland crab-cake platter ($8.95), two soggy ovals, long on filler and short on flavor.

No matter what soft drink you order -- soda, iced tea, bottled water or somewhat watery lemonade -- it will cost just a dollar. It's also possible to bring your own wine, but don't expect corkscrews or glasses.

Jordan's Lobster Bar is one of the coolest restaurants around, literally and figuratively. On one of the days I visited it was 91 degrees on the North Shore, but 79 degrees at this waterfront eating place. On hot days regulars, some of them in swim suits, form lines at dusk, before the counter's 8 o'clock closing, and linger long after that, enjoying refreshing breezes and the kind of fresh, simple seafood that says summer.