I Paid $97 for a Salad at Montauk Restaurant Duryea’s

Duryea’s began as a fish market in the ’20s. It became some version of the restaurant that is known and loved today in 1948, when Perry Duryea Jr. (the former owner Chip Duryea’s father) returned home from World War II, per an interview with Whalebone Magazine.

Now, it’s expanded from a plain fish market to two restaurants (one in Montauk, another in Orient Point), rentable cottages, and two beach clubs (Orient Point and the Riviera Maya in Mexico).

I, naively, thought that on a Monday in August, Duryea’s wouldn’t be crowded. I was wrong.

There’s no true indoor seating, just a couple of high-tops with no chairs. The deck is the place to be.

You can see a boat parked at the dock — at many restaurants on the eastern end of Long Island, you can pull right up to Duryea’s and hop off your boat for some fresh lobster.

And believe me, a lot of photos were being taken.

This sign proclaimed that “we are all famous here.” I bet some people would disagree.

It’s all part of the idea that this was once a casual place to hang out by the ocean, even if it’s come a long way since then.

Was I a little surprised that, with such high prices, you had to go up and place your order yourself? Sure, but it gave me an excuse to walk around.

It’s almost as if Duryea’s is trying to have it both ways by keeping the casual beachy vibes of the original store with a food window and bringing the elevated vibes of the Hamptons with its aesthetic and high prices.

There’s also a small market and a boutique attached to the main Duryea’s building.

I spotted lobsters, oysters, and clams in this cooler.

I’ll give it to them: This was huge. It easily fed two people, and probably could’ve fed at least four.

It contained lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, hard-boiled eggs, bacon bits, a creamy tarragon dressing, and, most importantly, giant hunks of lobster.

They didn’t throw in tiny chunks of lobster — the pieces were roughly the size of my palm.

Once you got past the top layer of lobster meat, this was essentially a huge bowl filled with lettuce.

I didn’t love the dressing either — I found it to be a bit too tangy.

I’d recommend sticking with the lobster roll, an old favorite. You also get a lot of lobster, but it’s roughly half the price. It also comes with homemade chips, which were delicious.

The fries were the perfect amount of crispy, and I prefer shoestring-style fries to almost any other. And, with just three people, a single basket was the perfect amount.

It was the perfect day to be sitting on the bay, drinking an ice-cold Diet Coke, and snacking on some lobster.

If you’re on a budget, I would probably recommend skipping Duryea’s, or at least keeping your order small. After the tip, our lunch for three people came out to $230.68.

Duryea’s did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider about my experience.

To put it simply: Montauk is expensive. However, there are places that are cheaper, especially if you want lobster. Bennett Shellfish, for example, is a local spot that sells two-for-one lobster rolls with a menu that changes daily.

But it’s not as scenic as Duryea’s — that’s your trade-off.

I would definitely come back, but I’d skip the $100 salad. But I’d definitely order a glass of rosé and a lobster roll, and take in the views.