Critic's Review
With these guys opening a new location it reminded me that I never got around to trying them out; a fried flounder was something I wanted to try. On a Sunny 90 degree day I headed north to the old Big City Grill location.
At 3p the place was dead empty save 1 dude waiting for takeout.
The rat pack murals have been painted over; there are a few seats available for eating in. This place has ZERO ambiance; it in the middle of a parking lot. Imagine if Anglins was in some random location inland. I didn't want to eat here so I ordered take out.
The lady manning the store was quite chatty, but I couldn't get any useful info about the new location. It took about 10 minutes to make the food; I had to stop off on the way home, so the food sat for about 1/2 hour.
When I opened the bag I was surprised by the size of the filet. At $18/lb in the supermarket, this is a decent cut for $12. A real flounder filet.
Unfortunately the bun was soggy and the flounder had no taste at all. Season fish when you cook it please. Even the breading had no taste. The cheap burger bun didn't do the fish justice; this should be on a sturdier bun or a roll.
The unripe tomato and shredded lettuce didn't enhance this sandwich. The lady bragged about the "home made" tartar sauce, but it seems a bit thin to me. Hellman's and pickle relish is better.
The fries were undercooked and also soggy; definitely not worth the calories. And the slaw was a weird color; too sweet for my taste.
Conclusion
Buoy Bites did a pretty good job of ruining what seems like a pretty good piece of fish. Seafood takeout doesn't hold up well, but the tasteless breading, weak tartar sauce and cheap bun gives me little interest in trying their new location.
Original Musings
Restauranteurs from Long Island have opened up a seafood shack in the old Big City Grill location. This place has had a bunch of failed venues; it's an odd location for this sort of venue. These folks run Bouy One restaurants in Riverhead and Westhampton; the Westhampton restaurant is in the old Terre Mar building that I used to drive by every day when I rented a house in the Hamptons in the 90s.
