Sheridan Says: The Clubhouse at Indian Island

By Sheridan Sansegundo

In response to a few callers who had been glad to read about places to have lunch in Riverhead when they were there - to buy a car or visit the Tanger mall or do jury duty or to fall on their knees at the D.M.V. and lash themselves with twigs while crying, "I'm a bad person, I deserve to be treated this way, punish me, punish me" - here is another.

Perhaps the very best thing about the Clubhouse at the Indian Island Golf Course is its idyllic setting, particularly since it is only a few minutes from downtown. Golfers tote their clubs over gentle slopes and under shade trees with the Peconic River winding past a few yards away. It is a gentle setting, and though I did hear one frustrated golfer swear, he did so very politely.

Yes, I know we have plenty of idyllic golf courses on the South Fork, but can Joe Public go and have lunch or dinner in their clubhouses? Well, there may be one, but it doesn't spring to mind. The Indian Island course is very easy to find: Turn right at the major intersection with traffic lights just before Riverhead and take the first right after you cross the river.

On Saturday, most of the golfers were having casual snacks in the friendly bar, which has a lot of beers on tap, but as we were five we were seated in the well-appointed dining room (cloth table napkins, good silverware, no fast food nastiness here). Our young waiter could have given tips on friendly and efficient service to many a more expensive joint.

The menu is conventional but with prices that you are not likely to find as you move farther east: a $5.95 burger and fries, soup or chili for $3.95, broiled salmon for $11.95, pasta primavera at $9.95, and ditto for a lobster roll.

Appetizers include chicken wings, fried calamari, baked clams, and pan-fried oysters. There is a good selection of salads, a dozen different sandwiches, and entrees ($8.95 to $11.95) that include liver and bacon, shrimp scampi, and broiled flounder.

I've had fried oysters many times, but this was the first time I had come across them sauteed in a lemon and butter sauce ($8.95). They were very good, as were the giant shrimp wrapped in bacon and seasoned with garlic and parsley.

The Caesar salad was crisp and perfectly fine. The fried calamari were refreshingly free of the usual heavy bread or batter coating but they were pretty darn chewy, the only real disappointment of the meal.

That $5.95 burger tasted just like the $12 burger I had the week before in the pricey Hamptons but frankly the fries were better, much better. The entree that impressed us most, however, was the very large sliced marinated steak sandwich, served on garlic bread with mozzarella cheese, that was tender, full of flavor, and a real bargain at $7.95.

No complaints about the fish and chips, either - good fresh fish, the lightest of bread coatings, and more of those excellent fries. And the main thing about the broiled salmon, which was good-sized, good quality, nicely seasoned with herbs and lemon, and cooked to the second, was that it made us wonder how the Clubhouse can charge $11.95 for what costs $20 and up elsewhere.

The desserts we tried were fine - a nice bakewell tart and a very light chocolate cake - not madly exciting but solidly good.

On the front of the menu the Clubhouse claims to be "Riverhead's Best Kept Secret." I'm inclined to agree with them.

The Clubhouse
Indian Island Golf Course
Riverside Drive and Route 105
Riverhead
727-0788
Open for lunch seven days.
Open for dinner Thursday
through Sunday, 4:30-9 p.m.
Sunday brunch.