East End Eats: Turtle Crossing

Turtle Crossing

221 Pantigo Road

East Hampton

324-7166

At present open for dinner Thursday through Monday and lunch Saturday and Sunday; also takeout.

     Having eaten before at Turtle Crossing (what a great name!) I knew that you can expect generous portions of high-calorie food. So my fellow diners and I had eaten very lightly on the day we went there.

     That was a mistake, because we arrived hungry and judgment-impaired - a state not helped by a round of very good margaritas.

     Turtle Crossing's exciting Southwestern menu turned out to be full of new dishes that begged to be tried, and although we restricted ourselves to three appetizers divided among five, we still over-ordered wildly. ("They have the best corn bread, we have to have some of that." "We can't eat Southwestern without trying the guacamole.")

Wide Range Of Options

     The prices range all over the map - you can eat cheaply or you can eat expensively, depending on what you order and whether you share dishes.

     Roughly, the appetizers range from $3.50 for spicy french fries to about $10 for chili-seared shrimp (which comes with guacamole, salsa, corn relish, greens, and tortillas). For an entree you could have a quarter chicken with cornbread and two side dishes for $7.90 or any one of a number of interesting wraps for a few dimes more, or you could have a steak for as much as $22.90.

     There are also plenty of salads, sandwiches, quesadillas, and a children's menu.

Giant Hush Puppies

     To start your meal, the crunchy blue corn oysters cannot be recommended too highly. They are served with a very interesting homemade tomato jam and a little spicy triangular sandwich of corn kernel cake filled with goat cheese. If you have a cooling romance, share a plate of these oysters - it's more than enough for two - and you'll leave like ravening beasts.

     We also tried the jalapeno cheddar cheese hush puppies ($5.90) and this dish, seriously, is enough for four. Golf ball-sized, crunchy, fun, and served with spicy garlic aioli, these should be called jalapeno cheddar cheese Saint Bernards.

     And of course we tried the corn bread (and it is indeed the best on the East End) and the guacamole (very simple, very good) and the salsa (excellent).

Woodsmoke And Wraps

     And somewhere along the line someone had sneaked in an order for two cobs of char-grilled corn, coated in parmesan cheese and chili powder. Try it - it's great.

     We could have stopped there - we'd certainly eaten enough. But another round of margaritas and we rallied for the next course.

     Turtle Crossing is known for its woodsmoked barbecue. The ribs ($16.50) were about as good as ribs get but the pulled pork ($13.90) beat them by a nose and was judged best entree of the evening.

     The wraps are based on everything from lobster or steak to chicken or curried vegetables or, believe it or not, Peking duck. We couldn't resist trying that. It was only $8.50 and the huge portion - bursting with duck, black beans, quinoa, fresh spinach, hot corn relish, scallions, and hoisin sauce - was deliciously interesting.

Notable Side Dishes

     Also good, though a wee bit tough, was the large helping of chicken-fried sirloin steak ($14.90). The only disappointment of the evening was the tuna burger, which was a bit dull and whose ginger mustard glaze was too cloying. But this may well have been in comparison to the other, more exciting, dishes.

     The side dishes are not just afterthoughts or plate decoration - the broccoli was just right, the baked beans were rich, the spicy french fries are a great idea, and the garlic mashed potatoes would have been fine if they had been hot and not lukewarm.

Proceed With Caution

     And can you believe we ordered a dessert? It's just that it sounded so good. The hazelnut praline cheesecake came beautifully presented with three strawberries cut like fans and pollocked with melted chocolate. It surpassed its description.

     Turtle Crossing is a funky, no-tablecloth place with funny signs and Southwesternish decor. To get to the dining room you pass through the take out food area and the bar, where you can also eat. The food is \ g-o-o-o-d.

     But remember, you'll be tempted to eat too much. Try to keep a tight curb on your greed or, as I did, you'll have a bitter encounter with the bathroom scale the next morning.