"Best $25 I Ever Spent!" Will Not Be Spent At Georgica

We were pretty excited when we heard that Georgica was bringing back last years $25 prix-fixe menu Mondays, complete with $5 beers, $6 shots and $7 mixed drinks. This is because we'd never eaten at Georgica.

This Monday, we decided to check it out. And we wish we'd just stayed home with some ready-to-cook chicken from Citarella. Seriously.

We arrived around seven and, not surprisingly, the place was empty.  But it was a Monday in the Hamptons: we were expecting as much. The hostess seated us in the inside dining room where the Lord of the Rings soundtrack was playing. Our little area overlooked a patio dining area. The patio dining area overlooks a swamp.

The stale bread arrived. Our waiter was a nice enough guy (he filled our water competently and brought the food out quickly and such,) but he didn't really seem to know what was going on. For example, when I asked for a drinks list, he said they didn't have one. He said something along the lines of,

"Since we usually have bottle service here you can buy a bottle or I can get you a glass of stuff thats in bottles but I don't have a mixed drink menu or anything because we usually do bottle service so I have bottles of stuff."

We inquired about the $7 mixed drink special: the waiter knew nothing about this, but we later found it starts at 9 pm. Choosing to forgo a hefty cup o' Belvedere with my Monday evening dinner, I stuck with water.

The prix-fixe menu looked good enough: some seafood, some salads, some risotto. We asked our waiter what he would recommend, he told us that "everything will be good because our chef is the big guy from Hell's kitchen". He is referring to Big Boy, who runs the kitchen with fellow Hell's Kitchen alum, Forrest. One of us got the rock shrimp tempura to start (which was decent but oddly sweet), the mushroom risotto as an entree (very good though very rich)  and the trio of sorbets for dessert (comparable to what you might get out of a carton at Ciao Bella). The other forwent the prix-fixe menu and started with the trio of tuna tartar (which was not fresh) and the Lobster spaghetti (they were generous on the lobster, which is always a plus, but the sauce tasted a little too much like ketchup).

It was a disappointing evening but we learned our lesson. Won't be wasting our $25 there again!

[Photo via Curbed and GrubStreet]