Rated 25 for food, 23 for decor, and 23 for service by the 2012 Zagat Restaurant Survey! Our review also included the following quotes - “Unbeatable water views” of the Mill Pond, especially at sunset on the terrace along with candlelight, “flowers and piano music” set a “romantic mood” at this Centerport “gem”. The steak and seafood, including “not to be missed” sushi is “top notch” - “every course is a delight” - and the “wonderful” servers are “efficient” and “knowledgeable”, so amid “lots of sophistication, you still feel at home.”
Mill Pond House brings something rare to this curve of Route 25A: very good food. The restaurant replaces the Mill Pond Inn, which for years proved that a desert could exist waterside.
"The porterhouse sizzled, the lump crab-meat cocktail sparkled and the creamy New York cheesecake satisfied. It was a topnotch steakhouse meal". -read article-
"Mill Pond House is full of drama when you first enter. Dimly lit, you walk through a draped doorway into the bar room where the live piano music is tranquil and inviting". - read article -
"There's an easy way to enjoy eating on Long Island. Just keep following chef David Intonato." - Peter M. Gianotti Newsday 8/31/2011
Intonato, whose cooking starred at Jamesport Manor Inn in 2009, now is executive chef at Mill Pond House. He has broadened and improved the steak-and-seafood, Italian-and-sushi restaurant's repertoire. You still can come here for all that. But Intonato energizes the specials and makes the veteran seem new again.
The waterside location has always has been part of the appeal here. The restaurant sits on a curve of Route 25A overlooking Mill Pond and, in the distance, Northport Bay. Dine inside or out. Enjoy summer's twilight. Intonato ensures you'll be back in autumn, too.
THE BEST
An opener of "burnt ends" elevates the idea by using filet mignon, while adding caramelized onions, wild mushrooms and barbecue sauce. You may not reach the level of ecstasy Calvin Trillin found at Arthur Bryant's in Kansas City, but this enriched version is very good. Lobster home fries takes a still-questionable concept and makes it work: tender lobster meat with caramelized onions, hot cherry peppers and Sriracha-sparked crème fraîche. KK Farm tomatoes boost an heirloom salad. Seared yellowfin tuna does the same for sake shuga maki, paired with avocado, salmon and ginger vinaigrette.
Standout main courses include a thick cut of splashingly fresh, roasted Montauk swordfish, capped with miso-wasabi aioli and panko bread crumbs; and terrific, buttery lobster stuffed with lump crabmeat and toasted bread crumbs -- a perfect version of a much-abused dish. Sweet corn puree boosts the plump, pan-seared diver scallops. Good strip steak, grilled pork chop, assorted sushi rolls; better "twice roasted" Crescent Farm duck. And have a banana split for dessert, with serious gelati.
THE REST
Standard baked clams oreganata, linguine with clam sauce, sauteed calamari, salads, rice pudding.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Room with a viewpoint.
Steakhouse With Water View - Joanne Starkey New York Times - October 19, 2003
And what a beauty he has created. The lively bar is still there, this time with an upright piano. It now boasts banquette seating along one wall. The décor in the dining room is but a subtle backdrop for the huge windows, which reveal water vistas and an inviting deck with umbrella tables.
The rest of the look runs to beige sponge-painted walls, large framed mirrors and arresting wall sconces. Even better views of the mill pond are available from a less obvious upstairs, twin dining room.
"Mill Pond’s menu offers something for everyone including steaks, seafood, and a raw bar, and seemingly does all this to perfection.“ - Dennis R. Chase - The Suffolk Lawyer April 2009
THE porterhouse sizzled, the lump crab-meat cocktail sparkled and the creamy New York cheesecake satisfied. It was a topnotch steakhouse meal. But the newly opened Mill Pond House in Centerport has something all the other big-beef contenders don't: spectacular water views.
For years, this 100-year-old building was home to the Mill Pond Inn, a popular local spot where patrons shared a convivial drink around the piano bar or had a meal (albeit with increasingly poor food) with a view. Earlier this year it was bought by Dean Philippus, who also owns the Piccolo Restaurant in Huntington, and Thomas Abraham, the president of Little Neck Development. Mr. Philippus runs the restaurant and Mr. Abraham was in charge of the renovation.