Ditch Plains is Chef Marc Murphy’s Montauk inspired oyster bar and fish shack located in the West Village and Upper West Side. Appealing to the mass of New Yorkers that flee NYC in the summer and head to the beach, it’s no surprise that Ditch Plains has become one of the West Village’s most popular bars, brunch spots, and group dining places. I went to Ditch this weekend for the first time and now I understand all the hype. Who wouldn’t want the ultimate summer meal and experience year round??…
As one of my friends put it, “you go to Ditch Plains for the lobster roll.” Yes the “roll” is an integral part to several of Ditch Plains most popular orders, but any of these orders are still incredible when you ask for them nobread. Burgers, specialty rolls, and more are served on top of a bed of french fries that are perfectly seasoned. These fries are great, but they are fried in a fryer alongside other breaded dishes and subject to cross contamiantion. They are also fried in soy oil, so if you are sensitive to soy I would skip the fries.
The raw oysters are gluten free; however, the baked ones are not. And for those of you who love tacos, the tacos are served on flour tortillas but corn tortillas are on-hand for the nobread crowd. Other #nobread options include shrimp cocktail, deviled eggs nofriedtopping, any of the salads, burgers/lobster roll nobread, seared salmon, grilled swordfish, roast chicken, grilled steak, braised pork shank. I highly recommend any of the salads, and adding on shrimp, salmon, bacon or chicken; these salads are large and were some of the best orders of the night.
Ditch Plains brings a bit of Montauk to NYC, and although several crowd favorites including the fried calamari, onion rings, and baked oysters are not gluten free, there are PLENTY of options for the nobread crowd. Awesome bar scene, too!