Captain Ihab opens in Farmingdale
The seared red snapper at Captain Ihab in Farmingdale is served with basmati rice and a green vegetable. Credit: Newsday/Erica Marcus
Captain Ihab is a tiny new restaurant with a big concept — and one that’s rare on Long Island: Affordable seafood in a mostly Mediterranean style. The dinner menu offers five nice-sized servings of fish accompanied by rice and vegetables for under $30: Fillets of red snapper, sesame tuna, salmon stuffed flounder and a whole branzino — plus seafood skewers, shrimp scampi, stuffed shrimp, cioppino and linguine with clams.
For a bit more, you can enjoy Chilean sea bass ($42), steamed lobster ($39), stuffed lobster ($48) or surf and turf ($49) plus a few land-based dishes like filet mignon or chicken Parm. Starters ($12 to $25) include steamed mussels, fried or grilled calamari, crabcakes or grilled octopus. Prices are up to $10 less at lunch, where the menu also features fish and chips ($18) and lobster rolls ($25).
Owners Ihab, the chef, and Kebire Azizghaly feel strongly about their piscine focus. "We are seafood lovers," Ihab said. "And we see that this is a direction for many people looking to eat healthy. The Mediterranean diet is the best in the world." (It was pure luck when Kebire realized that "Ihab" was a playful nod to the most famous fish story in the English language.)
The chef comes by his Mediterranean bona fides naturally. A native of Egypt, he started working for Ayhan Hassan back in 1999 and, for many years, ran Ayhan’s Fish Kebab in Port Washington. It was in 2000, at Ayhan’s Mediterranean Marketplace, where Ihab met Kebire, then a customer but, eventually, a member of the Ayhan team who subsequently ran an office-building cafeteria in Garden City. In Farmingdale, she is in charge of the dining room.
The couple was drawn to the 900-square-foot space because, Ihab said, "We knew it would be easy to handle. I was with Ayhan when he had nine restaurants — I wanted something I could do on my own."
Captain Ihab’s mess deck accommodates 23 diners; a shaded main deck out back doubles capacity in nice weather.
There appears to be a game of musical chairs underway on the stretch of Main Street in Farmingdale north of Conklin Street, with Captain Ihab replacing Creations — Pizza, Yogurt & More; Tasting Room Kitchen + Cocktails succeeding The Vintage; High Tide Taco Bar poised to become Greek Table Fresh Mediterranean, and, going back to 2024 with Pho Express taking over the old Rolling Spring Roll.
Captain Ihab, 193 Main St., Farmingdale, 516-586-4444, captainihab.com. Open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday
