Lure Fishbar

We lived in the Mercer Hotel for 6 weeks, 6 years ago.  A new hot restaurant across the street had opened when we were there.  It was Canteen, on the corner of Mercer and Prince.  It was downstairs and very groovy.  Mod 60’s look in orange and browns with comfort food.  It was good but not great. 

Canteen closed and Lure Fishbar took its place.  I have tried to walk in before but the place was so packed, it wasn’t happening.  Last night, we tried again at an earlier hour and had no problems getting a seat at the bar. 

We started with some oysters at the bar.  The oysters were fantastic.  We had Kumamotos and Malpecs.  My two favorite oysters.  We also shared the Fishbar tasting for 2.  The new sushi originally concieved by David Pasternack, chef and part-owner of Esca.  Raw fish served with different seasonings that compliment the fish.  The fish at Lure was fresh and tasty but nothing "wowed" me. 

The artic char was cut in a medium sized cube topped with a trout roe and a creamy horseradish sauce.  The sauce overpowered the taste of the fish.  Most of them were like that, overpowered.  The scallop was served with cherry tomatoes, ginger and radishes.  This was the best one.  The flavors were light and enhanced the taste of the scallop as it should.  We did not have a main course so it is really hard to access the restaurant.

As a kid, I spent a fair amount of time at in ports.  My father is a sailor, loves boats.  My experiences, as I recall, were not as exciting as my fathers.  Truth be known, if I never get on a sailboat again in my life that would be fine with me.  I bring this up because the Lure is in the basement of a building with high street windows and the decor of a boat.  You really feel like you are in a boat when you are there.  A high end boat, obviously.  As we left, I said to Fred, I feel like we just left a harbor and honestly, I don’t want to return.  He agreed.