eat for work

Day 4 (Part II) – Under the Sea

August 21, 2008

After a nice start to my Thursday morning at Balthazar, I sat down at my desk to get back into my work. There was a status meeting conference call, which lasted about 45 minutes, during which – while the phone was on mute – my co-workers and I talked about the next food event of the day. Lunch at Lure with some reps and a girl who used to work at the company. The reps were young and fun, there was good food, great conversation, and it was all in all a fantastic way to continue a delicious day.

Lure Fishbar

www.lurefishbar.com
142 Mercer Street
212.431.7676

Lure is situated half a flight below street level, under the Prada store in SoHo. The restaurant is decorated to resemble the inside of a luxurious yacht with high, round windows for portholes, a wood-finished interior, and a few booths like those you’d see in the cabins. Because of the themed decor, the general atmosphere of the restaurant was more relaxed, as if one was floating far out at sea instead of situated in the busiest area of SoHo. However, is wonderfully surprising to know that even in the dead center of a city that is surrounded by not-so-great fishing water, you can still get fresh and delicious raw fish.

Just a quick note – Six of us shared the Appetizers and a few also shared the desserts. So once again, no, I did not eat ALL of the following.

Appetizers:

• Raw Wild Fire Island Oysters with Cocktail Sauce – I love raw oysters, and these were just as delicious as any I’ve had before. I guess I’m not a proper oyster judge, so I’m not sure what to say except that they tasted fresh, and the cocktail sauce was delicious.
• Salmon Tartare with Creamy Horseradish, Salmon Roe and Dill – Difficult to share because of how it breaks, but tasty. Wasn’t my favorite though – it was a little bit tasteless to me and was missing some element to give it a spark.
• Tempura Shrimp with Spicy Sesame Mayo – This dish was served Asian style in a bowl, and somewhat resembled Sesame Chicken or General Tso’s Chicken. The sauce was creamy, but had a good little kick to it, and the shrimp was well fried in the tempura.
• Lobster Croutons with Golden Garlic, Chilis on Sourdough – Mini bites of lobster meat set atop tiny pieces of crisp sourdough bread. You can’t just eat one.
• Bread Basket – Though complimentary, obviously, I wanted to mention the bread because they adorably resembled little loaves of bread. They were rather delicious as well, but don’t fill yourself on it because the other appetizers are too good to pass up.

Favorite Appetizer: The Raw Oysters even though they take the least amount of cooking preparation, but it was the only dish that left me wanting more. And of course, I love oysters, so it is a biased opinion. Lobster Croutons would come in second.

Main Course:

• Sushi and Sashimi Combo which includes Four pieces of Sushi, Four Varieties of Sashimi and One Spicy Big Eye Tuna Roll – My first taste of New York sushi was a great experience. What I loved about the Sashimi* at Lure was the fact that they already added some Wasabi under the slices and over the rice – which is actually the proper Japanese way to serve it. There were about 5 or 6 different types of fish – the typical Salmon, Tuna, Yellowtail Tuna, and some other ones I forget now. The Spicy Tuna roll in particular, (which was the one roll of which I was able to choose), needs to be mentioned because the spicy tuna was wrapped with crispy tempura flakes, which gave the roll a more crisp texture and better taste. All in all, there was a good amount of fish, so you can probably think about ordering two appetizers and the combo if you’re on a date and don’t want to pass out from food coma after the meal.

*Just a quick fact for those of you may not know, Sushi is the raw fish that comes in the rolls with rice and seaweed wrapped around, and Sashimi are just straight up slices of raw fish, sometimes laid on top of a bed of rice.

Dessert:

• Mocha Crunch Torte – Light, just the right amount of mocha, not too sweet. I only had one bite of this, but I most likely would not have finished the whole thing since it was a good portioned dessert. Can definitely be shared by two.
• Assorted Ice Cream Sandwiches – There were four different types of ice cream sandwiches, and no they aren’t those generic ones you’d find at the supermarket. Four types of ice cream are sandwiched between what seemed to be homemade cookies, some of the sandwiches were sprinkled with chocolate chips or chocolate flakes. Bite-sized and fun. (I actually ended up wolfing a half sandwich down while walking out of the restaurant, hurrying back for a meeting. That was very classy.)
  

Favorite Dessert: Assorted Ice Cream Sandwiches for the ingenuity of turning something normally associated with the supermarket frozen foods aisle and turning it into a gourmet dessert.

Side Note: I would definitely recommend Lure if you’re interested in hosting a business lunch or dinner. The atmosphere is somewhat relaxed, yet not completely without structure. The server was extremely attentive, and Sashimi doesn’t leave pieces of spinach or parsley stuck in your teeth.

Price: The Sushi & Sashimi Combo Platter was priced at $40, which I figure is not exorbitant for New York City. The other appetizers were not ridiculous, and I think it was average in terms of pricing for seafood in the city.

Overall on a scale of 1-10: 9.0 because of my partiality towards fresh, melt-in-your-mouth sushi and desserts that make me smile.