Lure

The new trend in this town is fish shacks... Well, not really. But the two newest competing fish joints are not exactly starting a new war like the pizza scene a couple years ago. So, after an abysmal last visit at the Best New Restaurant of the Year the other night, I had to see what this place was up to these days. Fifth Group restos are not exactly on the top of my go to list (I had a very mediocre meal at SCK midtown recently) but this seafood joint has a little more going for it. Let's go take a look and see what they can do...

Fried Oyster Sliders, remoulade and watercress on a soft bun. Yeah, these were nice. Crunchy outside and briny inside. Keep it simple and it's a wonder how delicious they can be.

Fried Ipswich Clam Bellies with lemon. I had been fucked by so called "fried clam bellies" before in this town, so, anytime I see this on a menu I have to be cautious not to get my hopes up. Most of the time there are no bellies to be had and only strips... But this dish surprised me. It was pretty good and you can actually get a decent size belly or two that explodes in your mouth. It's a keeper.

Grilled Chicken Hearts with salsa verde. I was very surprised to see this on the menu. White people don't exactly knock down the doors for this offal (lord knows I have knocked down doors to Popeyes). I thought it was prepared decently but a couple other people had other opinions at the table. Chicken hearts can get overcooked real quick and they did a good job not to do that. The salsa verde seemed more like a chimichurri in taste and consistency. It's a try it once type of a dish.

Sauteed Red Grouper, curried creamed corn, yogurt and spicy lime pickle. Looks like shit but it tasted pretty good. The portion is a tad on the small size but it'll do. The curry didn't really come through in the corn but I liked the spicyness of that other sauce thinger.

Spicy Vercruz-Style Seafood Cocktail, clams, shrimp, mussels, squid, citrus and a shot of hennepin ale. This was special... With this beer/cocktail combination. So, you're suppose to pour the beer in it. Yeah, that's sounds strange but isn't a duck-billed, beaver-tailed, egg-laying mammal also? Just do it, shut up and eat it. It's an interesting combo of flavors but I liked it. All the seafood bits were poached off nicely and not rubbery. But it's still a one time dish for me.

Grilled Octopus & Pork Lettuce Wraps, mixed herbs and spicy vietnamese sauce. This was amusing. Seems like every resto in town has some type of Asian wrap thinger. This combo of octo and prok sounded guud to me and it was pretty tasty. The Vietnamese sauce is just plain old fish sauce aka nuoc cham... But it worked, somewhat.

Grilled Block Island Swordfish, quinoa, apricots, preserved mushrooms, carrot jus. Swordfish was cooked and seasoned well... It tasted alright. No complaints from me on this thing but no rave reviews either.

Braised Snapper, yellow wax beans, sweet & hot peppers, saffron-coconut broth. I didn't like how they cooked it with it curling on the sides... You gotta score it, bro. C'mon. But overall, the taste of it was acceptable but the saffron-coconut broth didn't taste anything like it.

Pan-Fried Sole Fillets, bread crumbs, capers, brown butter and sauteed spinach. This ain't gonna a win a beauty contest but it won with my taste buds. This is a good tasting piece of fish. Period. Everything tastes better with butter.

Jonah Crab Tagliatelle, saffron tomato sauce, basil, lemon, bread crumbs. Undercooked pasta, crab playing hide and seek, just weak overall. A definite one time try dish. Nevermore.

Fish & Chips, acadian redfish in lacy sourdough batter with fries and malt vinegar. The large girthy pieces of redfish were a plus but the crust was thin and limp. Did this fish live in a sink? Because the fish itself was incredibly bland, flavorless and mushy. How did this get passed the window? Sent it back. Just awful... But the fries were ok though.

Grilled North Carolina Mahi Mahi, summer salad and fresh goat cheese. This was the replacement dish for the fish & chips. While the mahi mahi was cooked decently, the salad was just way too acidic, it almost killed the dish but luckily the fish was propped up, so it really didn't soaked. The goat cheese did nothing for this dish... Some nice colorful waxy potatoes woulda been better.

Guava Coconut Bread Pudding. Mmm, guava.

 Rice Pudding Sundae. There is a good amount of rum in this... Yesss.

Sourdough Funnel Cake. Cute, steamy and crunchy... Just like at a carnival.

Citrus Tart. What did you just call me? Tis was tart alright, real tart.

I was kinda disappointed at their selection of fish for the night... No skate, halibut, tuna, scallop, langoustine, monkfish, et al. It coulda been a sourcing thing for that day but I would take this place over the Optimist anytime, anyday of the week... But that doesn't mean Lure doesn't have their share of problems. An order of the grilled ribeye (a $33 dish) requested medium rare came out almost well with a solid gray in the middle. The second try came out rare/blue (I actually don't mind this temp but it was ordered medium rare, so that's how it should be served). WTF? I have never seen this happen before that it took 3 tries to get an average sized piece of meat cooked medium rare. Compound the mess that was the fish & chips to this blunder of meat... And it was actually quite entertaining like some Three Stooges act. Never heard so many apologies in one night. The service and staff were great and did their best with all the fuck ups from the kitchen. But I guess I shouldn't assume a primarily seafood joint to know how to cook a steak. What was I thinking?

1.5 Stars.

1106 Crescent Avenue NE
Atlanta, GA 30309
(404) 817-3650
http://lure-atlanta.com/