Lure

This afternoon I surprised my mom for her birthday lunch at the new restaurant Lure in Camarillo. Lure is an upscale seafood restaurant situated just across the road from the Camarillo Outlets in the old Coco's building. Upon entry of the restaurant, I saw no resemblance to Coco's anywhere. The restaurant was modern with an East coast sea feel. There is a dining room that overlooks the crisp and clean kitchen area and is surrounded by windows, an oyster bar and another room housing a full bar. The bar room is separated from the main dining room so that you can neither see nor hear the TVs from most tables making the dining experience more intimate.

We were seated immediately at a U-booth. Normally I don't love those U-booths because the person on the curve ends up staring at the table across from them awkwardly. In this case though, the tables were spaced in such a way that the table didn't face any other table directly. Big plus!

We were offered drinks and bread immediately. The bread was warm and the butter was soft and was the perfect first impression. We ordered the Blue Point Oysters and Ahi ceviche to start. The ceviche came with restaurant-made tortilla chips that were warm. It was served in a margarita glass with a cabbage slaw filler. The oysters also had a great presentation and were very fresh. They were placed around a spicy red sauce on ice. The horseradish and lettuce rested on empty oyster shells.

We each ordered our own entrees in addition to the appetizer. I had the linguini & clam sauce. It wasn't as delicious as I expected after the amazing appetizers. I think the problem was that it was clam sauce--not a garlic wine sauce which I was expecting (despite the description that clearly stated clam sauce). I wish I had ordered the highly raved about ahi sandwich instead. My dad got the fish and chips. This seemed like it was a good deal for the price. It came with 3 huge pieces of battered fish. My mom ordered the grilled rockfish. The grilled fish relies on the actual fish flavor with just a little assistance of salt and oil. I was surprised by how little fish was actually served. It was countered with a relatively large serving of sweet potato fries (there are many choices of sides). Likely, the amount of fish served is the size one is actually supposed to eat, but it seemed small anyway.

If you are in Camarillo or the surrounding area looking for seafood, I recommend stopping off at Lure. By 1pm the dining room was crowded with locals but I didn't see anyone waiting for a table. I imagine as people discover this new upscale option it will fill up faster, so get in now while you still can!

Lure Fish House

259 W. Ventura Blvd
Camarillo, CA 93010

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