Luff's Fish House — Restaurant in Boca Raton

Luff's Fish House is **ing amazing! Every single dish was literally perfect.

We started with the Jalapeno cornbread and the shrimp cooked in oil. Both were perfectly cooked and seasoned. You could tell the shrimp were very fresh and cooked to a gorgeous point. The did come out properly hot but not scalding. Odd flex but the butter that came on the side with the baguette was top notch and delicious.

Our entrees were:

1. The special of the day triple tail fish cooked a la plancha with carrots and green beans. The fish was cooked to perfection. The other texture was perfect with seasoning and texture and the inside was soft and perfectly moist. The seasonings were simply divine in accentuating the beautiful flavor of the fish and not overwhelming or detracting from the flavor. (This diner LOVES red snapper and felt that if you like Mahi or Red Snapper the Triple Tail was a great new fish to try.) The carrots were cooked in a way the reminded us of Alice Waters method they are soft yet maintain texture for chewing and they are subtly flavored but the flavor of the carrot comes through as well. It was nice to have the green beans flavored differently so there was an array of textures and flavors with the meal. The green beans were sauteed with onions and had a lovely flavor and crunch. Last but not least, the lemon caper sauce Chef's Kiss it was literal perfection! The lemon, caper and creaminess were married in the most perfect manner. Lemon/Caper sauces and items can be a bit offensive too far on either side of the seasoning but this sauce should be bottled and sold! I am not even a big sauce person and I sweat I could have just bathed in this it was so delicious!

2. The Mahi Reuben. (This diner is more of a meat eater and not frequent fish eater for reference.) They loved the Reuben. The bread was great and appropriately on a dark rye which was exactly how they prefer their reubens. The mahi, seasoning and sauerkraut together brought a new spin into a very classic dish.

For dessert:

1. Our gluten free diner relished in a root beer float that somehow was just as perfect as everything else! The first few sips pulled them back to happy childhood memories sipping root beer floats with their grandfather. It was a very happy food and memory. It is nice to find dishes that bring back memories of those no longer with us. The ice cream and root be are just exactly as one wants but rarely finds. The float came out looking exactly how a float should with the little bit of foam at the top and and the ice cream/root beer slowly blending.

2. Our choco-holic had the Oreo Cheesecake. The crust is a proper cheesecake thick oreo and we believe graham cracker crust the cheesecake is not manhattan height. But what we found most interesting and well thought out was the cheesecake itself had chocolate mixed in (a lot of place just place the flavor on top). This cheesecake really through and through brough the chocolate and Oreo lover vibes to 100! The top had a chocolate maybe ganache finish which was perfectly on point for the dessert. It is definitely enough to share!

Allergy review: One diner in out party has a gluten and mollusk allergy. They felt quite comfortable dining at Luff's because the manager or owner came out to check in with the allergy before the meal was served. They advised the person in our party who ordered the triple tail (special of the day), that the side of potatoes were in fact cooked oil which could not be guaranteed to not have had scallops in it. They offered to plate with more of the original sides of carrots and green beans. The person in our party was very happy with the outcome and proper steps were taken by the restaurant for the level of allergy. (It is an uncomfortable reaction allergy and not anaphylactic one.)

This is one of the rare meals in life I finished where there was not a SINGLE thing I would have preferred or done differently. Luff's knocked it out of the park and we can not...

Do yourself a favor and ignore the positive reviews!!! They make no sense as the food is awful and ridiculously expensive. The outdoor dining space must trick everyone. Here's the breakdown: Soft Drink: $5 iced tea Sauvignon Blanc: $14 for marginal house wine Corn Bread - $8 for two small cold flavorless squares Clam Chowder - $12 for a small bowl with thin broth, ok at best Diver Scallops - $38 for three, yes three, absolutely flavorless, not even seasoned scallops over egg filled crab fried rice. One of us couldn't eat eggs and we asked if they could make one without them. They told us they could not which obviously meant they mass produce it, gross. Since it already came out, the best they could do was bring a bowl of jasmine rice. So in reality we paid nearly $40 for 3 scallops and white rice. Not even an offer to order something else. Grilled Salmon - $38 for a small portion of ok salmon. Came with a few potatoes and flavorless vegetables. Key Lime Pie - $14 for a large piece of key lime pie. This might be the only thing worth going there for. The atmosphere is loud and they want you to finish your meal as soon as possible. They literally have someone walking around tracking your progress and they couldn't bring the check fast enough. It was fine by us because we couldn't wait to put this restaurant in the rear view mirror. I hate to think what $160 would have got us at basically any other restaurant...

I don't leave many reviews. Something being "good" is not usually enough to stir me from my languor and to Google for this purpose.

Luff's is a whole heck of a lot more than that. It may be a relatively new establishment, but it absolutely lives up to the auspicious, classic building it's in by harkening back to a (maybe fictional) time before Boca was just a retreat for the extravagantly wealthy. I mean...it's always been that, somewhat, but Palmetto Park Road has kind of become terrifying in its multi-million dollar stucco-and-terracotta affairs that threaten to block out the hard Florida sun. I digress.

I had a dozen of the best oysters I've had outside of Maryland, with a killer red wine vinegar mignonette and horseradish, and the fried local catch bites, which happened to be Grouper today. Both were everything I want out of a seafood dinner: Fresh, well-presented, and delicious.

The vibe, as mentioned, is incomparable. Jonathan was a great server. The staff and regular patrons have a rapport that makes it easy to settle in and enjoy yourself.

Oh! And don't sleep on the Key Lime Pie (but maybe take your server's advice and put some of it in the to-go box when they offer it).

All-in-all, Luff's was the absolute highlight of my business trip down here and I think you'd be missing out if you didn't try it while you were nearby. Don't blanche at the cost; you're paying exactly...