Live lobster staring from the behind the glass of an aquarium were our first hosts on the way in Monday as Laura and I tried out one of the newest restaurants in Old Town called, quite simply, Fish.

"They're cute," said Laura, quite the animal lover.

But don't get attached. They could be on your plate soon. Or that of the person eating at the next table over.

The fish theme was prevalent but delivered in class for the classy-casual dressed lunching crowd to the restaurant where the halibut, Pacific cod and Atlantic salmon are sold by the pound. And where the wine bottles are lined behind glass cleverly in all sorts of directions, just as fish might be on a fresh market on a wharf above the sea.

We opted to share an appetizer of fried oysters off the lunch menu ($7.95). It was Laura's first taste of an oyster.

What are they, she asked me.

At this, I asked myself, 'Did I ever really know?' After all, in my case, seafood liking came later in life.

Mollusks that sometimes make pearls. Living shell-like animals that attach themselves to rocks and other shells in the sea, open and close all their lives and, in girlspeak, sometimes make us jewelry out of grains of sand. Just think if a whole beach would just turn into pearls!

Back to the food.

I typically go for the halibut in a seafood setting. I observed on this fish by the pound menu above the bar area that the halibut was out.

All the better. Time to try something new.

Always one to take a long time over a new menu, the waiter cheerfully helped out saying the sesame seared ahi ($10.95) was one of his favorites. I went with his unsolicited but very welcome suggestion. And was glad I did. Given the choice between rice and mashed potato, I chose mashed potato. And given a choice between grilled vegetables and coleslaw, I chose the grilled vegetables. I ordered a Coke ($.85) with it.

Laura tried out the shrimp scampi ($8.95) with a Coke ($.85).

The appetizer came out as a dish of six bluepoint (named for Blue Point, Long Island (NY) near which beds of such oysters are located) oysters shucked, battered and fried and served with cocktail sauce and a slice of lemon on the side.

I squeezed the lemon over the oysters and Laura tried them for the first time.

The tangy taste beneath the fried breading appropriately prepared me for a lunch of seafood.

Rarely would I dive right into the ocean when trying something new especially when it comes to a rare cooked food, in this case ahi, Hawaiian for yellow fin tuna. You're talking about a reviewer who frequently sends steak back if it's not nearly charred.

Luckily, this was one occasion I fancied the rare even while the ahi, coated with sesame seeds and specifically seared rare, seemed soft enough to eat with a spoon if I had wanted.

"You don't need a knife, do you," Laura said as she saw the sesame-seed sprinkled filet on my plate seemingly fall into perfect bite-size portions upon the touch of my fork.

"No," I said uncertainly before my first bites.

The orange-ginger honeyglaze finish on the ahi made for a good experience with rarely seared fish, with its somewhat sweet taste adding to the soft flavor of the dish.

I dug into my mashed potatoes, which were a good side dish for lunch and grilled vegetables cut into perfect bite-size portions in all the onion, red pepper and squash.

Laura's shrimp scampi was baked with garlic and butter and served over linguini in a large porcelain bowl, with the shrimp decoratively placed. Laura ate heartily, saying it was delicious.

Our portions were large enough to take to-go boxes.

The service was excellent. Though it was lunchtime, our waiter nearly tempted me to try a cheesecake or chocolate mousse pie, even throwing in comments as to which desserts were favorites with crowds.

His suggestions were very appreciated. And yet to be tried as I want to return again in the future. A plus on my scorecard: "We are proud to support local business and serve Puffin Pastry, Maggie McCullough's bread and Blue Note coffee," states the menu.

Anna Maria Basquez is the arts and entertainment reporter at the Coloradoan. Reach her at 970-224-7847 or by email at AnnaBasquez@coloradoan.com.