Lunch at Hook

On Thursday or restaurant week, I ventured out to Georgetown with Erin and my friend Uche from work. I was a little nervous because as much as I adore Uche, she is one of the pickiest eaters I have bothered to stay friends with. (Which is really a testament to how cool she is because normally I can't be bothered with people who are overly picky or unadventurous. Eating out is one of my favorite things to do, and they just ruin it.) Hook is predominantly seafood too, which is not Uche's forte, but everything turned out pretty well despite all that could have gone wrong.


For appetizers I got the pesto calamari with mashed new potatoes, and Uche and Erin and got the Caledonia shrimp with heads on. The heads kind of grossed Uche out, but overall she liked her shrimp. Erin, on the other hand, was not at all grossed out about the head. She was all about sucking the head meat out of those suckers. It's not the prettiest picture, let me tell you, but there's something endearing about Erin throwing down like she's picking shrimp at a backyard BBQ when really she's at a trendy Georgetown restaurant.


For the main course Uche got the grass fed hamburger which she really like. (Thank goodness there was a non-seafood option!) I got the Mahi-Mahi with garlic yoghurt and caper berries. Sadly for me, I definitely got the worst of the meals. The fish was pretty dry. Without the yoghurt or the capers, it would have been incredibly bland. Erin got the Arctic Char which came in a tomato/zucchini ragout. It was awesome! It was so succulent and flavorful. A million times better prepared than my fish. Bonus points for amazing service, though, because as I was telling Erin how sucky my fish was in comparison, the waiter overheard me. He came over and politely interrupted our conversation to ask if he could bring me a new dish for lunch. I was so embarrassed because the meal wasn't bad enough that I wasn't going to eat it. In fact I had already eaten half of it, and I had no intention of complaining about it. The waiter insisted, though, that he would have a new meal prepared for me immediately if I wanted. Although, I declined, I did appreciate how concerned he was that I had a good experience.

We all got their house-made s'mores for dessert. The s'mores were homemade marshmallows and a ridiculously rich chocolate torte on a crunchy graham cracker cookie. Uche of course thought it was all too chocolately. (She would.) But in reality, it was definitely the best part of the meal. I was so glad I didn't have the kitchen recook my meal because I would have never had room in my tummy to lick every last crumb off my plate. The marshmallows were so fluffy and light. They perfectly balanced with the rich, dense torte.


I guess in the end liking 2 out of 3 of my choices wasn't too bad. Plus Uche managed to be reasonably happy with all of her food, which is infinitely better than the outcome of our last restaurant week meal together. Erin was just happy as lark the whole time. So overall Hook wasn't too shabby, and with such great service I'd definitely go back. Plus the view from the second floor is amazing. When I'm in the mood for some good Georgetown watching (And when am I not? It's the perfect mix of nerdy tourists and trendy DC-ites.), I will definitely stake out a spot on their 2nd floor right by the window, and I'll order the Arctic Char!