Off The Hook Surf Turf Smokery — Restaurant in Nanaimo

I’d like to share my experience with On The Hook and warn others. Let me start with the good part. The food is actually decent. We ordered fish and chips with salmon and halibut. The fries were excellent, and the fish was cooked well with just the right amount of batter. The flavors were rich and enjoyable.

Now, let’s move on to the bad, which completely ruined our overall impression of the place.

We decided to place an online order for pickup. We made our order at 5:21 PM and paid online. The website confirmed that the order was received and would be ready within 20–25 minutes. However, it also instructed us to wait for a confirmation email before heading out. Everything seemed fine.

About 20 minutes later, we arrived at the restaurant and waited in the car for another 10 minutes. By this point, 30 minutes had passed (already longer than the estimated time). My husband insisted I go inside to check on the status of our order, and thank goodness he did!

Turns out, no one had even seen our order. It only got located after I showed a screenshot with the order number and proof of payment. Fine, I thought, and was told to wait while they prepared it.

Now, take a guess: how long did I wait? 5 minutes? 10 minutes? 15 minutes? No. I waited 40 minutes! That’s right—40 minutes! And only after I demanded a refund did the kitchen suddenly manage to find my order. Within 5 minutes, it was ready for pickup. I’m absolutely certain that if I hadn’t asked for a refund, I would have waited another 30–40 minutes.

The staff avoided eye contact, acting as if I wasn’t there. They mumbled excuses about the kitchen being busy and said, “You know, it’s Sunday evening.” No, I don’t understand. How is it acceptable for a customer to wait 40 minutes for an order placed ahead of time?

The service was atrocious, and the entire experience ruined our evening. We had to cancel plans we had for later that night.

Be cautious when ordering online. Show up early and check on the status of your order every five minutes because the staff clearly doesn’t care enough to do...

Sadly not such a great dining experience yesterday. We’ve been here before and have had a lovely time, but last night was a real disappointment.

Three of us ordered the Cod fish n chips which were absolutely amazing. Unfortunately one of us ordered the Halibut fish n chips which was featured at 25% off for two pieces making it around $26 or so which we thought was a great deal. Why not get the better fish (so we thought)? My dad regrettably had to send it back because it was very overcooked, dry with rock hard batter (also something to note is that this man can eat almost ANYTHING so this says a lot about the meal). We were relieved to be getting a replacement. After a while when the new batch came to the table (the rest had by this time finished our meals) unfortunately it was still way overcooked in the same way, leaving it inedible. When the other waitress or manager came to our table to ask how the second batch was and to apologize, she was trying to be very understanding and sweet but unfortunately handled the situation poorly in our opinion. She told us that “they’ll do better next time and it will be 100%” and that the halibut was cut too thin so she was going to discuss it with the kitchen so that it wouldn’t happen again. (Too bad she didn’t make us aware of this after the first batch or else he would have switched it for the cod).

He didn’t want to make a bigger deal about it so he figured he would just pack it up and maybe one of the kids at home could pick at it since we got the impression that they weren’t going to compensate the fish in any way.

I’ve worked in many kitchens in the past and have never seen that anywhere. There’s usually some solution to make it right whether it’s a comped drink, meal or a discount on a future visit. It’s understandable that maybe some restaurants can’t afford to comp a whole meal but at the very least, a beer or some sort of way to make it right.

As much as we truly enjoyed our other meals and drinks, I don’t see us returning here. So...

Used to love this place when they first took over and replaced the old pub. Unfortunately their recent menu offerings and portion sizes and even customer service have greatly diminished. Whoever is handling these items is out-to-lunch and not at their own restaurant .

Steak sandwich with sauteed mushroom. Was a small piece of bland, seemingly unbuttered toast with a piece of steak on top and a tablespoon worth of onions. Didn't see a mushroom. I upgraded for extra price to yam fries and got a small bowl of fries. Everyone who chose regular fries got a nice portion.

Another time got a beef dip. Decent enough but the bowl of gravy was unusable as a dipping bowl. Brought it up to the server and she shrugged saying that's how they serve it. I didn't press the matter, she seemed disinterested.

Cauliflower bites appetizer. Burnt 1/4 head of cauliflower sauced up with a couple handful of tortilla chips scattered about. I thought I ordered cauliflower. Not a plate of chips. $18 for that.

One time had a party of 8. Was told we had a mandatory gratuity will be added to the bill. Okay, I understand this is becoming standard practice nowadays - the server was chatting and sitting down most the time. We had to flag her down for anything as she almost never approached on her own. I know this is a controversial subject but tipping is for good, attentive service right? I wouldn't not tip in this scenario but didn't feel a mandatory tip was right in this instance.

The only thing I can rely on now is the fact they are fully gluten free. My family can order whatever they are offering. If they weren't we'd be going elsewhere.

Sorry, I want to love this place but the inconsistency in food quantity and quality and their service is very...