Hooked — Restaurant in Ocean City

Stopped in this past Monday for dinner. Hooked is one of favorite places to dine. Was seated promptly and the restaurant (bathrooms included) looked clean and refreshed with the refurbishment. I totally dig the vibe. We were served water. It was undrinkable. Definitely had a chemical (detergent?) taste to it. Like it wasn’t rinsed properly. Ordered a grapefruit crush and was brought an orange crush after a long wait. The bartender had maybe 4 guests at the bar and maybe 3-4 tables in the restaurant. Even the server apologized for the wait ( I didn’t complain) and said I thought you said orange because you were talkng about Vitamin C. I think both crushes have Vitamin C. Anyway, I said I’d be happy to keep it. She said no it’s ok I’m just going to throw it out. The grapefruit crush arrived. It was delicious and freshly squeezed and a good price for a tall drink. Not all restaurants offer freshly squeezed crushes in OC unfortunately.

I wanted to order the fried pickles I’ve seen on Hooked’s Instagram recently. They were not on the menu. Was told they were a special for a week. Also wanted a crab cake but was told crab is expensive now so they will only be running it as a special sometimes. Ended up ordering the fish and chips as usual. The third time I’ve had them here. And it still is the best fried cod I’ve ever had anywhere. Crisp without being greasy, the cod tender and flaky and doused with malt vinegar simply delicious. And you get 2 pieces. My dinner buddy ordered the airline chicken. It was presented well & he said it was good. But it was the smallest piece of chicken I’ve ever seen especially for the price. Think kiddie meal size. It looked like a baby pigeon piece. We had a good laugh when the plate was served. He wanted a burger but was told that it is only available at lunch. Funny thing is the table that sat down beside us was able to order a burger. It was a different server. Our server saw it being taken to the table and looked like please don’t say anything. We didn’t, but, obviously something is amiss when we can’t order a burger but someone else can. Especially when they serve & have the burgers in house for lunch.

Dessert was Key lime pie. The third time I’ve ordered it. It’s that good. Big enough to share and very authentic and tasty. The perfect combo of sweet and citrusy. The graham cracker crust is a little heavy on the end but otherwise a sweet ending to a good meal.

The manager on duty was not very hands on. He did “touch” our table or anyone else’s while there inquiring if we were happy with our meal etc. Maybe because it was a slow Monday? Who knows Common Grounds work philosophy. The server was friendly, very personable & a local. You can tell she likes it there. The bartender sounded a little “catty” overheard her telling a couple at the bar she didn’t like her guests that had just left. Haha I get it the service industry is rough. But professionalism should still be a service standard. One last comment is that one table is positioned at one of the corners of the bar. It was sat with a 4 top. And a couple was sitting at the corner of the bar. This made it impassable. And you had to go around the other way. Just a tip in case the fire marshal would have seen that. Even the servers had to go around.

I was a little disappointed with this visit as my previous visits were better. But the crush and fish and chips and dessert did not dissapoint. And I would liven up the place with music you can hear. You couldn’t hear what was playing. And please add some Maryland crab cakes or crab imperial to the menu.

Thank you for your time! Have a...

My wife, daughter, and I stopped by here for lunch on a Sunday afternoon on Christmas Eve 2023. Although Ocean City is fairly dead at this time of the year and several places are either outright closed for or have truncated hours, we were happy to find Hooked open. Once we were inside, we found the place busy perhaps reflecting its great reviews and the fact that most other places were closed on Christmas Eve. For myself, I had been attracted by the fact that the restaurant had half-price entrees on Sunday from 3 p.m. to close. Had that not been the case, we may not have come here as the place is pretty pricey.

In any event, my 4-year old daughter who loves calamari had an easy choice to make. My wife and I had many more options to choose from and of those we ordered the pecan crusted mahi and pan roasted scallops. Scallops can be a hit-or-a-miss; if you overdo them, they will taste rubbery and disappoint you and given the hefty price tag associated with the dish, I am often reluctant to order them. Here though, the scallops did not disappoint. They were sweet and cooked just about right. My wife wasn’t thrilled with her dish – the pecan crusted mahi – but she attributed that to not liking the flavor of the fish itself, as opposed to how it was cooked. I tasted it and found the crust excellent – worthy of being plated at fancy restaurants like the ones often shown on Food TV. The dish came with spiced farm carrots, a cauliflower whip and whisky gastrique that was simply a treat for the senses. My daughter (and her parents) liked the calamari enough that we ended up getting a second plate of it. In spite of these items being very good, the dish we enjoyed the most was the dessert. Although the online menu does not list the desserts, they have a few options to choose from and based on our server’s recommendation, we went with the terrine – a bar of almost molten dark rich chocolate next to a large scoop of coffee ice cream. That dessert was easily one of the best I have had in my life and truly counts as an exceptionally delightful dessert.

As far as service goes, it was nice. Our server was also working as the bartender and although she had a few tables to attend to in the main dining room area, she checked in us with periodically and was quick to take our additional orders (for example, for the second plate of calamari and the dessert). Every time she would come back to check in with us, she would make small talk with our daughter and complement her on how nicely her coloring was progressing – something that undoubtedly pleased the 4-year old.

All in all, while the restaurant is pricey, we would be happy to come back here for some exceptional food, especially if they have specials going on such as half-priced entrees. With those being on offer, this would be easily among our very favorite places to go to for a nice meal in...

Update: I originally reviewed this restaurant 2 years ago when I discovered it and have went back numerous times since then and I personally raved about it to those looking for a great meal in OC, but...I needed to update due to my last experience this past Thursday:

So, Off the Hook left me Shook...and sadly, not in a good way! I get out of my car to walk up to the restaurant, so happy to partake in the culinary delights I am about to savor and once I open the door and stand at the hostess station all that starts to fade as I stand there for about 5 minutes with no one coming over to assist me or even knowledge my presence, besides the one woman working the bar that I saw watching me walking through the window, as I walked up to the door! This had me puzzled...why look a customer up and down and not acknowledge them at all as to say, a hostess will be with you shortly or at least "Good evening, welcome to Hooked."

Unfortunately, this happened to me the last time I went and it made me hesitant about returning to dine there again, but I brushed it off and chalked it up to, "Well it is the summertime and they must have been too busy to notice right away" (that time I stood looking silly and unwanted for about 3 minutes).

Anyway, after that time I started not to go back again and instead eat at one of my other favorite eateries while in the OC area next time like Our Harvest or Matt's Fishcamp...but showed up on Thusday to give them another try and to enjoy my solo meal after working in VA and driving up and hour and a half to relax, enjoy great food and a good atmosphere with a great vibe to start my early weekend. This did not happen...after 5 minutes I was frustrated and tired of other diners starring from their tables and so I walked myself upstairs without a greeting, a party of, will you be dining alone, are there others in your party, do you prefer upstairs or downstairs...NOTHING!!!

I had decided if I got upstairs and got the same horrible treatment I was leaving and not returning. Heck I wouldn't even order food because of the "bad taste" that had been left in my mouth! Luckily the experience changed once my server Julia M. noticed me take my own seat. She was sitting at a table wrapping silverware I believe, but when she saw me she acknowledged me and was very hospitable, knowledgeable, fun, engaging and AWESOME...she set the tone for the rest of my time dining there and I ended up enjoying the recently renovated space, view and meal. Thank you Julia, you made my experience be what it should have been from the start and saved my early weekend...