Hook & Reel Cajun Seafood & Bar — Restaurant in Union

I grabbed lunch at Hook & Reel in Union NJ on a Monday afternoon and it wasn't too packed which was perfect. I've never been to a seafood chain in New Jersey before so I was excited to try it out.

I have to say the entire staff here was amazing. Everyone was super friendly, really helpful with everything (menu selection, drink options, you name it). My hat goes off to everyone who works here.

Starting off with the appetizers and drinks, since we came here on a pretty warm day I didn’t try any of the cocktails because I just wanted a nice cold refreshing beer, which is what I ordered. The prices here for beers are pretty cheap (going based off of Manhattan prices).

Backtracking a bit, before your meal comes, instead of getting a basket of bread, you are given what is called “prawn chips”. These things were DELICIOUS. I’ve had shrimp chips before but these were so fresh and so light. I had to stop myself from eating them all up.

From my experience of eating at seafood boil spots, sharing an appetizer is the way to go if you do not want to fill up on food before your actual boil comes out. So bae and I shared the crab meat fries. I’m drooling just writing about this. Basically it’s a creamy crab flavored sauce with actual crab meat drizzled on top of piping-hot crispy french fries. If you come here definitely order this. You will not be disappointed.

Now that we’ve had time to look at the menu, I noticed it was pretty standard where you either “make your own seafood combo” or select a predesigned combo boil. I decided to get the “Mardi Gras” predesigned boil. This combo totaled $35 and included a ½ lb order of snow crab legs, 1 lobster tail (6oz), and ½ lb of head-off shrimp. The sauce I selected was the mild “hook and reel special blend” which includes garlic butter, dry, lemon pepper, original cajun and seasoned garlic butter all in one. It was a great sauce but I realized the mild option was extremely mild and I like a little spice with my seafood so heads up if you like spice go above the mild level here. The size of the boil was pretty small compared to the other places but the price seems to match the sizing of the food (some places server bigger portions for $40 and up).

The boils are presented to you in a bag as all other places. The waiter gave us the option of either keeping the seafood in the bag or using a plate, we went with keeping it in the bag mostly to dip the seafood in the leftover sauce. The shrimp was pretty good, the lobster tail could have been cooked a few minutes less but the portion was good. The crab legs were delicious but could have been cooked a tiny bit longer so it would be easier to get to the meat. We took some of the crab legs home and heated it in the oven, this made the meat basically fall out of the shell. Next time I go to this establishment, I’ll figure out how to suggest cooking the crab legs a bit longer. Other boil spots I’ve gone to cook the crab legs to perfection where you can easily crack the legs and access the meat.

Overall I had a wonderful experience at Hook and Reel and I’ll definitely be back as I hear there is a Queens location opening up later this year. I’m excited to make my own combo, eat those prawn chips as well as chow down on the crab fries.

I almost forgot about dessert, I was extremely full but there is always room for dessert. We shared a slice of red velvet cake and we devoured it. It was so moist, so rich,...

Save your money. Not a great first experience. Outdoor dining due to the Pandemic. Arrived at 3:15 pm. No wait time but seated directly in front of loud speakers. One greeter and one waitress. About 10 tables with groups of 3+. Received water with lemon and menus after 5 minutes. Placed order with waitress at 3:26 pm. Ordered fried calamari appetizer and $49 boil, which came with 2 clusters of snow crabs, shrimps with heads cut off, mussels, one corn cut in half, and 4 small red potatoes over seasoned garlic butter mild sauce. Appetizer arrived at 3:45 pm. Calamari was salted. Other tables that arrived after received their food first. Boil arrived at 4:12 pm and very greasy with too many chunks of garlic. No utensil to crack the crabs. Attempted to consume greasy bag for about 15 minutes and then began losing my appetite. Asked for more water, which came 15 mins later. Asked for a container with took 15 minutes more. Waited another 15 minutes for a check due to the waitress carrying 6 cardholders and dropping them and causing a mix up. Waitress kept apologizing but at that point I felt like a hostage. Kept looking at Red Lobster across the street and wondering why I didn't just go there.

Update from 2021: (now 3/2025) went to different locations between the years but somehow stopped in Union and today was horrible compared to 2021 with a server in named Sema. She does not like her job and made me skip my lunch. No water with lemon as I requested. Calamari was stale and greasy (not her fault but as a server, you’re the last quality check). She undermined me by telling me mild spicy is no spice. She overcharged me for the boil by $7 and when I disputed it, was told she couldn’t change it because that’s how she took the order. I asked to speak to a manager, she brought out another receipt with $7 removed. Couldn’t even enjoy the food with the aroma of cigar marijuana from the waitress every time she passed the table, let alone the unwelcoming service. She also yelled at my mother and I on the way out telling us to “know how to order next time!” I promise there wont be a next time from me or ANY generation of my dna after me. Disgusted to say the least. $68 down the drain because I ended up tossing my food. This union store in particular needs to shut down or rehire quality people who understand how to provide service. Do better if you like to...

Not sure why I haven't run across this chain before but I chose this location for a quick dinner after working at a nearby location. I got there at about 6 PM on a Tuesday and was almost the only person in the place. Not necessarily a good sign but given all the generally positive reviews I thought I'd at least give it a try. Good news is that a lot more people started coming in later so maybe just hit a strange lull.

I wasn't sure what to expect but I love New England boils so I went for the "Reel Catch" with snow crab legs/lobster, clams, and crawfish as my selection with Garlic Butter/Mild as my seasoning and spice level. And a Pepsi.

The boil is prepared in the kitchen in a big bag and the server will toss it a few times as it gets delivered to the table to mix up all the seasonings. Was an unexpected little show. Once you open up the bag you're treated to a wonderful aroma and a wealth of seafood mixed with some corn on the cob and potatoes.

The server will bring out some utensils which include some disposable gloves (very useful and much appreciated - I haven't seen this before), napkins, wet-naps, and a crab cracker if you need it. They don't have a bib but maybe it's something you can request. I just tried to be very careful while opening up the seafood and eating. There's a pail on the table to dispose of all the shells.

The garlic butter seasoning was great - I highly recommended it if you like that white wine/garlic/shallot flavor for steamed clams, but there is also a little bit of a cajun/chili oil type of base sauce. Mild had just a tiny bit of bite but you can order it much spicier according to taste.

The lobster tail needs to be opened up and contains a few bites of meat. The snow crab cluster was fresh with sweet crab meat mixed with the seasoning. Both were extremely good.

I really like clams and should have just doubled up on them instead of picking the crawfish. The clams are the smaller type but perfect for the boil and you get a pound of them. The crawfish are whole and take a fair amount of work to get at the small portion of meat in the tail. I'm not big on sucking on the heads so left quite a few on the plate when I was done.

Overall the meal was about $60 for one person but it was delicious and filling. The service was friendly and quick and I would gladly return again...