Hook & Reel Cajun Seafood & Bar — Restaurant in West Orange

Went there the second day of opening so I know they're still working out the Kinks as far as service so I'll give you three and a half Stars. I consider myself a very good food critic and I will say most of the flavors are on point but I have some suggestions; I think it would profit a lot better and I hope they see my review and take my advice. As far as the bar ;I had the rude boy it was very good and they did well with the amount of liquor and I hope that never changes cuz when you order a drink you want it to be flavorful and yet give you a nice little buzz; so keep that up Hook & Real. Okay so here comes the food. I found it very flavorful. I got the butter garlic mild. Next time; I'll get the hot but it was delicious; however I feel the portions should be a little more. I picked my own boil where I could use as many entries as I wanted and I feel that for the price they should at least add one more snow crab cluster one more potato and for certain more corn. To put in one half of corn on the cob in a bag is ridiculous. when you can go to the supermarket and pay pennies for pounds of corn; so please Hook and Reel add more corn to the boil bags. The little entry Seafood flavored little chips that they put on the table for free they're okay but I have a suggestion you have garlic bread on your appetizer menu; maybe you give a bread basket to people coming in and sitting down. For we all know Red Lobster is famous for their biscuits but if you did this you would definitely take the lead; if not parallel to cuz the garlic bread is delicious. Put More crab meat on the crab fries instead of putting the sauce on it have a selection of sources that they put on the fries like a sriracha sauce or something because I didn't really care for the sweet Cajun sauce. Here are my two things I must stress; it came to two things. I got the shrimp heads on; I think they should cook a little longer because when you break off the head the row inside is bitter so that needs to cook more and lastly the crawfish. I know you boil all the seafood but with this particular shellfish it needs to be steamed because when boiled, it loses its flavor and it tastes Bland. I will see you again hook and reel and I hope you take the suggestions...

This was my second visit to the restaurant in West Orange, NJ and I was very disappointed with the service rendered. My boyfriend and I were seated promptly and were happy that the wait was not very long. Firstly, our waiter was nice but a bit inexperienced and unprofessional. He sat down between tables and proceed flirting with some of the young ladies while taking our order. We ordered from the menu, I ordered the fried fish basket and my boyfriend ordered the crab cake basket. We also ordered hush puppies. Our food came, and as couples of course we share our selections. We began eating our meals, and I starting eating the crab cake basket that he ordered, which turned out not to be crab cakes at all. It was a cold crabmeat roll. Unbeknownst to us as guests, we did not know how the dish was supposed to look, as there were no pictures on the menu. We informed the waiter and he informed the manager. It took some time for the manager to speak with us , and she instantly she presented us rude and defensive. She blamed us for the mix-up and told us that we ordered the crabmeat roll, which clearly is not on the menu. The waiter was clearly aware of his mistake although took no responsibility in the presence of his rude manager. The manager also told us that she would speak to the kitchen and offer us a discount, she never returned to speak to us again. The waiter also brought the remaining portion of the ”crabmeat roll” to our table, placed it next to my plate, and walked away.

Our first experience was great, unfortunately, as the establishment grows, there will need to be better selection and training of servers and managers. The professionalism we experienced was awful. We will not return to that location again. I share this in hopes that professional development is encompassed in staff retention practices. This is very important when working in public...

This place was amazing when it first opened, and since then the ball has dropped so far to the point that this business will NEVER get a cent from me or my family ever again. If you're going in person there's a chance you might have a good experience, but if you order online I wish you the best. Every time I have ordered food online whether that be for pick up or delivery I have received an unsatisfactory order. Today, I ordered the pick two seafood combo and ordered a 1/2 lb of snow crab and a 1/2 lb of head on shrimp I got the original cajun sauce as well. I received SIX shrimp and one small cluster of crab that didn't have meat in it. The sauce had so much oil that the entire package spilled out (the plastic was not secured neither was the foil). My friend ordered another boil with garlic butter and her food was oily as well and she didn't receive a sufficient amount. When we tried to call about this they never picked up. She called from a different number and asked if she could pick up a small tub of sauce and pay for it, and they said no. Prior to this experience when I called because our order (which had an order ticket of over $100) had items incorrect the woman on the phone, told me I was incorrect and she didn't believe our order was wrong. I had to text her a photo, and then her response was "oh....sorry". My sister ordered one of the baskets and said it was 4/5 stars, so if you still hesitant from this review I would suggest getting that. Overall, whether their management changed, or they have no more workers because of the restaurant has been affected poorly from COVID this establishment has changed for the worse. Save your money, and go to Costco, and make...