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We all know the adage “all good things must come to an end.” But when it comes to Hook Restaurant we didn’t realize how quickly the “end” would arrive. Okay, maybe that’s a bit dramatic, but by now we’re all aware that the restaurant has hit a major bump in the road with the sudden departure of its founding chef, Barton Seaver as well as the recent departure of Chef Joshua Whigham.
It seems like only a little over a year ago we welcomed this delicious sustainable seafood restaurant into our bellies and now we’re not so sure we can stomach it anymore. After our recent revisit of the place to see how they were holding up, we were left wondering what the future holds for them and if they would ever be able to rebound back.
When we first visited Hook we were impressed with many of the appetizers, particularly the crudo selection and the grilled calamari. Unfortunately this time around the crudo left us disappointed. The former set-up would allow diners to choose any three types of eight types of seafood for $8 and each fish came sashimi style with an interesting topping. This time around there were only three types to choose from: oyster, uni (sea urchin) or Coho salmon. The diner chooses one type and it comes with three different toppings. We chose the Coho salmon, and rather than the elegant sashimi style, it came diced up. The toppings were so minuscule that the dish was virtually flavorless.
Image courtesy of Bsivad
On the other hand we decided to give the grilled calamari another try since we liked it so much last time. This dish came out exactly the same. The serving was a generous portion of smoky calamari, which was cooked so that it didn’t get that dreaded rubbery texture, served on top of potato salad. Other appetizers included the Caledonian shrimp with coleslaw and burrata salad. The mozzarella was fresh and gooey - just the way we like it. The shrimp, like the calamari, had a nice smokiness to it.
For main courses we decided on the halibut with smoked couscous, barramundi (an Australian fish similar to snapper as it was described) with sautéed greens, bluefish with zucchini bread pudding and sablefish. Three out of the four dishes came out correctly. We received the salmon instead of the sablefish and after going back and forth with the waiter and finally convincing him that we did not order the salmon he took it away. While we waited for the sablefish to come out, we began on the other dishes. The bluefish being the richest of all the dishes with its creamy texture and the heavier bread pudding was tasty. The halibut, while not quite as rich as the bluefish, was served over a flavorful layer of smoked couscous.
Contrasting those two items was the barramundi, which was served simply seared over some wilted greens. While the other two items were heavy with starch side dishes and lacking vegetables, there was no starch component at all on the barramundi and it seemed like it could have been balanced out a little better. After we finished the first three entrees, the sablefish finally came out. Although it had that delicious buttery texture to it, it did seem that it was slightly undercooked. We did inform the server that we didn’t mind waiting for it, but perhaps it was still rushed out of the kitchen to make up for the mistake.
We do have to admit that we were a little nervous that the quality of the food might have gone down since the restaurant is still without a permanent chef. While the food was executed well - proper seasoning, cooking temperatures, etc., - most of the dishes were carried over from the previous menus.
Obviously the kitchen was able to hold things together, which is much more than we can say for the front of the house. We endured extremely painful service. Rather than subjecting you to the same torture we can sum it up for you. We were immediately greeted by “You’re all 21, right?” (we had brought champagne to celebrate a 30th birthday) and “Bottled sparkling or bottled still?” That’s about the only conversation we had with our server. Throughout the evening we would go through 20-minute periods without seeing our server and have to wave him down. This was in addition to the mix-up with the salmon and the sablefish, which is usually excusable except that he tried to convince us that we ordered the salmon. To top it all off he “recommended” (by recommended we mean brought over) a glass of rosé saying nothing else other than “It’s Spanish,” so you can imagine the surprise when the bill came and that non-descript glass of rosé was $23! The service has never been outstanding at Hook, but from our experience it’s always been efficient. We decided to voice our complaints to the manager. But he, like our waiter, could not care less - he interrupted as we tried to explain, and not did not listen to the content of our complaints. But he did remove the glass of wine from our bill, in addition to the sablefish and the salmon that we never ordered.
You can always tell when a restaurant is in turmoil. The food, while still tasty, left us bored because we had seen it all before. And the front of the house did not take up the responsibility of maintaining the ambiance in the restaurant. Our experience completely let us down and overall the whole evening felt very chaotic. We want to believe that once a new chef is put in place order will be restored.
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why did barton seaver and the other chef leave??
this begs the question—are all of these restaurants that people rave about loved because of the food and the restaurant itself, or is it the chef? seems to me that a cult of personality has overwhelmed food in these places...
So the waiter drops off a glass of wine you didn't order and just says, "It's Spanish" and leaves? WTF? I gotta try this place out, just so I can fill my chardonnay glass with urine and drop it off at the matre d's station, saying only, "It's warm."
So what was the final bill for this deep-sea nightmare? Because I seriously doubt how "sustainable" this joint's gonna be if management keeps acting like a bunch of tools.
I ate at Hook prretty soon after they opened and hated it, never went back. It seemed like just another restatuant that was more concerned with it's decor than it's food.
Damn, I never got to eat there. Screw Georgetown, anyway.
Now to find a nice fish restaurant in a better location...
I ate at Hook a little after it opened and I hated it. It was a total scene, full of that small clan of Washinton residents that huddle around a handful of establishments that let them believe for a brief moment that they live in Manhattan.
But that wasn't the worst part. The food was ok, I guess, but as you pointed out the service is absolutely atrocious. I'll go back maybe in another year or so once they realize that they can't float on hype and have to start get people to come back.
All that said, Tacklebox next door is awesome. Although I haven't been there since the Seaver exodus.
I've been to Hook many times. I believe I was sitting at an adjacent table at the restaurant when the writers of this article were there--I remember the situation--it actually made me and my companion uncomfortable. Seems to me there were some facts left out of this review.
Given--if there is a mistake in an order, it should be rectified. Given--the server should have informed them of the cost of the glass of wine. And it is frustrating when these things happen--but they do, and as stated above, they were taken care of by being deleted from the check.
But I'm surprised that gone unmentioned, was the fact that the party at the restaurant table dropped the f-bomb several times and were completely rude to a server and manager that were trying to make things right. I also don't see mentioned in this article that the guests at the table also made comments as to the server's ethnicity--I believe they made some sort of derogatory statement about him being an 'illegal alien.'
Of course sometimes mistakes occur, but there is never an excuse to become insulting and just plain rude--the restaurant people were cordial as possible given the situation. And PS? I am over 21 but generally I get carded when I bring my own wine to a restaurant--and sometimes when I get it from the menu. This is standard, responsible practice.
I suggest that if you're going to report on something responsibly, as any journalism student will tell you, you need to have all the facts and not selective amnesia about the actual events.
In response to the above comment, I can assure you I would never, ever comment on a person's ethnicity therefore I would never use any derogatory statements about anyone no matter how upset I was. The table next to us was empty for most of the night, so I'm not sure we are the exact table you are talking about. I have worked in the restaurant and retail industry for a long time and completely understand that mistakes happen. However, several things went wrong with our service thus prompting us to speak with the manager. We did not mind that the server had asked our age, again being in the industry I fully understand the responsibility of checking IDs, the complaint was because that's how we were greeted. We were never greeted with hello, how are you or anything. I can go on and on, but I would suggest before making such outrageous claims you email the writer directly.
I normally dont defend restaurants, but Amanda the original poster seems to have drank a little too much champagne while celebrating her friends birthday that night. I was sitting across from you at a table for 4, and there were other guests sitting at tables around you. You and your friends did cross the line several times not only with the waiter but also with the manager. I was really offended by your tables remarks and language, and yes, either you or your guests made comments about hiring illegals who cant speak english. I am sorry that you were disappointed by the food, we loved ours, I agree that the menu is similar to Bartons, but the quality of the food and the level of service are as good if not better than ever. I feel that if you are going to write about someplace or someone be fair and be honest, for sure point our shortcomings, but be honest, and you werent.
As the original poster, again I wish you would refrain from making allegations such as "drank too much champagne." Like I stated before I would never make any comments regarding anyone's ethnicity or legal status. If someone at my table did I am certainly not aware of it (as I have asked them) and would apologize on their behalf. We were not overly disappointed by the food, more the service. If you read my original review of Hook from 2007 I was quite happy with the restaurant and I have also been a few times since then. From my experience it is not "just as good, if not better than ever." Other posters have also agreed that their service has been "atrocious." Therefore everyone has had their own experiences there. You've given your review and so have I.
Hey Ricardo and writr22 are you sure you don't work for the restaurant and are mad you got a bad review because everyone else seems to think the place is going downhill. To throw out you THINK you were there and THINK you saw the people who wrote it saying racist things is kind of ridiculous. The writer didn't even say what day they were there. People go out celebrating in DC all the time. There is a chance you might have the right people or wrong people.
I do not work for the restaurant and as I said I normally dont defend restaurants, but I remember my dining experience was diminished by a table of 4 young women who drank alot of champagne and then proceeded to complain very loudly to the manager about their experience, to include one of the four guests making very inappropriate ethnic comments, being latin I took them personally. I remember paying close attention to how the manager was going to handle the situation and as the original poster said, he "cut her off" and tried to keep the complaints on a restaurant level and not personal issues about the waiter. Too bad that you didnt like your experience, I liked mine, everyone is entitled to their opinion. But what dragged me into this was the original poster not being honest. Hey you asked me if I worked for the restaurant, maybe the original poster is someone who haves a "love affair" with Barton and does want to see Hook be successful without him. Who knows, but lets all be honest shall we?
Our table had 1 bottle of champagne and 1 bottle of rose. So I don't think that constitutes as "too much." And I do wish Hook continuing success. As I said, all of my other experiences have been good, which was stated to the manager. Also stated, I can honestly say that I am not aware of any deragotory comments about the waiter. If you thought you heard something or if someone did say something that I am not aware of I do apologize, but that's all I can say.
I still don't see how you've made the connection between the reviewer and the four drunk women at Hook. On any given night, you will find people ordering champagne for birthdays damn near everywhere downtown. And even if it was her, what does their behavior have to do with Hook's food or service?
I agree with monkeyrotica. I think it is highly unlikely that someone could KNOW without a doubt that they were sitting near the writer of this article. Groups of four women go out every night of the week in this town to drink champagne and celebrate birthdays. It is unfortunate that you were seated near an obnoxious and offensive table, but I think it is irresponsible to make claims about the writer without knowing for sure it was her group. That said, it is all beside the point. Whether or not you were sitting near the writer, she had valid issues with the service and chose to write a follow-up review. That's it.