Check it Out: Hook

Ever since I stumbled across Georgetown's Tacklebox a year or so back, I had been dying to try its sister restaurant (and neighbor) Hook. Where Tacklebox represents the family-style, quasi soul food, end of the seafood spectrum, Hook is all class. Located in Georgetown, right on the main drag (M St.) between Wisconsin and Potomac, it's central location makes it the perfect place to either wrap up a day of shopping, or kick of a night at the bars.


While they do offer the odd steak or salad, the real draw here is the fish. The flavors are delicious, but more importantly (in my opinion at least) they are combined in interesting ways. Anyone who pairs raw mahi mahi with pickled watermelon is ok in my book. The menu is set up in such a way that there are four courses (Crudo, 2nd course, 3rd course and desert respectively) but its ultimately up to you how it all goes down. I started with a Crudo dish; 1 type of fish served raw in 3 small portions, each accompanied by its own unique garnish, and then had 2 appetizers (the tuna tartare and the blue mussels) as a main course. All three were great, especially the mussels which were served in a Thai inspired red curry / coconut milk broth.

I'm a sucker for well-done interior design, so in addition to the food, I couldn't help but appreciate the stellar job that was done on communicating the restaurant's aquatic theme throughout the dining rooms / bar area. Blue and white tones blend with soft lighting and fantastic photographs to great effect. Its almost worth the price of admission in and of itself.

The prices are on the steep side, but not prohibitively, so if you're looking to splurge on some fantastic seafood, this is your place. Who knows, you might even get hooked. (sorry for that, I couldn't help myself)

Check it Out: Thai Kitchen

For a good part of my life, I had foolishly overlooked Thai cuisine as no more than Pad Thai and Tom Yum soup. It was tasty to be sure, but never enough to ensnare my senses the way that other things had. As such, up until this summer, I had carried on woefully ignorant to the vast, untapped, and tasty world of complex flavors and tantalizing textures that is Thai cooking. The turning point came around early August, when some friends and I decided to check out a little known joint way out by 5th and Georgia named Thai X-ing - the food was far better than I could have ever imagined, and ever since then I’ve been on a pretty serious Thai food kick.

Located just north of Foggy Bottom on M St. between 23rd and 24th, I had passed by Thai Kitchen countless times. Never really motivated to drop in either on account of the garish orange gate that guards its street-level entrance, or my aforementioned indifference to Thai cuisine. Ultimately however, a few weeks back, it appeared that I had exhausted the rest of the area’s meager restaurant offerings, and as such, I opted to bite the bullet and check it out.


At fist glance the dining room is - for lack of a better word - funky. The semi-subterranean restaurant is replete with an enormous gaily-colored bar, faux plants and the kind of kitschy art that one comes to expect from this breed of ethnic eatery. The whole spectacle bathed in soft light that gives it a decidedly (and appropriately) vintage feel. And I mean absolutely none of that in a negative way.

As for the food itself (sorry for rambling), its fantastic. I’ve gotten the Panang Chicken Curry the handful of times that I have eaten there and still can't get over how awesome it is. I’ve also gotten their Tom Yom soup with is tasty as expected (albeit mushroom heavy), and have heard good things about the noodle dishes as well. I would say that the ambiance at Thai Kitchen alone is well worth the trip, but to eat food that delicious (for 10-15 bucks a head), I wouldn’t hesitate to travel twice as far or pay twice as much. The portions are more than generous as well, so come hungry.

You may have noticed that I don’t usually comment on a restaurant’s service. In my mind, if its good, its good, and if its truly bad enough to warrant a comment, than there is really no reason for me to recommend you go there. That said though, I am going to make an exception in this case, because the service I’ve consistently enjoyed at Thai Kitchen has been phenomenal. The waitstaff is attentive (glasses always full and what not), and the food comes out so fast at times suspect that they read your mind at the door.

Thai Kitchen is everything I could have hoped for in a local Thai spot; great food, great service, and great prices. If you’re looking for something new, something delicious, or something that's just plain awesome, you need look no further than Thai Kitchen.