Welcome to Foodie Spotlight — a new column that highlights the best cocktails, entrees, or desserts we’re currently enjoying and recommend.
New England meets New Orleans at Hooked JC, a rustic seafood shack located in Jersey City’s Bergen Lafayette neighborhood.
The no-frills eatery has been dishing out beach-side classics like peel-and-eat shrimp, lobster rolls, and seafood gumbo since it opened earlier this summer. Hooked also offers seasonal catches, which can range from blue fish to swordfish. These classics can be ordered as a Po Boy, platter, or served over a salad.
You order your food at the counter and then pick up and clean up after yourself. There’s a self-serve sauce station, which you’re encouraged to try out, and Hooked recently added an expanded back room for dinner hours.
One entree we particularly love is Hooked’s blackened sea scallop. The method calls for quickly cooking the meaty scallops over high heat to seal in as much flavor as possible while creating a fantastically flavored blackened crust that’s topped with Hooked’s housemade remoulade. Get it Po Bo-style and you’ll get an order of crispy fries, which combined makes for the perfect lunch or dinner.
Hooked is divey without trying too hard, cool without being pretentious, and delicious without burning a hole through your wallet. It’s a New England mash up that will have you coming back for more.
Hooked JC | 467 Communipaw Avenue | www.hookedjc.com
