A presentation

I went with my cousin D to Charleston today for her follow up visit for her eye surgery of last week.   After the visit we decided to walk in downtown Charleston to find somewhere for lunch. The weather was fabulous...72F and sunny!  

We ended up at a seafood restaurant called Hooked where they had outdoor dining under a patio!   Perfect day for it!!    We decided to try their she crab soup to see how it compared to other places where we have eaten this Southern specialty soup.

For those that have never heard of this..she crab is the crab meat from soft shelled crab, usually the female and the recipe also calls for the "roe  (eggs)" of this crab.    Most people do not put the roe in the recipe but some restaurants do.   It is costly.    The crabs are usually steamed and the meat picked out.  This is not a large crab so the meat is expensive as it involves lot of hand picking.     The soup is made from heavy cream, half and half,  onion, garlic, celery (all finely chopped),  and spices.   That is the reddish, orange batter that is being poured around the crabmeat in the bowl.  Then a drizzle of sherry is poured over the soup..mix it all up and enjoy.

It was really good.  The only problem we had was the broth was barely warm but we did not want to send it back after our waiter went to through this presentation.   I also had grouper tacos...pieces of grilled grouper (a very mild ocean fish) with spicy cole slaw.   That was yummy also!    Not to mention the apple cider mimosa...different by good also!  

So that is my restaurant critique for Hooked.   I would definitely eat at this restaurant again.