With outstanding cuisine and a cozy atmosphere, Hook Gulf Coast Cuisine is the perfect place to enjoy delightful, fresh Gulf seafood prepared to perfection.
Opened nine years ago by Chef Corry Hudson and his wife, Laura, Hook Gulf Coast Cuisine has been building a reputation ever since for quality seafood dishes, as well as chicken, steaks and appetizers.
Having worked in restaurants most of his adult life, Chef Corry jumped at the opportunity to open his own restaurant down the street from the Gulf in Pass Christian.
“It’s really all I know,” he says. “It’s in my blood. I’ve done everything from washing dishes to busing tables to serving food to being a fry cook — and then deciding to go to culinary school. Opening a restaurant was the next step.”
After operating for a couple of years, Corry and Laura decided to start a family, allowing his best friend, Tanya McClellan, to come on board as manager. A year later, she became a fifty-fifty partner when Laura stepped away to raise two children.
Previously a teacher, Tanya loves the choice she made to change career paths, finding the perfect home at Hook Gulf Coast Cuisine.
“We are real people,” Tanya says. “It’s a fun, family-friendly atmosphere. Our employees provide great service and fabulous food. I mean, they know what they are doing in the kitchen. Having that, and a fantastic staff, makes my job so much easier.”
When you visit Hook Gulf Coast Cuisine, you will want to start with an appetizer or two, with choices such as fish tacos, gumbo and the guest-favorite phares fries, which are French fries tossed with truffle oil, parsley and Parmesan cheese.
On my visit, I had a sampler of New Orleans-style barbecue shrimp, oysters Rockefeller and the restaurant’s specialty THAI-ger shrimp, which are tossed in a Thai chili sauce with pickled jalapeños. It would be hard to choose which I liked best, as all three provided big bursts with flavor with each bite.
Hook also has a nice selection of salads, such as a fried shrimp, Caesar, wedge and the beloved goat cheese croquette summer salad. Comprised of mixed greens, grilled chicken, pickled red onions, bacon and goat cheese croquette, mandarin oranges and toasted almonds, then finished with a lemon garlic vinaigrette, it is one of the most popular items on the menu.
After engaging your palate with an appetizer or salad, it’s time to choose an entrée. Hook’s lunch menu features something for everyone, with a burger, California wrap, fish tacos, unique chicken and tuna sandwiches and oysters Rockefeller or New Orleans-style shrimp po’boys.
The dinner menu offers the popular option of building your own dinner market catch. You choose a protein from the fresh catch, salmon, tuna or soft-shell crab options, then decide how it is prepared; you can choose blackened, fried, grilled or sautéed. Next, you pick a sauce from a selection that includes beurre blanc, crawfish cream, escabeche, a shrimp-and-cream Pass Christian sauce or Rockefeller. All sauces are homemade, and you can’t go wrong. The meal also comes with a house salad, ciabatta bread and a choice from sides such as angel hair pasta bordelaise, risotto, vegetables or potatoes.
On my visit, I tried fresh, grilled yellowfin tuna with a fantastic beurre blanc sauce and grilled asparagus. It was melt-in-your-mouth goodness.
Besides the build-your-own options, Hook has an excellent variety of specialty seafood, pasta and steak dishes. I went with the seafood pasta, which included sautéed shrimp, crab, mushrooms, tomatoes, green onions and a citrus seafood broth served over angel hair pasta bordelaise. It was the perfect combination of texture and flavor.
The special for the evening was a honey-garlic glazed salmon over asparagus puree with flash-fried potatoes. I’m not a huge fan of salmon, but this dish definitely will have me coming back.
Be sure to save room for one of Hook’s deserts, which are homemade by Chef Corry’s mother-in-law, “Momma” Joan Therrien. Her key lime pie was perfectly made, not too sweet, and the fried apple dumplings with vanilla ice cream were an absolute delight.
Hook Gulf Coast Cuisine is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. for lunch, and 5-9 p.m. for dinner and 11 a.m.-2 p.m. for Sunday brunch. A $5 fish taco special is available on Tuesdays, and Wednesdays feature $5 burgers. A full bar offers specialty cocktails and plenty of outdoor seating.
IF YOU GO
Hook Gulf Coast Cuisine
133 Davis Ave., Unit M, Pass Christian
(228) 222-4391
www.facebook.com/HookGulfCoastCuisine
https://www.restaurantji.com/ms/pass-christian/hook-gulf-coast-cuisine-/