For years I skipped Hooked Seafood on Royal Caribbean ships because I never thought the food was very good, and because I don't eat shellfish.
However, I wanted to go back to Hooked because I made a New Years cruise resolution to make this the year I revisit restaurants I swore off in the past. I figured it was time to give them all another chance, and Hooked as at the top of my list.
I've eaten at Hooked at least two or three times over the years, and I came away with the same thought as Caesar had in the classic film History of the World, Part 1, "Nice. Not thrilling, but nice."
Friends and other cruisers seemed to usually have a similar review that Hooked wasn't bad, but wasn't impressive either.
So when I went on Utopia of the Seas and had the chance to try Hooked again, I wanted to see if this restaurant had improved or changed in any way.
I brought with me four friends who love to eat shellfish, figuring I could lean on their tastes to determine what it's like at Hooked now.
The Hooked menu is different than I remember
Hooked is a specialty restaurant that costs extra to dine at, with a cover charge that includes all the food on the menu.
You'll find the restaurant at the very front of the ship above the adults-only Solarium. Don't worry, kids can eat here.
As I was seated, I noticed immediately the menu has changed since my last visit.
I recall there being a messy fish sandwich that required a bib to eat, but it wasn't on the dinner menu.
Looking over the menu, I was impressed by how many choices there were overall.
Royal Caribbean doesn't limit how much you can order, so you're free to go all out and order as many appetizers, entrees, and desserts.
We had just spent the day enjoying Perfect Day at CocoCay, so my group was ready to eat. We asked the waiter to bring out one of every appetizer to sample.
Our waiter informed us there were a few specials, including a blackened salmon.
The appetizers were impressive
Since all the appetizers had shellfish in it, I relied on my friends to try it all.
The serving size of each appetizer was much bigger than I expected. Most are great for sharing, so I'd recommend rethinking how many you'll go for with each.
Here's a look at each of the appetizers:
Calamari
Biscuits
Oysters
Coconut shrimp
Crab cakes
Baked oysters
New England Clam Chowder
According to the group, the best appetizer they had were the raw oysters.
Some were new to oysters, but all of them thought the quality was great and an impressive value considering how many you get.
The least favorite appetizer were the crab cakes.
It wasn't so much that the crab cake were bad, just not that that good. Someone mentioned the texture wasn't what they were used to when they've had crab cakes in the past.
I admit, I sampled one piece of calamari (don't tell my Rabbi). It's hard to ever go wrong with fried food, and it didn't taste rubbery.
I don't think most people order one of everything from the appetizers, but I don't recall another Royal Caribbean restaurant that had such large serving sizes for their appetizers.
This is a great choice for sharing among a larger group. But if you're dining with just you and someone else, consider sharing an app or two.
The best steak in the fleet
I'll go ahead and say it: the filet mignon I had at Hooked was the best filet I've had on any Royal Caribbean ship.
I think it was the seasoning that made this steak stand out. There was no sauce, just a perfectly cooked steak that wasn't tough and had the perfect texture to it. Soft, juicy, and really flavorful.
Without a doubt it's superior to the filet mignon from Chops Grille, and I think it's even better than the beef tenderloin from 150 Central Park.
Not to be outdone, I also ordered that blackened salmon special and I was really impressed by it.
Once again, the salmon was cooked to perfection and it had really good flavor to it.
I liked it so much, but almost regretted ordering it because I'm afraid it won't be available on my next visit.
My friends ordered various combinations of steak, lobster, or shrimp.
I'd bet the lobster tail is the most popular option on the menu, and it's a very large tail. Certainly bigger and tastier to what you can get in the Main Dining Room or Windjammer.
As you can see from the photos, the entrees don't skimp on serving portions either. You may like or dislike Hooked, but you cannot argue the serving sizes are anything but generous here.
Hooked deserves to be reconsidered
I couldn't believe I called my wife to tell her I wanted to eat at Hooked on our next cruise, because just the food I could eat was outstanding.
The menu relies heavily on seafood, so if you don't eat shrimp, calamari, or lobster, I think you'll be quite limited in what you can order.
Before our meal, I joked all I could eat was steak and Caesar salad, but having tried it, I'd gladly take that.
The portion sizes are impressive, which makes it easier to justify the cost.
The onboard price is $65.00 per person for dinner, although you can usually get it cheaper if you pre-book before the cruise. For my upcoming Utopia of the Seas cruise, I can reserve Hooked for $44.99 per adult.
I went in hesitantly to retrying Hooked, but I was really impressed by how good my food was. In fact, now I'd love to go back and try it again to see if it's as good the second time around.
