Hooked

Went to Hooked in Sterling. Left hungry (very small portions) and much lighter in the wallet ($11 for martinis). Food was fine, not amzaing but solidly good. But prices were outrageous for a NOVA strip mall. Interior is spartan and cold, not even trendy IMO. And you can get food just as good at Sweetwater for much less. I give them less than a year in this economy. But who knows.

 

I felt the same about the old Hooked on Algonkian. In this economy, who are they kidding?

 

Apparently, a lot of people. I've never been, but have heard nothing but good things from friends & family who've been there.

The owners of Hooked are behind the new restaurant, 'Caliente', in the Brambleton Town Center, so I wish them the best.

 

I've only eaten at Hooked once, with a large party, and we absolutely loved everything we ordered! Top notch sushi, amazing sea bass, great calamari and that spicy crunchy shrimp app was awesome... generous pours of wine made us all happy too. As for nicer restaurants surviving this economy... I'm inclined to think if you're the eating out type and always have been, that's the one splurge you're not going to give up. We're tightening our belts in my family--cutting back on movies, things for the house, expensive clothing, etc.--but not eating out. Could just be the fact that we love food too much and love having someone else prepare it for us.

 

Any new reviews for Hooked? We're thinking of taking a trip for our "date night" away from the kids this weekend.

 

While not a dinner review, I went for lunch a few days ago - sushi was good, but there are many better places around for that. The lunch steak came out cold and flavorless.

 

We went in December and the atmosphere is trendy and nice, the food is good and yes, portions are smaller but the quality of the food was very high, and since i'm tryin gto eat less, i wasn't bothered by the absence of a gluttunous portion of food!

I think it's a very nice place for a date night- always good to get out and support a local biz rather than going to a "safe" chain.

 

If you're up for taking a little trip/drive for your date night I highly recommended Magnolia's in Purcellville. It's a converted mill with nice ambience, good food and nice wine/beer list.

 

To be honest - I wish more restaurants would serve smaller portions. Cheesecake Factory is way too much and too fatty for me. Haven't been there in years and years tho.....so maybe they've changed.

 

no- still gi-normous glouttunous ridiculous portions. some foods don't rtravel well as left overs so i am annoyed to no end by all the food i refuse to stuff myself with anymore.

the suggestion above of Magnolias is a solid one- excellent. Lightfoot, Tuskies- closer and excellent. There are some new bistros in Leesburg that i haven't been to yet but have heard nice things about... i'll try to get the names.

If you aren't too hung up on atmosphere and want excellent FOOD- Cajun Experience in Leesburg, Paris Prestige right here in Ashburn. wine Kitchen is fab for date night if you drink wine or beer- just go EARLY if you are going on a saturday night.

 

i couldn't agree more! cheesecake factory is awful. what makes me the most mad (and sad!) about this restaurant is can't even imagine the sheer volume of food they must throw away every day because they make their portions so outrageously huge.

magnolia's is great! i have been a few times and have always been pleased.

 

Perfect! Thanks for giving more recommendations. We're definitely falling behind on getting out to try new places, so I'm going to make sure to get to a few of the places mentioned... it's my 2010 resolution. We'll see how that goes!

 

hmmm... if only there were a local website to see positive reviews of locally owned and independent eateries to help make a decision on what to try NEXT...

:victory:

 

If you've never been to El Manantial in Reston, it would be excellent for a date night. Incredible food and wine list, and prices are much lower than typical "fine dinining" establishments. Great atmosphere as well.

It's Spanash-influenced, but also has touches of French and Italian cuisine. It also has a tapas bar. On weekends, they sometimes have a flamenco guitarist.

It is always our special-occasion restaurant to go to in the area. Here's their website:

http://www.vintechsystems.net/manantial/news.php

 

Let me just say, for the record, there is no such thing as too large a portion!

 

i've been- it's quite good! They are doing restaurant week specials next week- you can book it through open table.

 

HERE, HERE! I know another resolution is to cut back on portions and eat healthier... but I suffer from the mentality of "more is better!" I see my southern roots showing <smile>

 

Another great 'date night' place close by is The Wine Kitchen in Leesburg - http://www.thewinekitchen.com/ - even if you're not a wine drinker.

 

Went to "Hooked" tonite. The fish itself was DELICIOUS. I had blackened grouper and T8erman had miso sea bass. The sides were GREAT. I had smoked gouda mac and cheese and T8erman had lobster mashed potatoes (very weird, but great). We did not think the fish or side portions were small. I'm no ballerina and I couldn't finish mine. We shared a very good, very cold shrimp cocktail for an app.

The not so good....the place smells profoundly of fish. And fish that is stinky. I mean, it really smells. It hits you in the face when you walk in the front door. They need some ventilation change, or something. Very unappetizing. Waiter was good, but the hostesses totally lacked any charm or personality. They were robotic. And they seated us at a table for four, after which the hostess proceeded to remove the glasses, bread plates, and silverware that were IN FRONT OF US...leaving us to move the setups from the empty two seats over to our side of the table after she left us denuded of equipment. DUH.

Didn't have sushi, but the table next to us did and it looked fantastic.

 

There's an old rule of thumb.....if the fish smells fishy, don't eat it.