Food Pics of the Week (FPOTW): Hook & Reel Cajun Seafood

Hook & Reel Cajun Seafood & Bar (***)

11006 Veirs Mill Rd L 10 Ste 10 Wheaton, MD 20902

EAT, SLEEP, CRACK, and REPEAT

It seems that in these mid-Atlantic region parts we are supposed to send away the summer with crabs. Keeping in line with the traditions of our new state, the hubby and I hit up Hook & Reel to crunch on some crabs during Labor Day weekend.

We’ve dined at Hook & Reel, but we only had the seafood boils (and cocktails) instead of crabs. Although I grew up in the mid-Atlantic region (Virginia Beach, Va to be exact), it feels weird eating crabs in a restaurant. Back in the day, my family would order bushels of crabs from our local seafood market, either steam them at home or have the market steam them, and eat the crabs in the backyard. Since eatin crabs is super messy, I feel more comfortable eating them at home . . . mainly because I don’t have to follow restaurant norms in the comfort of my home (or backyard). Also, I can wear very crappy clothes at home (instead of out in public) since I probably will make a mess. I had to LOL because a couple eating at a table next to ours was dressed to the nines. Since they didn’t want to mess up their clothes, they put on ponchos to chow down. I understand that they didn’t want to mess up their clothes, but I don’t understand why they didn’t dress down to enjoy their Hook & Reel experience. All of that said, I can understand why some folks might prefer to crack some crabs in a restaurant, because you don’t have to worry about cooking and cleaning them at home.

Like always, our Hook & Reel experience was quite wonderful. Unfortunately, we could not get a couple of seats at the bar (our normal spot) to eat our shellfish. From previous experiences, eating at a bar is a bit more efficient because it’s easier to get the attention of bartenders than the service staff.

The interesting thing, I think Hook & Reel is kind of a local hangout. I guess it’s one of our local hangouts too ;) During all of our Sunday visits, we have spotted the same group of 4 to 6 people having drinks at the bar. It’s funny because they rarely order food. They order drinks, catch up with each other, and watch whatever sports game is on TV. Since this restaurant is in a large shopping center/mall, I wonder if these folks chill at the Hook & Reel while their wives/partners are shopping.

Food Pics of the Week (FPOTW): Taberna del Alabardero

Taberna del Alabardero (***)

1776 I St NW, Washington, DC 20006

Since the hubby wanted food from his homeland, we decided to hit up Taberna del Alabardero in DC for brunch last weekend.

Boy oh boy walking into this restaurant really takes you to an old school bar/restaurant (i.e., taberna) in Spain.

Like most of our brunch excursions, we decided do brunch with bottomless cocktails. In additional to the $35 brunch (one starter and one main) menu, the restaurant offers bottomless red/white sangria, mimosas, and Bloody Marys (for an additional $18). Unfortunately, you have to stick to only one type of bottomless beverage. This was kind of sad because I wanted to have one rebujito – a typical beverage of sherry or white wine plus 7Up or Sprite. Oh well, next time.

Overall, the restaurant was amazing from the service to the food. However, I will say that the husband’s Spanish dishes that he makes at home are a little better. We had a lovely spread of food that included: huevos rotos con txistorra (eggs over easy with txistorra sausage), ensaladilla de atún (tuna & potato salad), patatas bravas (potatoes with a spicy mayo sauce), and pulpo (grilled octopus).

HA! I just realized that all of our plates were very potato-rich. I guess we can visit again when I need to carb-load before a half or full marathon.

The restaurant even gave the hubby a little treat for his b-day.

Random thought/question: Since this was a Spanish restaurant and the hubby has a Spanish name, I’m surprised they didn’t put Feliz Cumpleaños instead of Happy Birthday.

Since we were down to keep the party going, we decided to grab couple of scooters and hit up JR’s (on of our favorite LGBT post-Brunch bars).

Fortunately for us, we arrived right before the deluge of rain, which took out a few trees in the area.

Food Pics of the Week (FPOTW): J. Hollingers Waterman’s Chophouse

J. Hollingers Waterman’s Chophouse (***)

8606 Colesville Rd Silver Spring, MD 20910

I think hubby and I have found our local happy hour spot for the following reasons:

• A generous happy hour, Tues – Thurs 4-9 pm and Fri – Sat 4 – 7 pm

• A nice selection of happy hour food and beverages starting at $5.

• $1 oysters – you know I love my oysters

• Diverse clientele

• Friendly staff

For our dining pleasure, we went with a roasted beet and burrata salad, fried calamari, and mussels, Of course, we did mussels since it's a part of the restaurant's name.

For our dining and drinking pleasure, we had delicious gin tonics (I had a couple of Manhattans too), a dozen oysters, lamb meatballs, and ceviche. With the exception o f the ceviche, EVERYTHING was amazing especially the meatballs. The ceviche wasn’t bad, but it tasted more like guacamole with some shrimp.

While the food and beverages were great, I really enjoyed the diversity in the bar’s patrons. Often, I have to deal with the fact that I will be the only Black person in many places. However, J. Hollingers had folks of all colors, sizes, and shapes. The only downside: I wish it was in walking distance. Looking at Google, commuting to the spot is 1 hour on foot, 26 minutes by bus, and 9 minutes by car. Oh well, can win them all.