Restaurant Review: Off The Hook

The one great thing about seafood is that it cuts across cultures; if you’re going to make this your resto’s selling point, you’ve got to do it well. So at Off The Hook (OTH), that’s what they’re trying to do — try to reel you in with their own take on flavours. At their newly-opened branch at Ibn Battuta Mall — third in Dubai plus six in Abu Dhabi equals nine in just five years, with more to come — you’re greeted with a warm atmosphere; the aroma of what’s cooking is the real come-on, like a fishing line reeling you in.

Only that nature’s way will prevail and you’ll feast on the seafood. The main attraction — you may know it as ‘boodle fight’, but we’d rather call it ‘dig-in’ — is a proverbial ocean of flavour: crabs, prawns, mussels, salmon, squid and crab balls all drenched in a choice of seven sauces. Cajun is, by default, the most recognisable, but you’ve got other different stuff like garlic butter, mushroom and onion and, by consensus, the crowd-favorite, coco cream sauce. Un. Limited. Rice. Of. Course.

Their menu is quite limited, but the idea here is that OTH is the type of place that you’d really go to when you know what you’re craving for. The only thing out of sorts is the chicken fillet; we highly recommend to our friends over there to add more for the non-seafooders and for the sake avoiding groups to split up for a meal.

And one thing to ‘dye’ for is the Black Calamari, which is your regular battered squid… but with their ink thrown into the mix. Don’t let that ‘dark’ tone fool you: Inside that unique look are juicy, tasty rings of those cephalopods that have somewhat a creamy feel to it. This offering is OTH’s latest creation, and they’ve pledged to keep experimenting and serving new ones as often as they can. But all that wasn’t enough to earn it top billing in this run…

MAY WE RECOMMEND…

The Puff A’ Fish (sorry, Black Calamari). At first, we misheard it as ‘puffer fish’, giving us false hope that there’s some fugu in these parts. But we forgot about that ‘suicidal’ idea once the actual star of this dish, a sea bass, hit our ’buds: The unique combination of zest, herbs and spices made me down consecutive portions while literally staring at it for a minute like a preying shark. Sea bream and salmon are also good options.