Off the Hook, Abu Dhabi, UAE
It was great fun at Off the Hook to be able to eat with our hands, get a little messy and enjoy some really good seafood! I really love the concept of this restaurant, and am ecstatic that they have opened this first location in Abu Dhabi. Their menu consists of only seafood boil items in which guests will pick the seafood, pick the sauce and pick the spice.
This is where the excitement begins – The tables are covered in parchment paper and all the guests are given aprons and gloves. There seems to be a few napkins on the table but NO utensils are in sight! The food will arrive in plastic bags and the only way to eat – is to dive right in with your hands!
Seafood
My husband and I were invited to Off the Hook. We ordered Half kg of Crab Claws (55dhs), Mussels(45dhs), Shrimps (59dhs), Lobsters (75dhs). We tried out ALL of their sauces – Off the Hook Special, Lemon Pepper, Garlic Butter, and Olive & Herbs. Hands down, we both agreed that Off the Hook Special Sauce was ultimately the BEST one.
Crab Claws
The Crab Claws were the most difficult (physically) to eat. We were given the claw clamps but they still had pretty hard stubborn shells. The meat itself was a bit different than what we were used to but we were told that these were the crabs sourced from UAE right at Mina Port – so all the seafood is uber fresh!
Mussels
The Mussels were my favorite of the night. They were large, and bursting of flavor from the sauce. Out of the options we picked, the mussels would be the ones that would be easiest to marinate since it did not have the hard shells.
Shrimps
Next was the Shrimps – again it was fresh but flavor was not in the meat. I’d recommend either a longer marinate or more sauce in the bags.
Lobster
Lastly, our half kg of lobster got us 3 lobsters! They were comparably smaller in size but I thought it was a great deal for 75dhs. Lobster tails are so delicious!
Sides
For the sides we ordered the Crab Balls, Fish Balls and Corn on the Cob. The Crab and Fish Balls seemed a bit ordinary to us since we often eat these at home, however, with the OTH Sauce it did give them quite a kick. The corn of the cob came separately without any seasoning or sauce. I would have enjoyed it better if it came in a bag marinating in a sauce.
Combos
Other than their a la carte Pot menu, they have special combos for single (69 dhs good for 1 person), families (139 dhs good for 3-4 people) and friends (349dhs food for 8-10 people). They put together combinations of their seafood so you don’t have to order half a kg of each kind to try them all. The combos come with rice as well as soft drinks so its quite a deal!
Ill be sure to keep an eye out on their menu too as their seafood options changes depending on the season and catches! Last month they had 2 new catches offering the squid and king fish.
Dig in and Enjoy!
