Tuesday, February 25, 2014

REVIEW | Happy Hooker - happily hooked on their fish sandwiches, tacos & other yummy stuff

Happy Hooker on a Tuesday? Don't let the name fool you - Happy Hooker is a restaurant in Trinity Bellwoods Neighbourhood with a main focus on serving delicious fish dishes including sandwiches, tacos and more!



It's a small and rustic restaurant that reminded us of a diner that we came across when we went fishing in the summer. We loved both the exterior and interior decor of the restaurant, especially the 'Outhouse' door leading to the washrooms.  Special items like the model ship and the fish wall frames.

 The size of the restaurant is not that big so you can be sure that it'll get a little cozy inside when it gets busier at night and on the weekends. 


The menu is fairly simple, you have your selection of "between the buns", tacos, crispy dishes and lighter fare. Just know that no matter what you decide, you'll end up with some variation of fish at your table.



The Dark and Stormy cocktail made with dark rum, ginger beer and lime juice was delicious. This drink may have shed some new light on rum for us as it was not a drink of preference for either of us. The ginger beer complemented the rum extremely well.


Kale Salad with organic kale, baby arugula, watermelon radishes, cucumber, pickled cabbage, house made red wine vinaigrette. The salad tasted very fresh and crisp but we found the red wine vinaigrette to a little too acidic for the sharp flavours of the salad.



Baja Fries - crispy russet potatoes, cheddar cheese, adobo chiptole sauce, lime crema, onion, cilantro and house made guacamole.  These fries are definitely worth sharing at the table, we liked that the sauce did not make the fries super soggy but gave enough flavour.


Shrimp Po'boy - cornmeal breaded shrimp, lemon aioli, baby arugula, sliced tomato, pickled habaneros, kosher pickles on a butter toasted Portuguese bun. The sandwich was delicious! Thank you for Po'boy sandwich Louisiana! All the components of the sandwich came together and the end result was a great combination of texture and flavours. Word of caution though - the habaneros were quite spicy and gave a kick that you may not be ready for if you don't like spicy foods!




Shrimp Taco - grilled shrimp seasoned with cumin slat, adobo chiptole sauce, lime crema, pickled green cabbage, habanero pico di gallo. Of the three tacos we tried, this one was probably our least favourite and you can blame that on our love for all things fried. The shrimp was grilled so it felt like it was missing something (beer batter haha) but this would definitely be a great choice for anyone looking for a dish on the lighter side.




Cali Baja Taco - breaded and fried Alaskan Pollock, melted cheddar cheese, shredded romaine lettuce, diced tomato, lime crema and house made guacamole. Although this taco was deep fried like the  Grouper taco it tasted lighter.



Grouper Taco - beer battered grouper, melted cheddar cheese, pineapple habanero salsa, lime crema, pickled red cabbage, onion and cilantro. This taco was definitely one of our favourite dishes of the night. The beer battered grouper tasted like fish and chips but in a taco.

Keep an eye and ear out for Happy Hooker's daily specials because we're sure you won't want to miss them.  Just a bit of a teaser but last Friday they had $2 Fish and Chips... everyone loves Fish and Chips and we love them even more when they're only $2! Follow them on Facebook & Twitter to make sure you don't miss out.



Happy Hooker on Urbanspoon

- We were invited to this event as media, thus our meal was complimentary but our opinions remain honest -

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