$35 is a bargain for a three-course meal at a restaurant where the lobster risotto alone normally sells for $29. Still, even if Hook (3241 M St. NW, in Georgetown) had paid me to eat there, I might still have been disappointed by its Restaurant Week performance. Yes, the Yellow Fin Tuna was served nice and rare, but Hook forgot to season the black beans, lazily relying on the bacon lardons and mismatched mango butter. Yes, a spring pea risotto is a cozy bed for Pacific Cod, but only if it's even a little creamy and the promised chili oil is detectable without a mass spectrometer.
Hook did a bit better with its appetizers and desserts, the Taylor Bay Scallop Pan Roast with roast corn succatash, chorizo and quicos was generously portioned, though the chorizo was hard to locate; ditto for the Grilled Calamari mushroom cappuccino, scallion and crispy poached egg, though the calamari tasted more burnt than grilled. No complaints whatsoever about the campily named but mesmerizingly sweet "Just Peachy" (cardamom panna cotta, peach preserves and pistachio cookie) and the "That's S'more Like It" (chocolate cinnamon cake, toasted marshmellow ice cream and bittersweet chocolate sauce). But none of that made up for Hook's impolite and inattentive host and waitress; the unfortunately positioned streetlight brightening the second floor like it was a crime scene; and the absence of information on the menu about Hook's admirable commitment to sustainable fish, leaving customers to wonder if the chef's fish selections are simply an attempt to sell cheaper, more abundant species to raise Hook's profit margin.
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