Hook & Reel - Yummy, casual seafood in Owings Mills, MD

Photo by Rachel Yerks

Hook & Reel is a Cajun Seafood restaurant chain located in 24 different states across the U.S. I recently had the opportunity to try it out in Owings Mills, Maryland, and it was a great experience. It is a bit on the pricey side, so I'll tell you what items I think are the best deal.

This restaurant is designed for hardcore seafood lovers, so they have a lot of huge seafood boil options including seafood such as snow crab legs, Dungeness crab, clams, crawfish, black mussels, New Zealand mussels, scallops, shrimp (head-on or head-off), calamari, blue crab, lobster tail, whole lobster, and king crab.

These boils come with extras you can purchase such as corn, sausage, potatoes, eggs, noodles, and rice, and you can pick many different sauces to cook your boil in.

I did not end up getting a boil because I didn't have enough people with me to make a dent in one, but the boils are what this place is famous for. I had a small lunch by comparison, but I still couldn't finish my meal.

What I Ordered, Review, and Price

My friend's stand-alone soup order, not the side soup.Photo by Rachel Yerks

I ordered the Shrimp Po' Boy ($14), which came with a side of New England-style clam chowder. The friend I went out to lunch with actually ordered the soup as her meal and thought it was good and filling.

As someone who grew up in New England, I thought this clam chowder was pretty good. It was very thick and creamy and had some clam chunks on the bottom. I do wish the clam chunks were a bit more sizable, but then they wouldn't be able to give you as much soup!

Photo by Rachel Yerks

The Shrimp Po' Boy was a lot larger than I anticipated. I'm very thankful it didn't come with a bigger soup cup. I ended up prioritizing the tasty shrimp with Old Bay sauce and didn't eat the bread, lettuce, or tomato on the sandwich. The soup was very filling and I wouldn't have been able to finish my entire meal alone.

The shrimp were very crispy, cooked perfectly, and drenched in Old Bay sauce. At least, I think it's Old Bay. (I'm new to Maryland.) It's orange and tastes like it to me. The menu doesn't actually say what sauce is used! You can view the full menu here.

I'm not sure I would go back here for a typical lunch. I was stuffed, and although the food was good, I thought $14 was a bit expensive. If you don't come with a large group and have a boil, I think you're missing the experience. I'd like to come back here with a big party and give it another shot to experience Hook & Reel doing what they do best.

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