THE CROOKED HOOK is all about catfish, shrimp, oysters, and crawfish tails. And to help out the non-aquatic ones in the party, there’s some chicken fillets, a pair of steaks and a few hamburgers and sandwiches. While our drink order was taken, we were served a small bowl of onion slices and another small bowl of the most addictive tomato relish we’ve ever had. The spicy relish is made up of large chunks of green tomatoes pickled in vinegar and other spices. Barely embarrassed, we asked for refills several times, asked for some with our take home leftovers and even bought a jar of the relish sold at the register. We relish the tomato relish! We also enjoyed our medium catch (seven piece) fried catfish dinner with hush puppies, slaw and pinto beans. The fried catfish was hot right out of the frier and meaty with a light batter coating. Usually we find hush puppies as an afterthought at other places, but here they were an excellent crunch, hot and made with a light sweet batter. But with all this goodness, the pinto beans were a disappointment. They tasted like they were poured straight from the can with very little flavor. Maybe the relish would’ve helped? Companion ordered a catfish and shrimp combo and was satisfied. And our little miss gave a thumbs up to her chicken filet basket. But she didn’t like the tomato relish. 1802 So. Hwy. 161 982-9276, no alcohol, CC, LD Tues.-Sun., $-$$.

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