The Hook is a Seafood, Grill & Bar in Petone, Lower Hutt, specialising in seafood, steak and stonegrill dining. The restaurant describes food as a celebration, from how it sources its seafood, meat and shellfish through to new ways of serving it, with a menu that rotates depending on what's fresh alongside nightly house classics like yellow fin tuna, scampi and Ora King salmon.
For steak lovers, all beef is a minimum of 28 days aged, grass-fed Angus, and diners can choose to have it cooked by the kitchen or cook it themselves on the restaurant's 400-degree stonegrill. The bar pours five local craft beers on tap along with further bottled options, and the venue is set up for everything from a casual dinner or date night to birthday parties, group lunches, wedding functions and Christmas functions.
The Hook is described as trendy but relaxed, with chic décor and impeccable service, and offers a happy hour for budget-friendly visits alongside its regular à la carte menu.
The Hook sits in Petone, Lower Hutt, built around a simple pitch: seafood, steak and stonegrill, done properly. The restaurant frames everything it does as a celebration of food, from how it sources seafood, meat and shellfish through to the ways it finds to serve it, aiming to offer what it calls a seafood experience you won't find anywhere else.
The Hook's menu shifts depending on what's fresh, but a handful of house classics are on offer every night of the week: yellow fin tuna, scampi, and Ora King salmon. That mix of rotating specials and dependable regulars means there's usually something new to try, while the dishes people come back for are never off the table.
On the meat side, the kitchen turns out dishes like the Asian Beef Salad — wok-tossed Angus beef strips over a mixed garden salad — alongside heartier options such as the Classic Pork Ribs, braised and marinated in the restaurant's own spice blend and served with steak fries and hook slaw, and the Hook Pork Trio, combining grilled pork fillet, slow-braised pork belly and pancetta with a home-made feijoa jam and apple pilsner jus. A Cajun Chicken Ballotine, stuffed with pesto and cheese, and an NZ Lamb Shank round out the meat mains.
For steak specifically, The Hook uses beef that's a minimum of 28 days aged and grass-fed Angus, including an Aged Angus Beef Sirloin on the menu. What sets the experience apart is the option to cook it yourself: diners can either have their steak prepared by the kitchen, or cook it to their own liking at the table on the restaurant's 400-degree stonegrill.
Seafood dishes include a Whitebait Omelette, served with steak fries, hook slaw and hollandaise, and a Smoked Seafood Chowder. To finish, the Warm Chocolate Brownie is on the dessert menu for anyone with room left after a stonegrill meal or a full seafood plate.
At the bar, The Hook pours five local craft beers on tap, with further bottled options available, set in what the restaurant describes as a trendy but relaxed space — somewhere to kick back rather than a spot too polished to feel comfortable in. For those watching their budget, happy hour offers a more affordable way to enjoy the bar.
Beyond regular dining, The Hook caters to Christmas functions, birthday parties, group dinners and lunches, wedding functions, and date nights, with a dedicated function menu available on enquiry. The restaurant also has a kids menu, making it workable for family visits as well as adult-only nights out.
The Hook is located at 306 Jackson Street, Petone, Lower Hutt 5012, and can be reached on (04) 589 8585 or by email at [email protected]. Lunch runs from 11am to 2pm and dinner from 5pm to 9pm, seven days a week. For anyone in the Petone or wider Lower Hutt area after a seafood and steak night out, with the option of cooking your own cut on a stonegrill, The Hook offers a distinctive, hands-on alternative to a standard restaurant meal.