Hooked, Sligo

Just when you thought the food scene in Sligo couldn’t get any better along comes Hooked. This new venture by Anthony and Eilish Gray already has people travelling from all over the North West of Ireland to check it out.

You may know Anthony from the beautiful Eala Bhan Restaurant in Sligo – just down the road from Hooked. The two couldn’t be more different though. Although both have a focus on locally sourced, quality, produce as well as excellent service and attention to detail the similarities end there. The inspiration for Hooked was derived from Joe Gray, Anthony’s father, who had a award-winning butchers in Teeling Street Sligo. In fact even the butcher block from the shop is located in pride of place at the counter.

As I walked into Hooked it’s everything I look for in a place. It’s cool, quirky and positively buzzing. From the cosy corner to the boat hanging from the ceiling (yes really), to the corrugated iron panels with lights hanging from them, there is something to see everywhere you look…..and we haven’t got to the food yet! A special mention has to go to the fantastic mural by Shantal Foley – done with around 40 sharpie pens and I imagine days of patience.

Even the toilets are quirky and worth a visit even if you don’t need to go! The menu has something for everyone including fitness fans, check out the super salad and the skinny egg white muffins. The Joe Gray sausages make an appearance and I have to say I’m not usually a fan of sausages but these are delicious.

So far I’ve tried the fish and chips – fab – and I love that it’s served in a basket on ‘newspaper’. I’ve also had the super salad which was my attempt to convince myself I’m being healthy, even though I had a Knickerbocker glory as a starter – yes I did and I’d have it again!