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    Restaurant Review: Grandview’s Red Hook Grill

    Red Hook Grill is a little reminiscent of a lost Grandview. Located far away from the neighborohood’s trendier zones on the main drags, the restaurant set up shop on a lonely stretch of Goodale that’s populated with boxy things-that-aren’t-restaurants. Old-school white sheets of paper sit atop classic tablecloths on four-top tables. There’s a corner bar at the back, and guests run the range of ages and socioeconomic groups. It’s easy to walk in the door and feel comfortable, which is a tribute as much to the staff as it is to the general feel of the joint.

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    The menu at Red Hook is Caribbean-esque. There’s a mix of bar food on the menu, too, along with a significant dedication to vegan offerings. Case in point, you can start things off with Veggie Skins ($7.75). It’s the restaurant’s animal-free answer to Potato Skins, a popular edible that’s more typically adorned with cheese and bacon. Here, the skins are filled with a colorful collection of broccoli, chunks of red pepper and some cow-free cheese, with hummus on the side. The hummus helps the veggie mix a lot; while colorful, the skins want more in the flavor department.

    So let’s put some animal things in the mix.

    One of the more remarkable items tried was the Blackened Shrimp Burger ($12.25). It comes across as an engineering miracle. Shaped like any burger, the seafood patty appears and tastes to be made only of shrimp; there’s no detectable filler or binder. The round shrimp burger’s grilled surface is densely infused with peppery Cajun flavor. Teamed with bread, lettuce, good quality tomato slices and perky shards of fresh mango, the burger comes with lots of stuff, so make a point of investigating and appreciating the unusual patty before it gets lost in the mix. It’s worth the effort.

    Crab-Stuffed Tilapia ($14.75) is a classic dish you don’t see on too many local menus. Red Hook’s version is exceptional. In traditional form, a lush crab filling is loaded into a tender tilapia fillet. The thing that drives it home is a rich parmesan cream sauce that ties every morsel together. Appropriately prepared broccoli and savory potatoes round out the offering.

    A tomato-heavy Jambalaya ($14.75) appears on the menu, too. It offers too many tomatoes to eat, though they have a nice, meaty quality to them. Focus on the good-sized shrimp that tumble around with big chunks of celery, slices of sausage and smoked pork, all served with rice. The base bears a distinct and likable contribution from bay leaves, making the whole dish a winner.

    There are other chances to return to meatless options. The menu also includes at least ten other vegan heavy hitters, including a tofu scramble, a portobello sandwich, and a pasta dish that is animal-free too.

    Red Hook Grill also offers daily lunch specials (priced around $7 with a soda), and happy hour deals. It’s open weekdays at 11 a.m. for lunch and dinner. On Saturdays, it opens at 4 p.m., and it’s closed on Sundays. You can find Red Hook Grill at 1223 Goodale Blvd.

    For more information, visit redhookgrill.com

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    Miriam Bowers Abbott
    Miriam Bowers Abbotthttps://columbusunderground.com
    Miriam Bowers Abbott is a freelancer contributor to Columbus Underground who reviews restaurants, writes food-centric featurettes and occasionally pens other community journalism pieces.
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