Dissect the name of The Hook & Plow and it’s clear that this restaurant specializes in dishes that fall into two categories: surf and turf. A bright, airy space full of blonde wood located in The Hixon off Century Drive, the Hooked on Happy Hour menu dives into the former, offering an array of seafood delights — from oysters on the half shell and diver scallops to ahi tuna and a hearty chowder.
The server brought over glasses of refreshing, complimentary lemon-cucumber water while I perused the happy hour choices, deciding to start with a round of three oysters. On this day, the oysters were harvested from Netarts Bay on the Oregon coast near Tillamook. Always sourced from Oregon or Washington, you can expect to find Puget Sound-grown Rucos or Hama Hamas from the Hood Canal on other days.
Shortly thereafter arrived the rest of the seafood-forward order including a pair of Mesoamerican-inspired dishes: tostadas and tacos. The tostada is a mashup of Hawaiian, Japanese and south of the border flavors with a deep, ruby-colored ahi tuna set against green guacamole and onions, flecked with black sesame seeds and a tamari sauce, all sitting on a crisp tostada. If you’re a poke and guac fan, you might want to double your order. The tempura fish taco featured a lightly breaded rockfish from the Oregon coast on a soft corn tortilla with a muddled salsa roja paste, topped with micro cilantro and a pretty purple radish.
The aforementioned seafood chowder was a standout that chef Ryan Ohmert says took him “six years to get right.” Topped with thin curls of grated Grana Padano cheese, it’s a bit of a kitchen sink soup that ensures no fresh seafood scraps go to waste in his eatery; a dish that tastes exactly like a chowder should — filling and warm. Often a blend of halibut, ocean clams and British Columbian salmon, the base mirepoix (diced celery, brilliant orange carrots, onions) was rich and featured the additions of potatoes, bacon and the coup de grâce: chewy sourdough croutons that remained crunchy even after soaking in the creamy soup.
The Plow options at happy hour are more limited, but there is a chef’s charcuterie board as well as two types of fries. Opting for the more complex furikake fries, these were served in a cast iron skillet, with organic ketchup and a mustard aioli, and topped with a light layer of Grana Padano cheese. The fries were perfectly crisp and the Japanese seasoning a novel touch.
Naturally, there are drink specials too with $6 Wild Roots cocktails on special, but I washed it all down with pear hot toddy, which was lager hued, subtly cinnamony, fruity and very comforting.
In everything The Hook & Plow does, “My thing is sustainably as well as ethical practices,” Ohmert says. He buys beef from Painted Hills and looks for products that are certified humane. Coming up on a year and half in business here in Bend, Ohmert’s fresh-focused, locally sourced menu changes seasonally so you’ll have plenty of reasons to return with the seasons.
This article appears in Jan 28, 2025 – Jan 28, 2026 and Toast! 2025.
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