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HOOK, LINE AND SINKER: A LOCAL WATERING HOLE

Ambiance: ***
Food: ****
Service: ****
Value: *****
2 Honduras. Breakfast 7-10 a.m. Lunch 11:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Dinner 6
p.m.-10 p.m. Mon.-Sat. American. $/$$. Cards: AX, V, MC. 776-9708.
Places like this make the whole ratings game most problematic. Is it gourmet? NO! Is it unique? Not quite! Is it popular? Yes! Why? Because it is simply good food and a bunch of interesting people enjoying themselves talking about whatever, in an excellent location.
No tablecloths, fancy dishes, candle light etc. In fact, the menu is big enough and the light is bright enough you can actually read the thing. The dinner specials appear on a big board over the bar, and disappear as the quantity dwindles. The waitresses have been here and done that, treating the customers like friends. I mean the place feels homey.
The printed menu carries a honey chicken, which is unique in two aspects. For one, the chicken is actually young and tender. (We used to get only Class D chicken – I'll spare you what that means).
But with all the competition among the many purveyors, the Virgin Islands is finally getting some good chicken, and the dining public is able to get it at HKS. Keep it up, good people.
As to the second point, the crisp covering actually has a most pleasing honey flavor. This is the best I've tasted since the Pub changed ownership many years ago in Roadtown.
The dinner items can be spectacular. I tried the BBQ Ribs and fell in love again. It took me back to my mother's kitchen and the combined flavors of vinegar and lemon married in a sauce, which brought my lips to an immediate pucker.
The ribs were several hearty beef ribs with the most tender meat on the bone and the joint. The meat was not overly fatty to begin with, and much of that had been baked out.
If the dish lacked anything, it was bread to sop up the BBQ sauce.
The vegetables let you know right away this was not a meant to be a gourmet feast. String beans, onions, peppers, etc. boiled until they all changed colors. None of the crisp health food treatment; while flavorful, they were truly dead.
The Cole slaw was healthy if a bit over dressed, and played an excellent second chair to the ribs.
Being undercover, I didn't go into whether or not the establishment had a water filter; but I can report that the overly chlorinated city water presented in my glass did not have any off taste. I had been offered beer, wine, lemonade, iced tea, soda, etc.; but chose to rinse my kidneys with the real thing. No problem. No pressure to purchase designer water, simply a slice of lemon to dress up my tap water, if I so desired. Good show.
The bathroom was surprisingly clean, neat and well stocked given the volume of traffic. For an added bonus, there is even a swapping library of paperback books.
While the Hook, Line and Sinker is not pushing for the most elegant spot in town to partake of Epicurean delights, it sure deserves 5 stars for over all value – especially as a watering hole and lunch spot.
Editors' note: The Tottering Taster is a Senior Citizen dedicated to enjoying good food. He will dine in one local establishment a week and bring you a totally unsolicited assessment biased in favor of an ultimate experience. We are using a pseudonym so restaurateurs will not be able to identify the reviewer and try to influence the review.

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