NJ.com | Photo Credit: @Foxy_Grandpa Vicki Hyman

Ironically, Jersey City’s hot new fish shack is far from the waterfront and downtown’s hipster eateries. Hooked JC is nestled in under-the-radar Bergen-Lafayette (translation: there is actually street parking available), and the simple menu (fish and seafood grilled, blackened or fried, tucked in po’ boys or served up on platters) matches the laid-back vibe of the neighborhood. In addition to the standbys shrimp, oyster and crab cakes, chef and co-owner Tory Aunspach brings in daily specials that might include hake, porgy, snapper, monkfish, sole — whatever is freshest. “The stuff I get is shipped directly from the docks,” he says. “They don’t even have a warehouse.” Hooked JC is “aggressively BYOB,” he says. The liquor store down the street will even deliver.

Try: Fried oyster po’boy with remoulade platter with French fries, jalapeno-honey hushpuppies and jicama-green apple coleslaw, $14; grilled scallops, $12; mac and cheese, $4.

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