Catch

Went there with my wife yesterday. Had a wonderful time! I think some of the reviews are very unfair… So I wanted to share my experience.
Décor: great. Absolutely loved the ceiling.
Music: great. One reviewer said it was loud. It definitely wasn’t soft, but I thought it was a good vibe
Staff: EXCELLENT. Ian was our server and he was extremely personable and concerned about our experience.
Drinks: excellent. I had a vodka soda and you can’t mess that up too much, however my wife asked if they had sangria. Ian (who was also the bartender) said they didn’t but would make one. we both appreciated that he would put together a sangria and when it arrived, it was really good! And my wife is Mexican. She’s had many sangrias :)
Service: excellent. They forgot my lobster cocktail though… HOWEVER Ian genuinely felt bad and our drinks were on the house. That was above and beyond as far as I’m concerned
Food: I’m not big on seafood (my wife is… That’s why we went there). She loved her meal. I had the lamb and I have to say it was a little tough. I don’t expect a seafood joint to perfect the meat portion, I do appreciate that it was offered, however a part of me thinks that if you offer it, it should be perfect. My only criticism.
Dessert… Awesome sticky toffee!!!
We don’t venture to St Claire often and we are so glad we did last night. We love supporting local and we wish catch great success.

Horrible service and over salted food. Entrees took a hour and a half and were incredibly over priced. All the portions were remarkablely small and lackluster at best. Could find better food and service at restraunts half the price.

This place is a date that starts off really well, but by the end of it, you know that there will be no second date.
I won’t be going back to Catch, unless I am with a group and I am outnumbered.
The ambiance is alright. It looks nice when you walk in, the ceiling is really funky, there are nice retro lights, and the bar is attractive. There is an open kitchen, and the tables have that currently trendy live wood edge. The chairs are hard and uncomfortable, and something I would expect to see outside of a restaurant on the patio, not inside. The seating is really tight, like they have tried to cram just a few more tables in.
Someone took my coat and gave me a coat slip. Nice touch.
The service was alright. My cocktail did not arrive as quickly as I would have liked, especially since I could see it sitting on the counter, waiting to be delivered. We received bread, which I don’t eat, and then the appetizer arrived in good time, and it was hot. We had the lobster fritters. These are pretty good, but not really much of a flavour, so you really need to use the sauce.
Then we waited for our wine, and then for our dinners. The wine arrived first, and then the server tried to serve us the food that was for another table. Interestingly enough, the other table ordered the same sides as us. So once that confusion was straightened out we waited some more for our food. Now we are getting to the, I am half done my glass of wine, and where is my dinner point of the meal. When the food arrived, I was served last. This always happens to me at restaurants, and at this point in life I am getting annoyed. Not only was I served last, my food arrived cold. I ordered the mixed grill, which is a mix of seafood served in a skillet over a bean salad.
Well, they tell me that they serve the fist over a cold salad, and they are aware of the fish being cold problem. So here is what I think. 1. either tell me the fish will probably be cold when it gets to the table (and I won’t order it) or 2. fix the way you serve the dish, especially when it is $ 25 just for the grill, not including the sides.
So the dish was taken away to be reheated, and I sat and waited for a few minutes while my partner ate his piping hot food. My level of annoyance is rising.
We had 2 sides. The broccoli and the mushrooms. Huge pieces of broccoli are the side. We were not provided with knives capable of actually cutting the broccoli so I ate it by eating first it leafy head and then its mostly tender stem. The mushrooms are really garlicky, and I can still taste them, even after thoroughly brushing my teeth. (To me this is not a good thing).
Once my plate was returned, I found whatever fish they had put in there to be sort of fatty and not at all to my taste. The 1 shrimp tasted like shrimp and the calamari tasted like calamari. Overall, it was highly unimpressive and could have used some better fish (these may have been anchovies that were over charred) and some pepper.
We did not get dessert. I asked for my coat as we gave them the credit card to pay for the meal.
Overall — entirely too expensive for food that is nothing better that what I can make at home for a fraction of the price. Actually, all the fist I make at home is better than what I had, and is a fraction of the price.
There are 2 stars here because I am not sick after eating here, the wine was good, the cocktails were excellent and the ambiance was alright (until they turned up the music so loud I had to yell at my date). But, I am not going back.

I’ve been here twice– both on a date night, and I have to day the service and food are both great.
The first time we went we didn’t order very well, we felt like eating fresh and light seafood but accidentally ordered too heavy and got a deep fried plate of food. It was okay but nothing special and somewhat greasy.
The second time we felt like just eating seafood and ordered just that– the seafood tower! It did not disappoint! The seafood was fresh and beautifully prepared. The mussels had incredible flavour and were especially plump (even though they’re not in season right now). The octopus salad was wonderful, perfectly tender octopus with basil and tomato.
We will definitely come back here.

I came to Catch around 6:45 on a Thursday evening for dinner. I was really excited to try Catch because I love seafood and it came highly recommended by a friend.
The restaurant wasn’t too busy when we arrived, but it filled up pretty quickly. It is a small establishment, so if you are keen to go then you may want a reservation. As other reviewers have mentioned, the restaurant becomes extremely noisy and it is very difficult to hear your companions speak. I am a young person and had to ask my friends to repeat themselves on numerous occasions. The décor is pretty basic although they do have interesting serving plates. I also liked how there is a very open kitchen (look to your left when you enter) so you can see everything the chefs are doing.
Service was satisfactory. There was a bus boy and it seemed like his only job was to clear plates and fill water glasses. Our glasses were never empty, but he always seemed to be at our table. This could be fixed if they used bigger water glasses!
There were a few things that irritated me about our service that made me feel like the waitress was trying to increase the size of our bill:
1) My friend and I wanted to share a glass of white wine and she clearly explained this to the waitress and asked her to bring a second empty glass. When our waitress came back, she returned with two rather full looking glasses of wine. When we asked if that was one glass that had been split in half, she said she had thought we ordered two glasses of wine.
2) When asked about dish recommendations, she always suggested the more expensive of two options. This happened twice to me, so it seemed a bit suspicious.
3) As other reviewers had mentioned, the waitress recommended a pound of fish per person if you go for «the big catch». But, there were no fish that were 1 pound, the smallest was 1.5 pounds. You also hVe to be careful because the prices of the fish are not indicated on the specials chalkboard and you have to ask for them. Prices ranged from about $ 50 to over $ 80.
The reason why this restaurant gets three stars rather than two is because of the food. Three of us ordered:
1) Gazpacho ($ 10) — this was the worst dish of the meal. It was a gazpacho soup with seafood garnish. (1 shrimp, 2 very small scallops, a hunk of white fish, and a few rings of calamari). The calamari was extremely chewy and I personally found it to be inedible. The flavour of the gazpacho base was decent and had a bit if a kick, but I found it to be rather salty and disgustingly oily such that I couldn’t finish it. I would never order this dish again… and it came recommended from our waitress.
2) Tuna Cesar salad ($ 11) — this was a decent portion and my friend liked it.
3) Clams linguine ($ 19) — another good sized portion and my friend finished it off, so I think he enjoyed it! It was a bit odd that they did not give him a spoon for the linguine or a side plate for his empty shells and he had to ask for both.
4) Sea diver scallops with a sweet pea purée and a bacon garnish ($ 29) — my friend loved this dish and said she would definitely order it again. I tried a bite of one of her scallops and would have to agree that they were quite well cooked.
5) Roasted halibut with a zucchini leek side ($ 30) — this came with two good sized fillets of halibut. The fish was cooked perfectly. The zucchini leek side consisted primarily of olives and capers, and I did not find much zucchini or leek. Might would order this again if I came back to the restaurant.
6) Sautéed kale and spinach with roasted garlic ($ 5) — my friend ordered this as a side to her scallops. I had a bite and I thought that the greens were fine, but rather flavourless. I wouldn’t order this dish again, but would try a different side instead.
The scallops and the halibut were what elevated the restaurant from two stars to three. There are many other interesting restaurants in the area, and new ones are constantly opening. I wouldn’t go back to Catch just for the halibut and the scallops. Overall I was disappointed with my experience.

I’m so happy I chose Catch to celebrate a very specail occasion with my boyfriend.
As soon as we walked into the restaurant I was very impressed by the décor and ambiance. The space is small but inviting.
The bar is cozy and a good option if you are reservationless.
You can see the chefs working their magic in the open concept kitchen
Cool wood slabs serve for tables and some booths are available for parties of four.
The food
We ordered the chowder, soft shell crab and octopus &chorizo jam.
Everything was delicious but the octo was like heaven in my mouth
For our main we ordered the grouper. The fish is served whole and deboned at the table. The main came with two sides;kale and roasted potatoes. The Grouper itself was very simply seasoned and even tasted a little bland compared to to our previous dishes
The booze
the cocktails are all $ 10 and they are super yummy. I must say that they don’t cheap out on the alcohol, some of them have up to 3 oz of alcohol. Try the 744
Dessert
We shared the passion tart? the name escapes me but this was nothing to write home about.
I would definetely come back to try the ceviche and octo pasta.

NOTE: Skip the pre-​2014 reviews — new chef and new menu as of February.
Obviously the fresh whole fish is supposed to be the star of the show here, so that’s what we did on a recent Saturday visit. Our server advised a pound per person, so our party of 4 ended up ordering a pair: Lake Erie pickerel and Florida porgie (market price turned out to be about $ 65 each). Sounded like a lot of fish to me, but what do I know? Have one of the many cocktails while you work up your appetite (between our group, we inhaled a martini, Negroni, Prosecco, and something with an egg white).
The fish was deboned for us at the table. Both were cooked quite simply but the pickerel was really delicious — tender, savory and smooth. The meatier and slightly bland porgie was a little less so, but we still enjoyed it.
I also tried the Scallop & Shrimp Ceviche ($ 14) and Albacore Tuna Tartare (with taro chips, $ 15). Nothing inventive, but fresh and flavourful.
Our 4 side dishes were just okay, though my dining partners seemed to like the very dry roasted potatoes. The Rapini with Chili & Maple didn’t taste as exciting as it sounded, but it was certainly better than the Black Kale & Spinach which was hangin’ so tough I nearly «got on the floor and did the New Kids’ dance» while my molars attempted to chew through. French fries were good, as they often are.
For dessert, we had apple fritters. Not bad, but didn’t add much to the experience.
Catch catches about 3.5 stars overall for me. Some fantastic fish and solid seafood dishes, but the supporting acts leave something to be desired.

I am not the biggest fan of fish, but after eating here, I have changed my mind! Catch is under new management with a new staff and new chef, Matty Cowan. Patrons enter through the side and get a glimpse of the open kitchen where there is fresh fish and fresh ingredients for all to see. The décor is beautiful (check out the ceiling) and the wine display on the way down to the very clean and chic restrooms makes you want to order a few extra bottles.
We had: the charred beet salad with pickled pear, smoked haddock puffs, mushroom croquettes, black kale and spinach, grilled octopus and the fresh whole fish served family style. Everything was absolutely delicious. The chef went out of his way to make me a customized mushroom pasta dish (it was yummy) and I HIGHLY recommend the chocolate peanut butter brownie for dessert.
I have also gone for drinks and dessert at the bar and if you don’t want one of the very well made drinks on the cocktail menu, they will make you one of their off menu ones.
The staff is friendly, knows the menu and made some excellent recommendations. The chef takes the time to come around to every table, introduce himself and get feedback from the customers.
The owner and new management team has done such an excellent job with the new Catch, that I look forward to many more meals here!

Had a great time at catch, great food and service!
The octopus chorizo was amazing and i highly recommend it.
My only complaint would be the music, it was random top 40 non sense, they need to play some jazz or something.

I came here for dinner the other night with my family and it was horrid. The battered and fried apps were overly greasy. Clearly the oil wasn’t hot enough. I ordered the trout for my main and honestly, the plate had the worst presentation I have ever seen. It looked so unappetizing. I didn’t finish it. It wouldn’t have been a big deal if the fish actually tasted good, but it was quite mediocre. That was my first and last time at Catch.

Fabulous restaurant. Incredible décor. Came for dinner on a Friday night, the food was so fresh and well presented. make sure to save room for desert. Unbelievable.

We came here for a family lunch on Sunday. Everything was great, server talked a bit too much but better than the opposite!
We enjoyed the food and the coffee is amazing, Unicorn Coffee.
I really like the ceiling here, sounds lame, but it’s pretty.
Try the clam chowder with the deep fried biscuit. Sooooooo good!!!

They had really good swordfish. it was tasty and fresh.
Also got a bowl of mussles, it’s not bad but could be better.

We have been to catch 5 times now. First 4 times were amazing! Last nights meal was very disappointing! If that was our 1^st visit it would have been our last…
something has changed dramatically

This was a memorable meal. Not the cheapest place but it is a great dinner out. Wife and I stopped in without a rezo, got a seat quickly and started in. We ordered our fish dinner, get the entire fish! it was plated well and an amazing flavor. Fun night out.

Nice ambiance, but overpriced. $ 34 for a small plate of halibut on pureed butternut squash topped with fennel. It was delicious, but should cost less for the portion size.
Sides are well priced and tasty. For example, ‘kale with warm peaches and double smoked bacon’ (7 $) was out of this world delicious and generous size, as was the roasted cauliflower. The «slaw» salad was tasteless coleslaw — skip it.
Nice service, good music, great date place.

Went there for our anniversary — we live in the neighbourhood and I’ve been wanting to try it out since we saw them renovating the space.
There seem to have been a lot of changes to the menu since the various reviews that I read online. Some of the items that previous reviewers had raved about (e.g. fried smelts, shaved Brussels sprouts) were no longer on the menu, and some current items that looked as though they would have caught a reviewer’s eye were not mentioned anywhere I read. I don’t know whether they charge anymore for their bread, and we didn’t have any of the problems with the service or the menu arrangement that a prominent Globe and Mail reviewer seemed to have back when they first opened.
We ordered both the East– and West-​coast oysters that were available that night, and they were wonderful, completely different from one another, with complementary tastes and textures. The server described them very well when we asked about them. The mignonette was classic, but the tomato-​and-​caper sauce isn’t my favourite, and the horseradish lacked punch.
We shared a whole grilled Lake Huron trout (1+ lbs), with cubed celery root dressing and a really flavourful sauce (chilis and something else — I forget), that was perfectly done, silky and flaky on the tongue. The server happily filleted it for us at the table (it wasn’t a very busy night, so he had the time to do so rather than just tell us how to go about it ourselves). With beautifully grilled asparagus and golden-​crisp thyme frites as sides, we were pleasantly full by the end.
There *are* some items on the menu that I would consider prohibitively expensive, and several that are more gimmicky than most people are likely to want (a whole goat stuffed with fish for $ 400, prepared with 4 days’ notice? No thanks!), but the essentials on the menu were varied and interesting-​looking, and, since it appears that they are open to changing their menu (seasonally?), likely to avoid getting boring. I’d go back, but probably only for another special occasion.

I don’t even really like seafood, but I was very impressed with the flavour combinations they used. I had the scallops, which I would definetly recommend.
The staff was friendly and did a fantastic job detailing what the specials were. The beer pairings were also well selected.

Food was good and the atmosphere was pretty good, but then it all went to pot at the end. Did not ask for the bill but were presented a bill, questioned on how we would like to pay, and then asked if we would like to sit at the bar so another couple could have our table.
Not an inexpensive restaraunt so this completely caught us off guard. If you are going to offer quality food at the prices you are, do not rush the guests out.

Average. Expensive. Took 40 mins to get a glass of wine. Ridiculous small portions (I left hungry) Goofy wait staff. Underwhelming. And won’t be going back. Oh it was earth hour last night and they didn’t participate. Brutal.