Catch Me If You Can

Since Jen will soon be moving to Atlanta (I almost cried just writing that), we're trying to squeeze in as many New York moments as possible.  The first thing we wanted to do was hit up a true scene - girls only.  Catch is the latest and greatest restaurant to heat up Meatpacking which means it had to be our destination.  From what we heard, this place is more about the scene than the food so we stuck to apps, which were supposed to be more reliable than the entrees and allowed us to try more of the menu. 

We were intrigued by the hellfire roll, which features pear and balsamic.  The reduction and pear together made for a sweet roll that was good but not very sushi-like.  Next came the salmon belly carpaccio with yuzu and watercress - a simple dish that hit all the right notes.  The scallop dumplings were a waitress suggestion and may have been my favorite of the evening.  The wonton wrappers were thin enough to let you enjoy the texture of the chopped scallops.  It's not pictured, but our next app was the crispy shrimp.  These had less spicy mayo than your typical rock shrimp, but the flavor was all there, miraculously, without that extraneous goop.  The shrimp were also larger than normal so that gets an extra bonus point.  We ordered a side of lobster mac and cheese because...it's lobster mac - we couldn't resist.  It was just as creamy as we had hoped.  For the one non-seafood dish of the night, we ordered the mushroom spaghetti with tomatoes and a parmesan cream sauce.  I honestly didn't expect much from that one, but found it very comforting.

Although I said plenty of times that I didn't want this to be any sort of birthday celebration, Steph and Jen managed to order a dessert platter while I was in the ladies' room.  What sneaky girls!  It was a plate full of all sorts of cookies, including a gooey chocolate chip straight from the oven.  I have such amazing friends who know the way to my heart is an extra plate of food!

I'm sure I went in with low expectations, but I was pleasantly surprised by the food.  It turns out Catch is more than just a pretty face place to see pretty faces.  Their seafood small plates are worthy of a pre-lounge dinner.  I'm not going to lie; it was expensive (another reason to stick with the apps), but that comes with the Meatpacking territory.  I also highly recommend the Death by Bartender drink for a spicy whiskey punch in the face.  If you want something a little more refreshing and a little less alcoholic, go with the Iris for a fun summer cocktail.