My boyfriend and I have been trying to get a reservation for several weeks at this new restaurant in the Meatpacking called Catch. Every time I would call to make a reservation my options were for 5:30 p.m. (no one in Manhattan eats that early, and most people aren’t even out of work at that time!) or 11 p.m. (usually that’s when dessert is supposed to arrive, not your cocktails).

We were thrilled when we landed a 10 p.m. reservation last Friday! My friend Brittany and I had walked past the restaurant when we were wandering the neighborhood a few weeks ago — which ended up being a very useful run-in because the door is kind of hidden. Located right above the new Sephora shop in Meatpacking is where the second floor restaurant hides out. You have to enter the main door from the side where you’ll be let in by a bouncer (the only way to get in is if you have a reservation). Once we walked through the door we took an elevator to the second floor which is where the restaurant is. We shared our reservation with friends who were just as excited as the two of us to check out this new spot. When the doors to the elevator opened we all got an excited grin on our faces and while we took in the scene we knew our food was going to be fabulous!

Catch is quite the catch… you feel like you’ve been transported to this hip, modern seafood restaurant. There’s classic seafood-restaurant decor but with a swanky twist. Catch may be on the “it” list for foodies now, and hopefully it’ll stay there after the summer comes and the locals head out to the beach to escape the city heat and the B&T people head into town.

Obviously the menu is going to be swimming with fish — after all, the restaurant’s name is Catch. Whether you want a big seafood dinner, or order more of a tapas-style — you can do both here. Tapas is the way we went. We ordered plenty of appetizers, both raw and cooked and boy did we love them all. Since the restaurant is so dark, a few of my photos didn’t turn out, so I will only show you the good photos.

My favorite order was the Salmon Carpaccio. I’m really in shock because I never have liked salmon, but lately I love eating it raw! The most important part is what the salmon is served with — the sauce, or garnish. If only raw food didn’t come with a risk, I would eat it every day!

I also loved the crispy shrimp which also sported quite the spice. My boyfriend claims that it wasn’t that spicy but it had one heck of a kick! I love rock shrimp and this order was even better! The spicy glaze on top is the first thing you notice when you pop one of these into your mouth — but then there’s that fantastic crispy texture that has this crispy shrimp hitting the spot.

Next up was the Lobster Macaroni and cream. I was expecting this to look exceptionally creamy, but the look of this dish was very deceiving. It had such a creamy, buttery flavor and the taste of the lobster throughout was what made this the most perfect seafood macaroni. Perfectly cooked — Al Dente — exactly the way any pasta should be cooked, the chef really thought out this dish!

Last but not least… We all know how much I adore tuna, especially tuna rolls! So an order of the tuna roll was a must! All of my favorite flavors and ingredients were used in this roll — avocado and tuna were what made every bite delicious. I found it interesting that a crispy ingredient was used on the very top to add a completely different texture than all of the other typical tuna rolls in other restaurants. This was such a brilliant move on the chef’s end because it really made the roll stand out and while the texture was very different the roll still tasted extraordinary!

Sorry folks, I’m sad to announce that Catch doesn’t have an online menu. Hopefully they can hop to it and throw something up on their website. But, at least you have a few ideas of what you can order because of this post! Every dish I have told you about today was fantastic! There wasn’t a single order that we didn’t enjoy. I can’t wait to go back and sample other plates from the menu!!