Tag Archives: Catch

Claw’s Lobster Mac & Cheese

On my way home from a friend’s birthday dinner I passed by Claw — a restaurant that I walk by every single day but have yet to go in. (I pass by every morning when I commute to the subway.) It was 11:15 p.m. and I wasn’t even hungry and I all of a sudden got a huge hankering for lobster mac and cheese. I clearly knew what was on the menu because after reading about the joint on Thrillist, followed by reading several rave reviews on Yelp, I knew I needed to stop it.

Immediately after walking in I noticed how spectacularly clean the restaurant is. It’s only made up of a few tables and it’s definitely an in-and-out sort of joint… no way whatsoever is this a place where you go to sit for a long drawn-out meal. You can also see right into the kitchen — the chefs must have OCD because there wasn’t even food any where to be seen (it was that clean!). Since Claw is open until midnight, there were still people dropping in to pick up some late-night food, from the hard-working business man that just left his office, to a group of what looked like book-club ladies that happened to have strolled in.

Of course Lobster is going to be pricey. Luke’s Lobster truck is pretty much priced the same as Claw, except 1. your lobster comes from a truck, 2. you can’t sit down to eat it, 3. there isn’t a wide menu selection like there is at Claw, 4. There is less lobster in Luke’s serving than Claw’s.

I was all of a sudden craving lobster like you wouldn’t believe. And obviously I had come to the right place where everything is made with lobster — lobster rolls, lobster mac and cheese, lobster quesadillas, lobster bisque, etc etc. But I had to stay calm and think to myself “I will come back, no need to order everything on the menu.” So I stuck with just the Lobster Mac & Cheese and I ordered to go because it was getting late and was about to rain.

I spoke with one of the chefs/owners of the place — a very young guy who was telling me that him and his friends (chefs/other owners) graduated from the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) and had opened this joint together. Claw in Chelsea is doing so well, they are thinking about opening another location in Midtown! I hope this happens — it would be nice to have more good food options up in the neighborhood where everyone is working. These friends/chefs/owners really know how to cook lobster — they clearly mastered the art of cooking seafood, the proof is in every single bite.

So I ordered the lobster mac and cheese and headed home. I live only a few blocks away but when I walked out Claw’s door the sky opened up and the biggest rain drops I have ever seen started to fall from the sky. It was such a gorgeous night, not having an umbrella didn’t bother me one bit.

When I got home, I opened up my take-out container, turned around to grab a fork and when I went to dig in Mr. Hudson was sniffing down the gigantic lobster claw that was on the top of the macaroni. HUDSON! I DON’T THINK SO! No way was this cat going to chow down on that lobster, sorry buddy.

types of macaroni

I was fairly surprised with the choice of macaroni used in this dish. I don’t know why, but I found it pretty different since I’ve never seen Campanelle pasta used in a lobster mac and cheese before (I was also comparing to Catch’s choice of elbow macaroni — I thought their lobster mac and cheese was good… but Claw’s is out of this world!). For those who can’t picture campanelle pasta, it’s the type of pasta that looks like “church bells,” actually the literal translation of campanelle in Italian is “little bells.” (Fun interesting fact for you.) But to my surprise the campanelle was an amazing choice since it did a great job holding on to the lobster and the cheese! After googling what the pasta should be used for, I discovered that the noodle is best in a dish with a thick sauce! And the chef cooked it perfectly, obviously the macaroni was in a to-go container for about 15 minutes, it was hot enough to keep cooking a bit while I carried it home — but the campanelle wasn’t soggy or mushy, it was perfect Al Dente.

The lobster flavor was perfectly infused into every single bite. And large chunks of fresh lobster was distributed around the noodles. Not to mention, there was a claw that was used to top off the macaroni! The brioche bread crumbs that were added to the top add another great texture to the plate as well. So, you have the rich, creamy, crunchy, savory lobster mac and cheese — now what!? Now, I need to return for a lobster roll and lobster quesadillas! The freshness and quality of the food just blew me away, there’s no way I can stay away from this restaurant!

A few more things: I loved the decor in the restaurant. Guess what color was used on the booths… CORAL! It reminded me of the beach, the summer, and it overall completed the ambience!

Since there are only a few tables to sit at, if it’s busy just take the food to-go. I’m always hesitant about taking my food to-go because I am convinced the food tastes differently, but the food carried out at Claw remains perfectly fresh!

Catch in Meatpacking

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.

catch restaurant in nyc menu

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!

food from Catch the restaurant

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.

food from Catch in nyc

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!

food from Catch

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!!