Catch at the Casa Del Mar Hotel

Catch is a nice restaurant at the Casa del Mar Hotel in Santa Monica, California. You can look out and see the beach and enjoy the California sunshine from inside. If you ever see the deal offered by Travelzoo for a 5 course meal for 2 which includes a glass of their signature cocktail, or red of white wine or real champagne (not sparkling wine) Perrier Jouet Grand Brut; make the purchase.

You will be pleasantly surprised at what you get. I included a copy of their special menu. They did not skimp on anything. I met my son there last night. The scene is vibrant; so vibrant that its a bit noisy since it has a huge bar area and last night, it seemed everyone from Santa Monica was unwinding. They even had live music. If you are able to tune that out, it is still possible to have a nice dinner.

We started with the Truffle Artichoke Soup. This was good but didn't make me jump for joy. The second course we both picked  the Dungeness Crab Salad with avocado, mango, crispy ginger in a citrus vinaigrette. This was indeed very good. The flavors of the the avocado and the ginger and mango with the chunks of crab was pure delight. The third course was the Ricotta Cavatelli. Cavatelli was new to my pasta vocabulary. They are pasta shells shaped like mini hot dog buns. This was cooked with mushrooms, thyme (my favorite herb) and mascapone. This could have been our entree, almost enough to fill one's hungry stomach!

For the fourth course, Erik decided on the Pan Roasted Striped Bass with chorizo, clams, spinach and cannelini beans. He seemed to be happy with it. I was much happier with my choice which was the Red wine Braised Beef Shortrib roasted with vegetables and black garlic gremolata (combination of garlic, lemon zest, parsley). There was no need to use a knife as I devoured the meat; it was so tender that it just flaked off.

Couldn't wait for dessert as I had my eye on the Salted Caramel Chocolate Tart with Espresso Gelato. That was perfect. It was a big piece, enough for 2 to share. Erik had the Warm Apple-Cranberry Crumble with Vanilla Ice Cream. I am not a fan of warm desserts so I just had a bite to see if I was missing anything special......not really.

For $80 this was a real bargain. They money you save will need to be applied towards the tip; since it is customary to tip on the full price which was $238.00 and the $7.00 parking fee with validation and tip for the valet.