I had not been to Catch 35 in quite some time, and when a friend mentioned he had eaten there recently and enjoyed it a lot, I figured it was time to take another look.
35 West Wacker Dr. Chicago,60601
Phone: 312-346-3500
Cuisine: Seafood
Parking: Yes
Serving: Lunch Dinner
I am referring to the Catch 35 downtown on Wacker Drive, not the one in Naperville (though I did review that location shortly after it opened about two years ago). The way I see it, Catch 35 is holding up rather nicely, and the atmosphere is as classy-casual as ever.
This seafood restaurant, with the exception of the questionable way some of the fish get subjected to the crust idea (Parmesan-crusted here, crab-crusted there), goes with preparations that straddle the line between contemporary American and exotic Asian.
An example of that would be the sea scallops (jumbo, and not much shy of a hockey puck in size) that are glazed with an Asian mustard soy sauce and served in the company of a Parmesan risotto. What makes that arrangement rather clever is that each part of the dish keeps to itself, so there is a pleasing separation of flavors with the scallops over here and the risotto over there. Generally speaking, seafood and fish are not a match made in flavor heaven (the Parmesan-crusted whitefish, though I didn't try it, sounds downright weird).
Interestingly enough, I can count the number of pure seafood restaurants downtown without using all my fingers. True, there are hybrids all over the place (Catch 35 does throw a token to meat eaters, the sum of which is four steaks), but when it comes to the full catch, Catch 35 has quite a boatload of choices.
For example, all of the hot appetizers relate to seafood in one form or another. And under cold appetizers, there's usually an assortment of oysters (of the day). And there's maki (seven choices). "Crab & Lobster" preparations deal with Alaskan king crab and lobster tail. And the seafood heat continues with what the restaurant calls "Asian Flair." Also, there are a half dozen choices listed under "Fresh Fish," many of which allow for different styles of preparation.
So let me start with the Florida red grouper, a fish high on my list of favorites. Choose from two preparations -- blackened, with roasted garlic and scallion sauce, or served with a lemon-caper butter sauce. Grouper is a firm, full-textured fish that doesn't need too many extras, so I went with the latter, the lemon sauce nothing more than a light glaze over the grilled grouper, which could not have been cooked more beautifully. Capers and plump caperberries nesting against the fillet upped the flavor ante nicely. On the plate with the grouper there was a deliciously fluffy mound of mashed potatoes and a lattice of perfectly cooked pencil-thin asparagus and a julienne of carrots.
Back to the appetizers for a moment. Two were ordered -- crab cake and Point Judith calamari. When you see Point Judith, you know you are in the right part of the ocean for squid. The large golden rings ("lightly fried," as the menu notes) were tender enough and enjoyed all the way to the end. There are two sauces, cocktail and tartar, should you feel the need to dip. I didn't get the idea behind the tofu satay alongside the squid, but that's just me.
Because I ordered the two appetizers, the crab cake came on a platter with the calamari, so the presentation had a lot of pizzazz. One of the better crab cakes around, I say. Definitely mostly crab -- sweet, succulent crab. The corn relish accompanying the crab cake was, all on its own, very enjoyable. A remoulade sauce also is available if you want to tinker with the crab (I don't tinker all that much with top-drawer crab).
The selections under the "Asian Flair" do, in fact, have flair. Stir-fried shrimp and scallops, sweet and sour halibut, king crab fried rice. And ginger asparagus shrimp. Eight shrimp (about medium) got laced with a ginger and chile pepper "sauce," rather tame on the heat, but that was OK, because the ginger made the dish. Shiitake mushrooms, tender and earthy, added more "flair," and the rice on the plate was nice, as was the asparagus.
Two desserts were sampled. One was fine; one could have been better. The deep-dish apple pie was more mush than magical (Granny Smith would have rolled over if she could see how they turned her apples to something close to applesauce). And, really, the a la mode part needed to go on the pie, not served in a separate cup.
Props, though, for the Key lime pie (a staple dessert for every seafood restaurant), which had the right tang, the right chill, the right crust (well-made graham cracker), and, for good measure, a stratum of whipped cream on top.
Pat Bruno is a local free-lance critic and author. E-mail brunoeats@aol.com. Listen to Pat Bruno talk about food and wine Tuesdays at 6:23 p.m. and 10:23 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays at 7:53 p.m. on WBBM News Radio 780-AM.
