Downtown restaurant Catch opening for dinner
After two years I finally tried Catch, the award-winning casual restaurant featuring sparse hours (Mon-Fri, 11am-2pm) and a seafood menu. While its chef, the well-regarded Keith Rhodes of Deluxe fame, likes to mix traditional southern dishes with a curious medley of Asian influences, it somehow works.
The mouth-watering Charleston lump crab cake, for example, is generously proportioned and arrives on a comfortable bed of yellow curry potato salad. It takes a little getting used to the former being hot and the latter cold, but that’s a minor quibble. The accompanying salad’s red curry dressing is outstanding.
My wife, not a huge fan of blackened anything, threw caution to the wind and sampled the blackened catfish with cheddar cheese grits. The verdict? She could barely be talked into sharing any with me.
The menu, a little too heavy on fried food for my tastes, also features shrimp, calimari, salmon, fried rice, wraps, and a Vietnamese sandwich.
Catch has a narrow, galley appearance, with only a few tables sharing space with mostly countertop dining. The staff is small — just chef, an assistant, two waitresses — but is able to crank out meals with facility.
Lunch entrees range from $9 to $14.95.
The good news is that I was told Catch will finally be opening for dinner, beginning Oct. 6. The restaurant will also start serving alcohol, starting with local microbrews.
What happens when Mr. Rhodes has to juggle lunch and dinner at Catch and dinner at Deluxe? “He’ll be hustling,” is what I was told. True that.
Updated this to a a feature. -ed.
Thanks to Lisa’s great site Dine Wilmington Online for their glowing Catch review, and for the images, which I stole.
I’ve been hearing great things about Catch, Ranald.
They won something…or had some big notice lately?
My hipster mother-in-law who does not even live in Wilmington has eaten there and absolutely loved it–looks like I’ll have to check it out too.
I think–but correct me if I’m wrong–that owner and chef, Keith, has won the Paula Dean Award for Fine Southern Cuisine like 50 times. That’s huge… I’ve eaten there once for lunch and loved every second!!
O… and a BIG-TIME plug for DineWilmingtonOnline: folks should check out their VIP Dining Program. It allows you to eat at a new place weekly (I think) with awesome discounts… all about the experience. Check it!
Catch (and Keith) was also a finalist this year in the NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Best Dish in North Carolina (Casual Dining Division). The meals cited were:
NC Sweet Potato Coconut & Red Curry Soup
Heirloom Tomato Salad
Oriental NC Blue Crab Dip with warm local Boursin Cheese
Iron Skillet Blackened
Carolina Catfish Filet
You can see a link here:
http://www.ncagr.gov/markets/gginc/bestdish/
I had lunch there once and was totally pleased. I’m curious about the extended hours.