Recommended based on 44 votes
(The Overall Rating is calculated using a Weighted Average)
Overview of The Catch Seafood Restaurant
The best fresh fish and seafood are selected daily at the fish market, carefully prepared into memorable dishes accompanied with mouth watering desserts, a delightful wine selection and the friendliest service. The menu varies on a daily basis depending on what is available at the markets and other delicious non seafood choices are also always on offer. The ambience is clean, comfortable and relaxed.
What a "catch"! To us, this is the perfect Sydney seafood restaurant, relaxed ambience, efficient and knowledgeable staff and a very interesting variety of choices from the kitchen. Nearly everything on the menu appealed to us, and of the three items we did have, we were thrilled with the quality and preparation. We look forward to our return visit.
Table for 4 on a Friday lunchtime. Had a good time and on most counts The Catch gets a high score, the food is great and the value is superb. The letdown is obviously the position of the restaurant, its not ideal to be having your meal with buses and trucks roaring past down Spit road. Its a small space and its not conducive to having a nice relaxed meal. The restaurant is unsure exactly what it wants to be, offering takeaway as well.
Again, its not exactly what I expected when booking to have guys in wetsuits and budgee smugglers hanging around outside waiting for their lunch pick ups. However, you take the good with the bad, possibly this place is better at night with less traffic, no takeaways, and possibly with the doors closed, the ambience may be better.
The food is fabulous, large portions/fresh seafood and exceptional prices. The lunch special of two courses for $25 is hard to beat. I suppose if the restaurant was on the other side of the complex overlooking the water then the price would be double that. Don't expect water views, unless you can ignore six lanes of busy traffic and catch a glimpse in the distance.
Service is capable. All up cost came to $35 a head and we didn't get charged any corkage which was an added bonus. Each of us left completely stuffed and satisfied. Would definitely come back but would like to try dinner with the doors closed.
Have to say that the food was exceptional. It's great to look at a menu where you are tempted by a few dishes in every course. The seafood was extremely fresh and really well cooked. Each dish brought a smile to our faces, with none a disappointment. The waitress was excellent, was friendly without being in your face. We'll definitely be back. Highly recommend to anyone who wants great food for $45 for 3 courses.
3rd visit, all good until we asked for dessert, at 9:45 the staff had gone home, so couldn't have it, still had to pay $45 each for 2 courses instead of the 3 we had wanted, a shame.
2nd visit, in August, and the food was even better so wanted to up-date my review. My husband wanted to lick his plate it was so good. Still good value at $90 for 2x3 courses. Thanks.
Sat night and the place wasn't full, (it is only small) and it should be! The staff were really nice. BYO made it more affordable and the food was good. My husband loved the pasta dish he ordered. My snapper was nice but I didn't understand why my hand cut chips were such a dark brown, they didn't taste burnt?! The creme brulee would have been nicer without the chocolate at the bottom.
The chocolate pudding was lovely and light. You won't go here for a lovely view, but if they keep the prices down by cooking the best fish they can buy daily, and stay BYO, this restaurant should keep it's head above the financial downturn. I hope to go back soon.
Response from Management:
Thank you for visiting us and taking the time to comment here. It is great to know that you enjoyed your meal and plan to come back.
While making sure we select the best fresh fish and seafood we do our best to keep our prices reasonable sometimes absorbing some of the cost not to exceed certain limits. Although we offer a good selection of wines BYO proves popular with our guests and will definitely stay on. Our hand cut chips are deep fried in frequently replaced vegetable oil and the dark colour comes from the seasoning. We sincerely appreciate suggestions and special requests and are always happy to oblige.
Thank you once again for your kind comments and look forward to welcoming and serving you another memorable meal very soon.
All the best.
Miriam
Top quality for the price. $45 for three courses. Thats good value for this type of food. The decor is a little out of date and the lighting is too bright, giant mirror on the wall, a bit tacky and doesn't match the quality of food and high level of service, or the the location. Whoever the chef is, they know how to cook and present. Full flavours and depth without being too heavy. It was a shame that there were no oysters available even though they show on the menu. Change the venue, keep the staff and the chef, and I would pay $400 for a meal here.
I wouldn't say this place is particularly good value, $45 for three courses is quite expensive, especially when you're only getting a fancy version of fish and chips. However, every course came out perfect, down to every little detail. The restaurant itself is very small, and it was very hard to find if you're not familiar with the area.
The "specials" you find on their website are not really specials, everyone gets offered the $45 3 course meal anyways, I'm not really sure why there is an expiry date on the voucher and why you need to print it out? I found this deceiving.
Also, the menu on their website is outdated (presumably) because some items aren't even offered! The only things you can order are whatever they have on their blackboard specials, which is disappointing and again, deceiving. Guess you shouldn't trust their website.
That said, I enjoyed my meal at The Catch and will probably come back again, if they have true specials.
We recently visited Sydney from Melbourne and were recommended The Catch Seafood Restaurant as a good place to eat. We ate there on Friday evening to a relatively packed house.
The food was excellent and beautifully presented. I started with an entrée of Garlic Prawns and followed this up with the main course of Rigatoni and a dessert of Belgium Chocolate Pudding while my wife had the stuffed Sardines, Jew fish and Affogato. The service was quick and excellent and the serving staff was very friendly and patient. We were so impressed that we booked to eat there again on the Saturday night.
As the restaurant is relatively small, I would recommend booking in advance. I congratulate our host Miriam making both evening culinary experiences to remember.
Response from Management:
It is great to hear that you were impressed with our food and service and we sincerely thank you firstly for dining at The Catch twice in a weekend and secondly for taking the time to register your comments here. Please do let others know about your experience as we rely on word of mouth advertising and look forward to serving you another memorable meal on your next visit to Sydney.
That this absolutely fine seafood restaurant does not have a wait-list nightly, is beyond my comprehension. No, The Catch is not inexpensive, but it's not meant to be. This is a class act, serving only the freshest seasonal ingredients, producing seafood meals of the highest calibre. Their chef, we are told, is obsessed with perfection. It shows!
Not a "buzz" place, The Catch is for grown-ups serious about quality dining and attentive service, all in a relaxed informal setting. Throw in the location (is there a better place to enjoy a Sydney sunset than at The Spit?) and the savings on your byo bottle of Veuve, for about $80 a couple, this has to rank as a top value-for-money dining experience. (Alcohol consumption must remain well below legal limits if driving). Discover The Catch now before word gets out.
Response from Management:
Thank you for dining at The Catch and for your very kind and positive comments regarding your experience. We go out of our way to buy the best ingredients irrespective of the cost and rely totally on word of mouth advertising in order to keep our prices reasonable so we are always ever so grateful when the good word is passed around. It gives us such a nice feeling and great encouragement to know that our effort is noticed and appreciated. We look forward to welcoming you again to The Catch and serving you another memorable meal.
We stopped at Catch on the way from our walk. Every time you come to the new place it is a bit worrying, but we were so much more than pleased. The service is probably the best in Sydney we came across in 7 years living here. Food was great, atmosphere was very pleasant and very unpretentious, considering that prices are a bit on a high side, but food is really worth it. Plus, they were offering great menu deals. Overall, very very very pleased. My husband said, and he is british, that it was the best bear battered fish and chips he had in his life!
Response from Management:
Lots of thanks for stopping at The Catch, for your much appreciated comments and most of all for letting others know about your pleasant experience. It is so nice to get such feedback letting us know that our efforts to the last detail in making not just a beer batter but a unique one at that are noticed and appreciated. We look forward to having you again at The Catch for another memorable meal.
We dropped in for lunch last week as we do from time to time. We've never been disappointed and last week's specials were really special. Stuffed sardines for starters, grilled jewfish on Asian vegies and grilled hapuka with beetroot and capers - sensational. Belgian chocolate pudding was light and yummy. Really great value for high quality food. We will return.
Response from Management:
Thank you for returning to The Catch and for your very kind comments. We really appreciate a good word from a highly esteemed repeat guest, firstly because it is reassuring to know that our efforts are yielding the desired results and secondly because we rely on word of mouth advertising which helps in giving good value. We look forward to having and serving you another memorable meal at The Catch.