eatwith.ROBINLEUNG.com

Location: 122 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC V6B 1G8 (Gastown)

Phone: (604) 731-3474

Hours: monday – thursday: 8 am – 9 pm; friday: 8 am – 10:30 pm; saturday: 9 am – 10:30 pm; weekend & holiday: 9 am – 9 pm

Hints: 

• Casual style French cuisine
• Coffee
• Brunch
• Street parking
• Park at Tinseltown and walk over
• Dine out  2013 – $28 menu

Web: http://www.catch122.ca/  | Dine Out Menu

 

On the first day of dine out, my girlfriend and I came to Catch 122 cafe bistro. Though the name was familiar to me, I had never visited Catch 122. Now for those who haven’t been to Catch 122, it’s a bistro and a cafe. This meaning it’s more casual than a bistro and you don’t get the same fine dining feeling when you enter say a bistro. By far it’s a cafe at day and a bistro at night.

We arrived at around 6:30pm and one thing I liked about the restaurant was that its tables were fairly spaced out and had plenty of space for walking. As with most restaurants in the area, most of them have a rustic feel to it with their higher than normal ceiling and brick walls. It is quite the same at Catch 122.

We were seated right away and decided on the best beverage for tonight, hot water! It was the best on a cold night and a sick night.

My girlfriend, being the soup lover, of course ordered the soup. I had a little bit. It was a lobster and prawn bisque, lukewarm at best. But it was very tasty. The pan seared scallop was raw but fresh seafood doesn’t really need to be cooked all that well.

I had the house-made duck confit ravioli, ricotta and sage butter. It was exactly what I expected (in terms of portion). Every time I am out and about for ravioli, it seemed that they come in the smallest portion available. And this being the appetizer, it was exactly what I expected. The ravioli was very tasteful despite any sauce except for butter and stuffed with duck confit. A few more would be nice.

My girlfriend had a smoked and braised in house-made bbq sauce bone marrow with mashed potatoes. The vegetables were a bit burnt but the beef was marinated very well making it quite tasteful.

I had the rabbit, cooked three ways. Not every meal would I have a rabbit for dinner, so I was very excited about it. For those who haven’t had rabbit meat, it’s almost like having chicken (if that helps). Think of it as you were eating chicken and not a rabbit. The braised leg in lemongrass rabbit jus was tender but didn’t have enough taste to it. In my opinion, it was my least favourite out of the three. The pan seared  dijon pistachio crusted rack was quite delicious, though lacking meat but was quite tasty. The prosciutto wrapped tenderloin stuffed with mushroom and sage was my favourite. It was both tender and full of flavours. The pumpkin mashed was a good compliment and nice presentation.

After the two entrees, I was pretty full. I wonder if it had anything to do with my appetite and being sick.

My girlfriend had the PBJ ice-cream sandwich, which I thought was quite creative. It wasn’t an original ice-cream sandwich, the peanut butter was represented by their house-made peanut butter ice-cream and their jelly was represented by raspberry sorbet. My girlfriend thought the combination was quite awkward but I quite enjoyed it. The sorbet countered the sweetness of the peanut butter ice-cream. The sandwich was represented by two shortbread cookies, tender and soft.

I had the Belgian triple chocolate terrine with a raspberry red wine coulis. The chocolate terrine was a bit too sweet to my liking so I gave the bigger half to my girlfriend.

Overall, I was very pleased with the dine out offerings at Catch 122. Although there are reviews saying that its service wasn’t up to par, but I wouldn’t agree. The staffs were quite friendly but I was quite confused who are server was because we had different servers throughout the evening. The food was great and we were definitely full to out stomachs. Ambiance, it’s a very casual (cafe) type of restaurant. Even though it was Friday night in Gastown, I didn’t feel too out of place. Especially, when I wasn’t wearing anything fancy. Parking could be a challenge here because only street parking is available. I’ve asked the waitress there and she mentioned that many people who drive will parking at Tinseltown and walk over. So price, I think it was definitely worth $28.