salad

When you have really great oysters, like Catch 38 had the night we were there, I can understand letting them shine. However, even with really great oysters, sometimes you’d like to be able to mix and match them in increments less than 6. You’d also appreciate a slice (or even better a wedge) of lemon larger than the one in your cocktails and enough yuzu mignonette to see what it tasted like with the oysters.

Luckily, if Chef Wesley Dier & Bryn Bahnatka-Dier are paying attention, these are super simple fixes to make and this could easily become a terrific addition to the Rhinebeck restaurant scene.

Catch 38 is a bright airy take on an upscale seafood shack. It’s definitely upscale, and very much not a shack. There is plenty of seafood and enough meat options to please carnivores too.

We started with a dozen oysters from the West Coast, 6 each of Totten’s Inlet and Pacific Kiss. They were plump, meaty and sweet and I’ll look for them again.

My friend started with the Little Gem Chop Chop salad with veggies. A wedge of Little Gem lettuce, nicely dressed with a cider vinegar dressing and sprinkled with chickpeas, red peppers and carrots, it was a good way to start a meal.

The winner of the main courses was the fish and chips. A few nice chunks of cod battered and perfectly fried sat on a swish of sauce, with a cone of skinny fries on the side. The cod was sweet and delicious and reminded me of how good, good cod can be.

I was intrigued by the lamb sliders. Yeah, I know it’s a place for seafood. But who wouldn’t want to try Tuscan Lamb Sliders with pesto aioli, tomato jam, burrata, spinach, griddled polenta and Parmesan frico? It was a pair of lamb patties, nicely grilled, sitting on the spinach and tomato jam and topped with a slice of burrata and pesto. There were two small discs of Parmesan polenta on the side. It was a tasty combination (although as much as I love burrata, it was a little overpowered by all the other goodies on the burger) and I was glad I’d given it a try.

The guys each had the seared sea scallops with Israeli couscous, beets and arugula. They both said it was more of a couscous and beet salad with scallops and as big scallop lovers, they would have liked more than three scallops.

There were 5 desserts the night we were there, and we tried 3 of them. The Key Lime Muffins were our favorites. This was all about presentation, so I won’t ruin the surprise, let me just say that the “muffins” were like mini Key Lime pies and the sauces that came with them were delicious (as were the muffins).

Also yummy, once you could get to it, was the Chocolate-Chocolate Carmel Sundae. It was served in a traditional sundae glass with chunks of brownie at the top, and layers of chocolate sauce, crunchies etc. underneath. It would have been easier to get all the great layers and flavors in a bite, if the brownie pieces hadn’t been blocking access. Maybe a broad bowl instead of the sundae coupe?

Last up was the Creamsicle Sherbert, made from blood oranges and buttermilk. Everyone liked it with the fresh berries alongside. I’ve never been a Creamsicle girl, so I went back to work on the chocolate sundae.

Catch 38 shows a lot of promise. We’ll definitely be back–the oysters and fish & chips are worth the trip. The food overall was good and a little more time should help them work out some of the kinks.

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