I have wanted to go to Catch for years now, and finally I have accomplished my goal on Valentine’s Day. Catch is located right in the middle of Chelsea, although it was not always easy to find. It is located on the second floor of a building, over Sephora. Catch has always been known for its trendy and chic feel and cool rooftop.

Upon entry, I immediately liked the vibe. You must take an elevator to get to the second floor, and as you wait for the elevator you are greeted by a shrine of candles (mildly odd, but pleasant). Once you get to the restaurant, you see a comfortable, spacious restaurant with pleasantly dim lighting and nautical decor. The marine theme is slick and tasteful, and you don’t feel like you’re at the bottom of a rusty ship. The background music is all over the place — In my dinner, I songs from old school rap to something resembling EDM, but the music is not too loud to distract heavily.

The menu looks great. Everything seems very appetizing, and the prices vary significantly. After much exploration, I had concluded that the most popular, aesthetic, and tasty dishes seemed to come down to the Crispy Rice Cakes, Lobster Mac & Cheese, and the Catch Roll.

I am a huge sucker for crispy rice with tuna on top, so that was an easy option. It was excellent, and by far, my favorite of all the dishes. The presentation was very clean, slick, and appetizing. The crispy rice was exactly that — crisped to perfection, and was complemented perfectly with the tuna on top. I would eat it right now if I could.

I was very surprised by how amazing the Lobster Mac & Cheese was also. Usually, macaroni and cheese is a tremendous hit-or-miss. Sometimes, it looks great, but tastes unexceptional, or vice versa. However, I will give Catch credit where credit is due. The Mac & Cheese looked beautiful, had real chunks of lobster, was not too oily, and had tremendous flavor. Mac & Cheese is easy to critique harshly, but they did a good job.

The Catch Roll is honestly nothing crazy special, although it was very tasty. The true appeal comes from the fact that they torch it upon giving it to you. Yes, they literally swing a fiery torch over your sushi, and it makes for some great pictures or videos. However, I truly think it is all a gimmick. It made no difference in sushi appearance or flavor. But, I’ll take it — it looked cool.

Lastly, there was dessert. Catch is very famous for their “Hit Me” dessert — featuring a brownie, ice cream, Klondike bar. The whole hype is over the fact that you get to break the top of the dessert with a spoon, and watch its contents spill over the tower as it oozes over the #HitMe chocolate sign on the plate. On Valentine’s Day, they truly made it a special treat. Catch decided to turn the dessert into a heart-shaped tower, and made the inner contents red, resembling a heart. So, yes — We broke hearts.

There is also a Smores pizza, served on an unnecessarily large and thick slab of wood. However, the pizza was very tasty, and came with a good side of marshmallow ice cream.

However, overall — I’d say that the desserts were more for aesthetics rather than taste. I truly enjoyed the main dishes as they were unique, tasty, and well-made overall. I would definitely order the Crispy Rice Cakes again, and probably the Lobster Mac & Cheese.

I would definitely return to Catch. The area, atmosphere, and overall standard of the restaurant is quite high. Sure, it may be hyped a bit, but it is hyped for a reason. I have yet to go to the rooftop, so that will be my next visit.