Game Day at The Catch - CLOSED

The Catch

2100 E. Katella Ste. 104

Anaheim, CA 92806

I used to live, eat, and breathe baseball. Back when I was a kid, I collected baseball cards and scheduled my day around baseball on TV (this was way back when there were only like six games aired a week), and I used to be able to tell you every team's starting lineup. But, unfortunately, my love for the game faded after the labor disputes, and my introduction to faster-paced sports, like hockey. I still like baseball, but sitting down and watching a 3-hour game on TV is hard. Plus, now there are too many restaurants for me to write about.

Another reason for my lack of interest this year has been the poor play of our hometown Angels. They are awful. I could probably write forever about how bad they are, but this is not a sports blog, and I would probably drive most of you away. I still do enjoy going to the games, though. Most people love getting a hot dog at the game, along with some peanuts and maybe even a beer. Unfortunately, I find the food at Anaheim Stadium to be pretty bad. They offer Jack in the Box, Chronic Tacos, and Panda Express. Not exactly mouth-watering options here. The hot dogs are not even as good as they used to be. In the two games I have been to this year, the hot dog buns have either been stale or too soggy. The hot dog itself was not as flavorful as I remember from my youth.

So with the limited dining options at the stadium, a good alternative is to eat before the game, but where to go? There are a smattering of restaurants that surround Anaheim Stadium. Still, only one of them borders the parking lot, which helps cut back on the walking involved getting to the game, especially after a few adult beverages. That restaurant is an OC original restaurant, The Catch. They moved from their original location around the corner on State College at least three years ago. This new version of The Catch has a much more modern feel and a lighter, vibrant vibe. We were recently invited to see what they offer before the Angel games and see if it could match what is provided at the stadium. I am sure the guys at The Catch are not worried about being outdone by the cold pizza and hot dogs being served across the parking lot.

We were greeted out on the fantastic patio with our choice of cocktails. They were featuring cocktails made with Amethyst Gin on this particular afternoon. Amethyst Gin comes from the state of Washington, and they are now branching out by coming to California. This gin is distinctive because they add a hint of lavender to it. I could not detect the lavender used here in the first cocktail I had. Next was the Royal Tea, which resembled a Long Island tea but was less sweet and more manageable. I really liked this version a lot. The other cocktail was a Lavender Martini. This had lavender hints but did not overpower the drink too much. A little too sweet for my taste, but Katie enjoyed this cocktail a lot.

I refrained from having a beer because I knew we would have lots of food, and beer always fills me up way too fast. The beer list here is pretty awesome. Along with the award-winning beers from Victor Novak, who creates beers at Taps, the sister restaurant to The Catch, they also have a great list of craft and large-batch beers. At this event, I had the chance to meet Greg From OC Beer Blog, and he seemed really excited by a number of the beers here, especially the Chocolate Porter from Hanger 24. I was happy that I did not bow to the peer pressure of having a beer because the food started making its way out of the kitchen fast and furious.

Starting things off nice and light, the good folks at The Catch brought out Yellow Fin Tuna Tartare ($13.99). Here they use sashimi-grade tuna, diced up and joined in butter lettuce cups with sweet chili and soy sauces, green onion, avocado, and a very smooth wasabi creme fraiche. This had lots of layers going on here. The tuna was lovely and rich, the chili and wasabi cream added a touch of heat to the dish, the soy sauce added a burst of salty flavor, and the avocado helped to cool things down while adding a very smooth element. Again, very well done appetizer, and if you did not want to eat heavy before the game, this might be the plate for you.

Getting into more of my wheelhouse was the Reuben Bites ($11.99). These bite-sized Reuben sandwiches in the fried form are stuffed with corned beef, which is braised in Taps Irish Red Ale, Gruyere cheese, sauerkraut, and then rolled in seeded rye bread crumbs. These are accompanied by a thousand island dressing and a creamy horseradish sauce. These were not as greasy as I imagined they would be. The corned beef got a little lost here, with the big flavors from the sauerkraut and the cheese dominating this appetizer.

Okay, I have to apologize for the next set of pictures. I was so excited to eat that I did not get the full versions of the following two items, so just remember that these are the sampling versions. Sorry about this rookie food blogging mistake. The Twisted Carne Asada Fries ($15.99) is unlike anything you can get across the parking lot at the stadium. They start with a well-fried french fry, then are topped with marinated tri-tip steak, pico de gallo, pepper jack cheese sauce, guacamole, sharp cheddar cheese, grilled scallions, jalapeno peppers, and just for good measure, a toasted chili de Arbol. Tons of layers and flavors going on here. I would have liked a little more cheese on my sample, but looking at the full version, it had more than enough cheese on it. What is an outing to a baseball game without nachos? Right, pretty dull and lame. The Snack Bomb Nachos ($15.99) put those bland tortilla chips and a sorry excuse for cheese sauce to shame served at Angel Stadium. At The Catch, they use two kinds of chips, Frito's Scoops and Salsa Verde Doritos, then pile on the nacho cheese, beef chili, pulled carnitas, sour cream, cheddar cheese, pico de gallo, guacamole, sports peppers, green onions. I liked the inclusion of the Frito's Scoops here because it made scooping up the toppings much easier. The full-size version of these nachos could easily feed four and might be able to be used as an emergency pitching mound at the Big A.

We did not get a chance to try this, but it was too big of a burger not to post here. The O.M.G. Burger ($59.99) is five pounds of ground chuck, ten slices of cheddar cheese, a head of lettuce, a bunch of tomatoes, shaved red onions, dill pickles chips, and mayonnaise, all on a fourteen-inch bun. Just for good measure, this gigantic burger is served with four pounds of fries. Yeah, let's see Adam Richman tackle this one on Man Vs. Food. This burger can also have bacon, avocado, jalapenos, and even double meat added for an additional charge. Suitable for a group of about twelve hungry people, or maybe me and three of my friends.

The Catch is known for its seafood, but after eating these tacos, they might make a name for themselves with their Mexican food. On their Game Time Menu, they offer Tacos By the Rack (12.99 3pc., $24.99 6pc., $35.99 9pc.). They have two varieties: Slow Cooked Pork Carnitas and Blackened Mahi Mahi. Of the two, I was pretty impressed with the carnitas version, a family recipe from Sous Chef Sergio Lopez. Along with the carnitas, the tacos contain salsa Quemada, queso panela, green chile, lime juice, cilantro, and white onion. The pork was tender, while the contents provided a nice mix of flavors and moisture. The tortillas did a fine job of keeping everything together. The Mahi Mahi was a good taco, also. Predictably, the fish was cooked right. This is a seafood restaurant, after all. The chipotle sour cream was a nice topping, along with the Mahi-mahi.

The last item that made it out of the kitchen for us was the Roasted Pork Cemita ($12.99). To be honest, I had no idea what a cemita was before this event. However, I have since learned that it refers to the bread used. The bread originally comes from Puebla, Mexico, and like the sandwich above, it typically has sesame seeds covering it. The inside of this sandwich should not be overlooked, though. The pork is joined under the bun by Oaxacan cheese, papalo (Bolivian coriander), sweet onion, avocado, lime juice, and pork chicharrones. This was a very hearty sandwich with a very unique taste. I got the flavor in waves. A splash of citrus, the chicharrones' crunch, the onion's sweetness, the avocado's creaminess, and the gently spiced pork all hit at different times while I was eating this.

To finish our night, we had an aptly named Rally Monkey Shot. I was in a food coma when they described what was in this shot, but I know it had 99 Bananas liqueur, chocolate syrup, and something to make it creamy. This shot was little but definitely packed a punch.

So, the Angels are a horrible team right now, and the food at the stadium is not much better. But, if you are going to watch a lousy baseball team, at least you can eat well before it. The Catch is a great spot to enjoy your pregame festivities. The drinks are cheaper than at the ballpark, and the food prices are right in line with the stadium, but with more significant portions and better quality. So, it seems like a no-brainer that The Catch is the place to be before a game. The Game Day menu impressed me, and I did not even mention the Sausage Hoagie or the Highfalutin Dagwood Dog, a foot-long corn dog on a pretzel bun topped with chili, cheese, sports peppers, mustard, red onions, green onions, and jack cheese sauce. Just typing this description makes me want to sit through another Angel's loss, of which there have been many.

We thank everyone at The Catch for this beautiful opportunity to experience the Game Day menu here. The waitresses, bar staff, food runners, and management at The Catch were phenomenal this afternoon. In addition, all of the customers on the patio seemed to be having a great time. Lastly, we would like to thank the great Lee Healy for thinking of inviting us to this great event. Thanks so much, Lee. Everything was great.

If you would like to find out more about The Catch and get more information about any of the items you saw on this blog, click here to go to their website: http://www.catchanaheim.com/

Reeling in Great Tacos at Baja Fish Tacos

Baja Fish Tacos

27755 Santa Margarita Parkway #B

Mission Viejo, CA 92691

This is another one of those restaurants that has been on our list of must try restaurants forever. It has slowly made its way towards the top of our list as we have eaten at other restaurants, and then they get deleted from the list. Baja Fish Tacos was suggested by a reader of the blog, named Tina. Tina if you are reading this, I am sorry it has taken us so long to make it to Baja Fish Tacos, but now that we have eaten here, my only regret is that it took us so long to try it.

Baja Fish Tacos is a mini chain with six locations, including this one. They have another location on the way, which is in Belmont Shore. I have heard that they are close to opening, sometime in the next month or so. If you are familiar with the area, they are taking over the spot where Sweet Jill's Bakery once stood. That business, along with four others, have been relocated to other parts of Belmont Shore to make room for this totally revamped restaurant.

Now that you are up to date with all of the news from Baja Fish Tacos, let's talk about our visit to this Mission Viejo location. Baja Fish Tacos is located in the same center that includes a Sprouts Supermarket, a Claim Jumper, and right next door is a Grill Hut. We got here at about five on a recent Sunday afternoon. A little early for dinner, but there was definitely a steady stream of customers throughout our stay here. Ordering is done at the counter, you are given a number, then the food is brought out to your table. This location of BFT has about twenty or so tables inside, and a nice enclosed patio outside with another fifteen tables. The ceilings are high, so you get a feeling of openness. They have large HD TVs setup in the dining area, all tuned to sports. The food made it to our table in a timely manner. Let's see what we thought about our food at Baja Fish Tacos.

Before we got our food we checked out the salsa bar that is near the registers. The salsa here is not going to burn your taste buds off, but it does add a nice touch of flavor to whatever you put it on. I am usually more partial to red salsa, but the verde salsa here is my favorite of the two. The salsa bar also features pico de gallo, chopped onions, and other common salsa bar highlights.

Katie gets us started with a 2 Taco Combo Meal ($8.00). At Baja Fish Tacos they offer six different kinds of tacos. She selected the Blackened Fish Taco and an Ensenada Style Taco. She was really excited by the freshness of the fish and the way it was seasoned. The blacked fish had a burst of flavor, while the beer battered Ensenada style fish had a nice crunchy crust, while not taking away from fish's natural flavors. She also noted that she enjoyed the softer than usual corn tortilla used to hold everything in place. The rice and black beans earned praise from her as well.

As is the case when I am coming to a place for the first time, I kind of went a little overboard at Baja Fish Tacos. The first of my two plates was a 2 Taco Combo Meal ($8.00). This first plate featured both the Blackened Fish Taco and a Carne Asada Taco. I thought that the blackened fish taco had a good flavor, but the carne asada taco overshadowed it. This beef taco kind of reminded me of the tacos from the old Carmel's. I think it was the jack cheese used on it, that set my memory in motion. Just like Katie, I thought the tortillas used here served their purpose of holding everything together, while not getting in the way of the contents. If there was something wrong with these tacos, it is that there's too much lettuce piled on top of them. I took a handful of lettuce off each of my tacos, and had enough left over to make a small garden salad out of it. The beef was chopped in small pieces and was pretty tender. The rice was pretty plain tasting by itself, but I almost always mix my beans with my rice, and this boosted the flavor immensely. The pinto beans were a little on the runny side, but when mixed with the rice they thickened up a bit.

Just for good measure, I ordered two other tacos ala carte on my visit here. The Shrimp Taco ($4.00) was a pretty solid taco. There was a good amount of shrimp in this taco. They are sauteed in garlic and butter, then topped with cabbage, cotija cheese, and their baja sauce, which reminded me of a thinner version of crema. The Ensenada Taco ($3.00) was my fourth and final taco of the night. This taco used beer battered fish as a base, and then is topped with cabbage and baja sauce. This was a very good fish taco. The fish is not soggy, like at other fish taco places. I also thought they were pretty generous with the amount of fish in this taco. One of the best chain fish tacos I have had.

It is pretty rare that we go back to restaurants after we have reviewed them, but we have been back to Baja Fish Tacos three times since this first visit. I guess you can say that we are addicted. It helps that we have started walking around Lake Mission Viejo, and Baja Fish Tacos is a convenient place to have dinner after doing our three mile jaunts around the man made lake. The quality of the tacos here are a step above the other fast casual restaurants tacos. Yes, that means that they are also a little more expensive than the other fast casual restaurants too, but in this instance I think you get what you pay for. Glad we finally made it to Baja Fish Tacos, just wish it had not taken us so long to make it here.

Out of five marlins, (one of the most iconic fish that a fisherman could catch in Baja), five being best to zero being worst, Baja Fish Tacos gets 3 strong marlins.

For more information on Baja Fish Tacos, click here to go to their web site: http://www.bajafishtacos.com/

Something Missing at Pasta Connection - CLOSED

Pasta Connection

2145 W. Chapman Ave. 

Orange, CA 92868

I love when good things happen to my friends. My buddy Richard has pretty much hit the life lottery in the last two years. He probably does not want me to broadcast this, but two years ago he had just gotten out of a horrible relationship. In the short two years since, he has met a wonderful woman, gotten engaged to her, bought a house, and has a child on the way. Basically, he wrapped up the American dream in two years, and has a bright future to look forward to. Needless to say I am very happy for both him and Lindsay. I am also happy because since Richard has moved yet again, there is a whole new set of restaurants to explore in his new neighborhood, starting with Pasta Connection.

This was not the first I had heard of Pasta Connection. A reader of the blog had mentioned it, and I had put it on our long list of places to hit up. Pasta Connection has this location, and another one located in Costa Mesa. They have been around since 1984, using Italian family recipes, along with Argentinian cuisine. This might seem like an odd duo, but one stat I read on-line, (so take it for what its worth), was that 60 percent of the Argentine population has Italian origins. This was mainly due to the open immigration policies of the Argentine government during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, along with a temperate climate, that Italians were already acclimated to. These factors, along with others that I will not bore you to death about, lead to the fusion of Italian and Argentine restaurants.

We got to the restaurant at about 6:45 on a recent Thursday evening. When we arrived there was no other customers in the restaurant. Kind of an eerie feeling, but as the night went on there were about four tables filled, out of the twenty or so that are inside the restaurant. The restaurant is adorned with many Italian and Argentine flags displayed proudly. Spanish music was playing from the speakers a bit loudly, while the TV was tuned to on of the Spanish language stations. The decor here is a bit dated, which helped lend to a laid back vibe. After waiting for Richard and his family to arrive, Katie and I had plenty of time to peruse the pretty large menu. Let's see if we had a love connection with the food here.

Before we get to the food that we ordered, let's take a quick peek at the bread that was served before the meal. This bread was served warm, with a nice crunch to the crust, while the inside was fairly soft. Of course since this is a half Argentine restaurant, the bread was served with a very good chimichurri. A little on the oily side, this added some good flavor to the bread.

You can tell what is Argentine on the menu at Pasta Connection, by the tiny Argentine flags placed by each item. No food item is probably more recognized as being from the second largest South American country  as an Empanada. ($1.95). Here they have five different varieties to choose from, beef, ham and cheese, spinach, corn, and chicken. Katie and I ordered the beef and the chicken. Both were very doughy. The insides were full of stuff, but they really lacked that punch of flavor that I was expecting. A little on the bland side. I did think these were a great value though. You could easily make a meal off of three of these, and get out of here for right around six dollars. Of course we had more food coming out for us.

Most of our entrees included salads, so here's a quick look at the Di Cena Salad at Pasta Connection. This dinner salad came with mixed greens, tomatoes, and carrots, along with your choice of dressing. Pretty standard dinner salad, but I did like the good amount of dressing used here.

Starting our entree portion off is Katie's selection for the evening, The Pasta Connection Speciale ($13.95). These tortellini were filled with meat and covered in white sauce, with a small dollop of their meat sauce. Katie was pleased with her dish. It came out of the kitchen scalding hot, the pasta was cooked well, and the flavor was just enough to keep Katie's taste buds interested. She would not hesitate to get this dish again, but would ask for more red sauce next time.

Richard's soon to be Mother in Law, the wonderful Jolene could not resist the special that they were offering on this night, the Grilled Salmon ($16.95). I really thought the grill marks here made this 8 ounce fillet look real good, but unfortunately her salmon was overcooked, so only the center section of this rather large piece of fish was done right. The ends were very dry and rubbery. The spaghetti this was served with was very heavy on the garlic, which can almost never be a bad thing. Jolene would opt to get something else when eating here again.

Lindsay's Dad, Greg got something that I have never ordered in a restaurant, Angleotti Romano ($13.95). I even had to look up what angleotti was. It's a kind of ravioli from the Piedmont region of Italy, which is in the northwest corner of the country, and shares a border with France and Switzerland, (who knew you would learn some geography on a food blog). Anyways, back to the angleotti. This angleotti was filled with meat, then sauteed with mushrooms and Parmesan cheese, and then topped with marinara sauce. Greg felt this was a good sized portion, he liked the taste of the red sauce, and the mushrooms really stood out for him. He made no mention of the angleotti, so I would assume it kind of got lost here. He did say that he would go a different direction when dining here again.

It too picky Richard a little while to come up with what he wanted to eat, but he finally settled on the Cannelloni Di Carne ($12.95). Here the tubular pasta was filled with ricotta cheese, meat, onion, and Parmesan cheese, then topped with white and meat sauce, and baked. Richard felt the fillings inside of this cannelloni were a little on the watery side, but he did think the pasta was cooked fine, and the combo of the red and white sauces worked well together. Take Richard's opinion for what its worth though, because he is a big fan of awful Chipotle. Sorry, Rich just had to get my anti-Chipotle rant in there.

Sorry for the faraway shot of Tricia's dinner, the Eggplant Parmigiana ($12.95), this was Katie's attempt at food photography. Good work babe, we will work on it. The eggplant parmigiana is baked with both white and marinara sauce, then covered with mozzarella cheese. Tricia was a little disappointed that there was no pasta served with this. She did however think that the serving size of this was more than generous. She liked the sauces used here, but had one slice of eggplant that was not cooked all the way through. Even with this minor hiccup, she could see herself getting this again.

I really struggled with my pick for dinner, but like Lindsay, I finally decided on the Tetrazzini ($14.95). This is usually something I would not order, so I was a little out of my comfort zone here. This dish was made up of chopped up chicken pieces, noodles, mushrooms, and white cream sauce, then was topped with a mound of mozzarella cheese. Neither Lindsay nor I were very pleased with this dish. It was very plain tasting, and was only made better when we asked for some meat sauce to help boost the flavor a bit. I will probably think twice before ordering tetrazzini again. Luckily, I had ordered another sandwich to fall back on.

I was not going to come here, and not try one of my favorite sandwiches, the Argentina specialty, the Sandwich de Entrana ($8.95). Argentina is known for their skirt steak, so I had no choice but to order this sandwich that comes with skirt steak, mayonnaise, lettuce, and tomato. This sandwich was good. The steak was cooked to a perfect medium rare. It was tender, and had a decent flavor profile. I used some of the left over chimichurri to add some flavor and moisture to the sandwich, which made the sandwich even better.

Dessert was up next, and the seven of us split two desserts. You could probably guess that we were already full by this point of the evening. This Tiramisu ($5.95) is a pretty solid version of this now household known dessert, that is on hundreds of menus across OC. This tiramisu had just the hint of espresso, which I enjoy more because I am not really a coffee fiend. This one was not as drenched as others either. The Mil Hojas Cake ($5.95) was a little more adventurous. Translated, this means a thousand leaves. This dessert really struck me as a sister dessert to baklava, but with dulce de leche used on it. Some parts of the cake were dryer than others, but the dulce de leche helped to relive some of that dryness. I also really found the presentation of the desserts here pleasing to the eye. I liked the fork marks used in the design on the plate. Really nice touch.

Out of the seven of us, only two of us would order the same thing that we got on this visit the next time we were here. That is not saying a lot about the food that we had on this night. We were kind of all in agreement that the food was fine, but nothing really knocked our socks off here. My dish was the worst, and was also the only one that did not feature red sauce. It was made better when red sauce was added, so my advice is to order something with red sauce. We had some pretty good service during our visit, which is understandable since there were only four tables of people throughout our visit. The lack of customers at Pasta Connection was kind of unnerving as well. We are all looking forward to exploring more of the restaurants near Richard's new house, but with a baby on the way, we are going to have to make more room at the table. Very happy for Richard and his new family.

Out of five soccer balls, (because they serve Italian and Argentine food here, and both of these countries are soccer powerhouses that have combined to win 6 World Cups), five being best to zero being worst, Pasta Connection gets 2 soccer balls.

For more information about Pasta Connection, go to their website here: http://pastaconnection.net/wp/