Catch 122 Cafe Bistro — Restaurant in North Vancouver

Catch 122 was located in the former Wildebeest location on East Hastings Street, I was pleased to finally had an opportunity to try them out since they “took over” the space.

I opted to go for brunch as I thought it would be easier to get a table and I also wanted to sample their pastries. Especially their cruffins and Cronuts.

We were greeted promptly after we entered the restaurant and without a reservation we got seated pretty promptly at a table near the front window. Unfortunately our server informed us that they only do their Cronuts on the weekend but they have one espresso cruffin ($6) left. We snatched it right away. Along with our cruffin we also ordered the mango coconut croissant ($6.25).

To my surprise, we enjoyed the croissant much more than the cruffin. While the cruffin was flakey and had a filling, it just didn’t compare to the complexity and flavour of the mango coconut filling of the croissant. It was tangy, pack of mango flavour with an undertone of coconut.

For our mains we ordered the Catch Burger with Truffle Fries ($22) as well as the Southern Fried Chicken Sandwich ($18). I know their chicken and waffles was the more popular menu item but compared to the southern fried chicken, the latter had more spice and flavour on paper. Even though both tables beside us had ordered the chicken waffles.

After we had thoroughly enjoyed our pastries we were having high hopes for our mains, however, I regret to say that for whatever reason neither the beef burger patty nor the fried chicken were seasoned with any salt. It was very bland, and I’m not sure if the chef forgot to add salt to our mains or what, but the saltiest thing on the plate was the sliver of pickle that came with the burgers. I also noticed both tables beside us were smarter and had requested for salt and pepper.

Unfortunately because neither mains were seasoned properly, it really took away from the dining experience. The food was cooked and presented properly though, and the spices/flavours were on point, just lacking some sodium chloride.

Even though we went on a weekday for brunch, they were still packed. Service was standard, but we would have appreciated a bit more attention and our server asking us how our food was shortly after it was served. Overall no complaints though.

Our total $73.06 + tips for 2 people. I definitely will go back, even just for their mango coconut croissant, but next time hopefully the mains would be...

It was a bit difficult to find and the parking is not convenient as for some reason the city of Vancouver has limited all car parking on the street. But, once we found this place we were delighted. It's got a real nice feel on the inside. It's cozy, but open and has beautiful mood lighting with elegant lights all throughout the restaurant. Once you step in you can't help but notice the window of freshly in-house baked goods and the bar right behind it. Loved the FengShui of the place. It's one of those restaurants that you just wanna spend time in, but I guess due to its popularity, on the weekend each table has a cap of 1.5 hours.

The dark coffee and Americano were great. Full body, smooth and piping hot. We tried the Mixed Berry croissant and the Nutella croissant. They were both incredible! My favourite was the Mixed Berry. If you're there you have to try the Mixed Berry! We ordered the Pulled Pork Benny, Avocado Toast and the Chorizo Breakfast Sandwich.

They were all presented tastefully. The Avocado Toast and Chorizo were both on point with their ingredients, flavour profile and consistency. However, I didn't like the Pulled Pork Benny, which was my dish. (Murphy's Law....right! the one dish not so good goes to the one writing the review LOL) Pulled Pork if done right is one of the tastiest dishes in my opinion. However, it's hard to make, because it has to keep its moisture at the same time the amount of sugar which can dry out meat has to be carefully navigated. My Pulled Pork was so sweet that I couldn't eat much of it. The amount of sugar was so much that I couldn't taste the pork and overpowered even the egg yolk and since I had the wonderful croissant just before my main, it was too much sugar for me. Instead of the Pulled Pork being slightly sweet and savoury it was sweet, sweet, sweet. I'm afraid I didn't much enjoy the potatoes either just because they were slightly burned and oily, so again you just tasted the oil. The salad was lightly dressed and fresh so I had most of that.

The service was great! Anna was our server and she did a wonderful job. We were never left wanting.

The restaurant itself is in a bit of a shady neighbourhood, but I guess that's not much of a big deal, as when you step in, the atmosphere is completely different and takes you...

Despite having been here multiple times (the only brunch place to have this honour in Van😅) I realised I never reviewed Catch 122. Located somewhat inconveniently in North Van, their dishes remind me of Melbourne Asian-inspired brunch menu. Place was bright and airy with nice lighting from the floor to ceiling windows. Service was just the right amount of friendly, not overbearing yet attentive enough to make sure water is never empty. Drinks were unfortunately very average across the board.

KFC Dutch Baby Baked Pancake ($23) 9/10 Despite not being recommended by the staffs (apparently their bestsellers are eggs benedict, steak&bulgogi, and chicken&waffle), I found this dish to be the best in terms of uniqueness and flavour profile. Fusion style brunch can be tricky to pull off, yet Catch 122 managed to do so by combining Korean spicy gochujang sauce with Western style pancake and fried chicken offerings. All the other sides (kimchi, aioli, etc.) also work together to elevate the dish even more.

Cauliflower Benny ($19) 8.5/10 A vegetarian take on traditional benny, this one used croquette instead of english muffin. I typically avoid eggs benedict as I often found it to be and overwhelmingly eggy dish, but this one was quite light due to the veggies and pickles. Probably not for everyone, but it is one of the few egg benedict dishes I could enjoy.

Cornflakes Hazelnut Babka French Toast ($22) 8/10 A twist of traditional brioche french toast by using babka and deep frying it ala HK french toast. This was right up my alley, perfectly crunchy, sweet, yet also balanced by espresso cream and berries. I also liked how they separated the maple syrup so you can adjust based on preference. Please make this available during weekday as well.

Tres Leches Dutch Baby Pancake ($19) 6/10 Surprisingly, even as a sweet brunch lover, I found this dish to be underwhelming. As somebody who like tres leches cake, I found that this dish didn’t really resemble the actual cake in terms of flavour. The semifreddo and whip also really make this dish heavy.

Chorizo Breakfast Sandwich ($21) 5/10 I only tried a bit from my friend’s other but I remember it being very mediocre. Portion was very big so she couldn’t finish. Best part was the...