Catfish Cove- Norman — Restaurant in Norman

Alrighty.. I've been familiar with Catfish Cove since I first sampled their fare at their former Moore location around 17 years or so ago..

Once that location closed, I went a very long time before making it over to their Yukon location.. I finally had the perfect opportunity to try their Norman location today.. How was it?? Let me tell you..

I received a warm greeting as I entered the lobby during a lull between lunch and dinner.. There were about 3-4 other tables occupied at the time.. I asked about and received a military discount, paid, and made my way into the restaurant..

I took a little time to acquaint myself with the layout before sampling any of the fare.. I settled into a small, four top table then went to work..

I sampled small quantities of the following items: Catfish, breaded shrimp, hush puppies, cole slaw, garden salad, mashed potatoes, mac & cheese, green beans, and cream corn..

The garden salad was a fresh mix of various greens and there was a small but plentiful selection of salad add-ons available.. I added cherry tomatoes, sliced carrots, boiled eggs, bacon bits, shredded cheese, and topped it off with Italian dressing.. Everything related to the salad was fresh, cold, and crisp just as one should expect from a salad bar..

The coleslaw was finely diced/chopped cabbage and carrots, cold, and crisp.. It reminded me of the slaw my mom makes, which is to say that I really enjoyed it..

The quartet of other sides were good.. They were decidedly food service variety items and I'm not sure any of them were "tailored" by the restaurant.. I recall the green beans at the former Moore location being some of the best out there.. Today's green beans were average.. Everything was hot, fresh, and tasted like you'd expect.. The mac & cheese was creamy, so that's a plus..

The single catfish filet was lightly breaded with what I'd describe as a cornmeal breading, hot, flaky, and had a good, balanced flavor.. The breaded shrimp were good, but again, something of a food service variety through prepared well and also hot and fresh.. The hush puppies were much the same and had a great taste..

This buffet offers several other items for those who may want a greater variety.. I spotted baked sweet and regular potatoes, cooked cabbage, greens, cornbread, rolls, fresh butter, pinto beans, cucumber salad, chicken nuggets, kid's catfish nuggets, french fries, and assorted desserts including apple, cherry, and strawberry cobblers, bread pudding, and vanilla ice cream.. I personally witnessed 2-3 tables enjoying steamed crab legs, too.. Those looked to be amply portioned based on my observations.. There are several other items on the bars that I can't recall as I type this..

The atmosphere and decor is certainly rustic with several wildlife trophy mounts adorning the walls around the restaurant and there's even a private back room for large groups.. Pepsi products are offered at the beverage fountain..

All in all I'd say I had a great experience here today.. I'm rating the food as 4 🌟 despite it's freshness.. I would describe it as above average, overall..

The restaurant was super clean.. The food bars had ample supply of everything and were meticulously maintained, which is a plus for me when visiting a buffet style restaurant.. It looked as if they were being careful not to have too much out since it was the slow part of the day, which helps keep costs down for the consumer, too..

I will certainly visit again when the right opportunity presents.. I wish the proprietors well and hope they enjoy a long tenure at...

If we would have read reviews before we went we wouldn’t have gone. The worst overall meal I’ve had in a LONG time. It was buffet and you paid as soon as you entered. For two senior citizen buffets it was $45 plus. We were handed styrofoam cups for our drinks. The plates and small bowls were very thin flimsy styrofoam. You even had plastic silverware. Everything except the boiled shrimp was fried. We didn’t pay the $45 per person to have crab legs. The catfish was weird cuts not like most places serve. It appeared they were trying to save money on the food served. The pinto beans were COLD, the corn no flavor. Other items were too done or not done enough. The lettuce wasn’t even green. Items they were low on weren’t promptly replaced. At one pt the bread area only had several rolls of all things available and they were hard. The desserts were sad and some of the cobblers weren’t even an half inch thick. The ice machines didn’t have hardly any ice. ice. After reading reviews they’ve had this problem three weeks ago. Root beer never did work along with another flavor. The sweet tea container was empty. Then when they did finally have some it didn’t have a good tea flavor. The bread pudding was almost unrecognizable. Ice cream was almost icy. Would have been better off having a soft serve than what they had. The cucumbers were about the only thing good. It was just sad because we were excited to eat there. I’m not normally a negative person but this was too bad especially for the money spent. Even the boiled shrimp wasn’t edible. We were there about 6;30 pm so everything should have been good and fresh. I could go on and on but you get the idea. After reading the reviews I’m not the only person who felt this way. It was just a bad night but has been this way three werka. We won’t be back. Unless they make significant changes they aren’t going to last long. The floor near the checkin counter was even dirty. Whoever has their name on the note needs to sit down and do some serious thinking.before it’s too late. It would be better to have a few good quality items than so many you...

I really wanted to like this place, but we won’t be back. I came for the crab. First thing I noticed was how incredibly brown the legs were. Should be bright white on the underside of the crab, these were brown, with brown spots. An indication of NOT fresh crab. Second thing I noticed was how bendable the legs were. Hard to crack, just bent back and forth. A sign that they were overcooked. Third thing I noticed was even if you did break open that leg, the crab meat was stuck to the shell on the inside. Another sign that the crab was over cooked. Just bad crab all the way around. They use styrofoam plates. Made me feel very bad. So, so much waste that’s not biodegradable. At $50 a head for the crab, I would think the owners had enough jangle to buy some real plates and silverware (it was plastic). Fourth irk of the night, they don’t have the crab on the buffet. A waiter brings you a basket of crab legs. I asked for another basket, waitress said it’ll be 5 mins as they were heating up more. No biggie. 20 minutes goes by! 🫠 It doesn’t take that long to heat up some pre-cooked crab! That’s why they were sooooooo over cooked! Lastly, everything was fried! Everything! It’s like frozen seafood that they flashed fried and charge a premium. No thank you,...