The Catch Izakaya with style

Sushi. What was once an exclusive meal in major German cities now enjoys enormous popularity and can be found on the menus of many, one might almost say, too many restaurants, not to mention in the freezers of supermarkets. Yet, as simple as the rolls and fish-covered rice morsels may seem at first glance: Excellent sushi is still a rare commodity worth seeking. You can find it at the Catch.

The Charlottenburg restaurant near the Ku'damm knows what makes good sushi: first and foremost, the quality of the ingredients - after all, we're talking (mostly) about raw fish here. The Izakaya restaurant the Catch offers a high-quality selection of sushi, sashimi, poke and grilled food, in addition to a very Instagram-worthy interior and extremely friendly service.

The restaurant concept is the brainchild of entrepreneur Alexander Slobine, who opened November Brasserie last year, also a Japanese restaurant. Slobine's appreciation of Japanese culture goes beyond the culinary. For example, the traditional craft methods of shou sugi ban (burnt wood) and kintsugi (repairing pottery with gold) are incorporated into the décor.

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The walls are clad in classy-looking burnt wood boards, with pretty Kintsugi vessels adorning some shelves. There are also anime or manga-inspired wall decorations in the back to draw the curve to more modern Japanese leading culture.

Granted: Although these crafts fall under the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi, i.e. the love of the imperfect, we can find little that is imperfect in the Catch, apart from the deliberately placed crafts. 

The interior is straightforward, clean and pleasantly designed, as is the presentation of the plates. In any case, the focus is on the food, of which we are served a range, starting with a beef tataki: briefly seared meat in tender slices served with a truffle emulsion and crispy little potato sticks (16 euros). A hearty start and simple umami.

This is followed by a selection of nigiri, raw fish slices on rice, and sashimi. Scottish salmon, Japanese yellowtail tuna, sea bass - a colourful assortment from the world's oceans. The sea bass truffle roll and the "crab plate" (14 euros) with crab meat rolls and crispy deep-fried legs are sure to please. The whole thing is accompanied by a fruity Von Winningen Sauvignon Blanc. So the wine advice is also fitting.

If you're a veggie and want to accompany fish-loving friends, don't despair because there are also some vegetarian dishes on the menu. We try the grilled aubergine (9 euros without the bonito flakes on request) and a selection of grilled mushrooms with truffle-waifu dressing (11 euros), which particularly delights me as a mushroom lover.

And since a dinner without dessert is only half the battle, vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike can look forward to an incomparably creamy matcha cheesecake (7 euros) and a large selection of filled mochi. With this in mind: Itadakimasu!  

Maximilian Zeh

Marketing & PR