Fine, fresh fish at the newly refurbished Andaz hotel.

The Venue
Catch is a fish and seafood restaurant located in Andaz at Liverpool Street, the trendily refurbished building formerly known as the Great Eastern Hotel. Although still a hotel, Andaz has upped its game with a complete redecoration, including all of the bars and restaurants.

Catch has its own entrance separate to the hotel, on Bishopsgate next to Liverpool Street station. The restaurant is small and cordoned off from other parts of the hotel by low, curved, wooden screens, beyond which is a large, white staircase. The walls are pale green and the ceiling enormously high, but the most striking feature is the seafood bar, where staff dutifully shell and clean the seafood just feet away from you in front of stained glass windows featuring various coats of armour. The final products are displayed on tiered silver bowls bursting with slivers of ice and shiny langoustines, bright pink lobsters and rough, rocky oysters.

The Atmosphere
The wooden dividers don’t do much to hide the other parts of the hotel, and every once in awhile someone will descend the staircase as if to prove just that. Although the sign outside is eye-catching, on a Friday night the restaurant isn’t as full as it could be. Perhaps Catch is a victim of its location, as City types undoubtedly want to start the weekend with Champagne instead of seafood.

Local workers do pack into the Champagne Bar next door, though, and by the dozens from the sound of it. It’s undoubtedly popular but the short peeks into the loud celebrations every time the door opens makes it hard to catch what the rest of your table is saying, and the high ceilings don’t help.

The Food
The specialty at Catch is seafood and there’s nary a meat product on the menu. Aside from a couple of vegetarian options, it’s fish through and through. The food here is expensive, with starters at £10 and mains from £16 - £30, but with seafood, as the saying goes, you get what you pay for.

The starter of potted shrimps is highly recommended. Tiny, vinegary-sweet curled shrimps are packed into a whipped cream-like butter and balanced on a small, round, American-style pancake. It seems an odd combination, with the crunchy, savoury sliced bread wedges and sweet, heavy pancake, but it’s almost unexpectedly good. The seared tuna with a herb crust and spiced lentil salad is nice as well, with the seasoning slightly sharp without overwhelming the tender, berry-pink fish.

For mains, the mackerel with oatmeal crust has a meaty flavour and the coating is crumbly and crunchy, whilst the bed of potato salad that it sits on is crisp and light – a perfect dish for a posh picnic. The salmon comes with enough accompaniments that they almost threaten to overwhelm the fish, but it’s is cooked so well that it complements everything. The dark and rich prunes, the mild leeks, the bittersweet slash of beetroot puree, the cold dollop of creme-fraiche style horseradish: you’ll have problems deciding on what to pair salmon with. Sides, priced at £5, aren’t necessarily needed as the dishes are substantial, but the creamy spinach and crisp curly kale with breadcrumbs are versatile and a good way of getting some green in.

There’s a good choice of desserts, priced at £7.50, including the hot and sugary rum and raisin creme brulee. The chocolate diversion is more like a chocolate explosion, with chocolate served in every which way imaginable, from a curly dark chocolate ribbon to a deep and bitter chocolate ice cream.

The Drink
Unsurprisingly, given the Champagne bar next door, Catch has a large list of Champagnes, with almost half the wine menu dedicated to the bubbly stuff. The rest of the wine list is mostly French, with several New World choices sprinkled in along with wines by the glass from £4 - £8. The house white, a 2006 Acrobates Vin d’Pays de Oc, is strong and slightly sweet, with a cool, clean taste.

The Last Word
Well executed dishes with fresh ingredients. It might be a bit pricey, but Catch is a must-try for those willing to sacrifice some hard-earned cash for quality seafood.

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