Catch 22 Restaurant & Bar

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• What are these?

• Average price 2 courses:
   £11.95 (set lunch)
   £25 (evening meal)
• House wine: £16.95 per bottle

• High point: Cool environment
• Low point: Service can be a little brisk
• Food served: Mon-Sun noon-late
• Bar open: Mon-Sun 11am-late
• Private dining: Up to 20 covers
• Open since: 2006
• Also offers: Pre-theatre menu

The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2008 is now in the shops.

This review is from the 2007 edition.

Part of Stefan King's empire of 40-odd enterprises (including Corinthian, Arta, Gong), Catch 22 shares the confident, efficient house style of the G1 Group. From the waiters' sharp black suits and gelled hair to the all-lower-case typography of the menu, this place is consciously modern. The long dining room retains the pillars and plasterwork of the Victorian building, but everything else is bang up-to-date. That includes the predominantly fish-based menu. Seared scallops, as a starter or main course, come with a pea and bacon risotto. There's a marinated loin of tuna with saffron potato cake and chervil cream, as well as several simple dishes of grilled or roast fish and meat, from lemon sole to rack of lamb. At more than £35, the grilled lobster is probably for special occasions only, but with most main courses around the £16-£18 mark, Catch 22 is not markedly more expensive than comparable restaurants. This Bath Street location has proven a difficult place for restaurants to thrive: the late and not-greatly-lamented Chinawhite could barely manage a year in these premises. But Catch 22, busy even mid-week, looks set to enjoy a longer residency.