Dining at Catch Twenty Three - Westchase

I recently had the opportunity to dine at Catch Twenty Three in Westchase with my friend Katie. Catch Twenty Three is a casual upscale seafood restaurant that infuses creativity with Latin and Caribbean influences. Katie and I met the owner Rob Wickner who was very nice and accommodating to us. I noticed Rob in the kitchen quite a few times which was a nice surprise. You knew he really cared about the food his guests were eating.

Catch Twenty Three recently started Wine Lover's Wednesday's. $15 for unlimited wine. HELLO! Wente Chardonnay was one of the featured wines on the list, so this made me a very happy girl. We drank great wine and noshed on wonderful fresh food. After going through my photos, I had to sit and think if I drove home or if I went home in a wheel barrow.

Starting off with the appetizers, we received Red Stripe Calamari, Shredded Pork with Plantains and Braised Blue Cheese Mussels. The red stripe calamari was very good and had a nice crunch to it. I love beer battered anything. The Shredded Pork was to die for - it paired excellently with the plantains. Katie has a shellfish allergy so I got the mussels all to myself - and I am not complaining. The white wine and garlic sauce was divine.

Red Stripe Calamari

Shredded Pork and Plantains

Braised Blue Cheese Mussels

Next up was sushi and a salad! We got the Crunchy Tuna Roll and a Catch Salad. Katie informed me that no matter how many times she has tried, she cannot use chopsticks. She eats sushi with a fork. The crunchy tuna roll was very good and fresh. I loved the citrus vinaigrette dressing on the Catch Salad.

Crunchy Tuna Roll

Katie eating Sushi with a fork

Catch Salad

Now it's time for the main event. I have to start this off by stating that I am not a huge fan of scallops. The texture gets to me. BUT these are Macadamia Nut Encrusted Scallop and I love macadamia nut encrusted anything. It was by far the best scallops I have ever had. I brought half of one home to Gabe and he was going on and on about them. We tried the Guava Salmon which was wrapped in Bacon. It was excellent and not too fishy. As Katie is allergic to Shell Fish, she tried the Seared Chilean Sea Bass instead of the scallop and said it was excellent.

Macadamia Nut Crusted Scallop

Guava Salmon

Chilean Sea Bass

And finally the dessert - Key lime pie and a Chocolate mousse pie. This was an excellent Key Lime pie. It wasn't too tart and had the perfect creamy texture. The chocolate mousse pie was very chocolaty. As I am not a huge fan of chocolate, I let Katie attack this one after I tried a bite and I took on the Key Lime.

Key Lime Pie

Chocolate Mousse Pie

I will absolutely return to Catch Twenty Three. I look forward to trying the shrimp and lobster roll! This was my first visit to Westchase and I really liked that area of town. We rarely get out of South Tampa so it was nice to see this modern and friendly city.