Death by Burrito, 7th August

We got over to Catch at about 6:15. There were only a couple of other people in the place so we were told to just grab a seat and were asked if we were eating. We most certainly were. 

I'd done a little research on the place and commonly came across the fact that the burrito was £12 and therefore ridiculously expensive, that the service was pretty poor and cocktails miniscule. None of these things were true of my visit.

I greedily looked at the menu and decided that everything sounded really good. But Stephen wouldn't allow me to order anything other than a main, as it was the day before my birthday and we had 'three days of eating and drinking ahead of us'. Party-pooper. He also came to regret this, as Death by Burrito is rather a misnomer. Perhaps 'Minor injury by burrito' or 'Inconvenience by Burrito' would be more apt. Suggesting that you will die by burrito implies these will be so bursting and so hearty that you'll be rendered incapacitated. In fact, they were probably the smallest burritos we have ever had. 

Fairly tall cocktail

We got one beef burrito for £9.50 and one order of tacos for £6.50. That gives you two tacos so we had one each and split the burrito, which handily came cut in half already. And that was all. I had expected we would also get some blue corn tortillas and quacamole with our mains, as that is what I'd read but I can only assume that the trade-off from reducing the price was that you don't get any extras with it anymore. 

The tacos and the burrito were fairly equally delicious. The short rib was perhaps a little drier than other burritos but this could partly have been because the burrito is made up of all meat plus some lettuce - no refried or black beans providing any other moisture. But not having any of these usual extras means the burrito is very compact and not as filling as the ones you get... well... anywhere else. So even at £9.50 the price tag is still a little steep. A nice touch was the shredded sweet potato which wasn't just a gesture but a discernible texture and flavour that complemented the smoky short rib really well. The burrito came with a pot of fiery salsa on the side, which was delicious, but the serving was tiny, and it was in a very impractical container - dipping your burrito in it was quite the task and you weren't provided with any other means of getting the sauce onto anything.  

Item 1 (burrito) does not fit into item 2 (salsa)

The pork tacos were very juicy, sitting on the right amount of coleslaw. Pieces of crackling were dotted throughout providing a very pleasant crunch, in, I'd say, every other mouthful. For tacos, they were quite generously portioned (compare to the size of Breddo's tacos for example) but only having two of them meant they still weren't all that filling.

I fear we did not do DBB justice, again succumbing to the tyranny of our waistlines and wallets. Judged on these two dishes alone, the food was very tasty and I wish we had tried some of the other things on the menu. The courgette flower and poblano crepes for instance, or the chipotle poppers on the small plates side (all only £6.00). Yes, the burritos are a little pricier than, say, Luardos or Chipotle but when I'm getting dinner out, not just some food on the go for lunch, I don't really mind a little extra cost. We still only spent about £8 between us on food, my cocktail is what bumped the bill up past the £20 mark. 

Must admit, the cocktail I ordered from the DBB menu (see above) was nice but probably not worth inflating your bill for. I had the pink paloma, for £7.50 which was tequila, 'raspberry and aperol charged with homemade vanilla salted grapefruit soda'. I didn't really detect anything exotic about the soda but as I said it was nice enough to drink. Some of Catch's own creations sounded even better, I'd give them a try next time. 

Catch, 31st December

I have had Catch on my List for so long, I can't even remember when or why I put it on there in the first place. My attention has been drawn to it anew and my resolution to go to it rallied when Death by Burrito opened up their residency there recently.

But it was only my friend suggested we go there for New Year's Eve because her friend was DJing that provided the excuse to go. That and the fact that the entrance fee was only eight quid, which as I'm sure you'll agree, is fabulous for a New Year's Eve.

I have often passed by Catch without realising it was where it was. It's at the start of Kingsland Road, along the same stretch of street that has Dreambags and Prague, but with such an unassuming facade, and tiny lettering decrying its existence that it is easy to miss. 

As I suspected, Death by Burrito weren't operational that night, so I couldn't kill two birds with one stone in this instance. 

No, for tonight, it was just a common or garden club and I had a wicked night there. Downstairs is a fairly ordinary room but with a few booths to the side, presumably where the grub is served when service is on. Then they also have an upstairs which is another fairly ordinary room. Really, that's it. Just a little club with no pretensions to be anything other than a provider of somewhere to dance. Upstairs there's a little raised dancefloor in the corner, but the whole room is basically one big dance floor. There was one table, and a sort of banquette against the wall, but that was it.

Now, as I said, my friend's friend was DJing with his fellow DJs under the monkier of Loose Synths, so I cannot rightly say how much of our enjoyment was just down to the good DJs, and how much Catch contributed. I guess hats off to them for having Loose Synths DJ in the first place. Apparently, they did a set that was a bit special - it was mostly old school hip hop, garage, and RnB, but some of the numbers had a remix twist, bringing out the bassline, or mashing it up with a more ragga style. With a few shots and a few vodka tonics in us, it was the sort of nostalgia-inducing music that made you want to dance. Whether or not you really cared for the music the first time round or not. There was a remix of Destiny's Child Bills, Bills, Bills, they played Mr. Vegas's Heads High , there was a bit of DMX thrown in, Sweet Female Attitude's Flowers, and of course Regulaaaate had to feature! But there was some more modern stuff thrown in too- Disclosure's remix of Jessie Ware was popped in smoothly right in the middle of the set. We spent a goodly amount of time up there before finishing off the evening downstairs where the music was a bit of everything really, as far as we can remember! (We may have had a few more shots and vodka tonics by this point.)

There were a few negatives - I drank spirits the whole night because the wine wasn't up to much, and there didn't appear to be any kind of cloakroom. Had I known I might not have brought the massive, new winter's coat with me, which I then had to stash and slightly fret over in case it disappeared. Also, I'm pretty sure that the lights went up a little earlier than advertised, which, naturally I was very disappointed about, but considering the hangover I had the next day, was probably quite fortunate. 

Now that I've been here, Catch is definitely more firmly on my radar. Music aside, I think we had a good night because it just felt like a fun, friendly little club. No attitudes, just a place to dance and drink. I'll of course be back to try the Mexican food, but I'll have no problem in staying after my dinner is done to throw some shapes, and it's good to know there's a proper club down in Shoreditch amongst all the late night bars. 

Find the menu & restaurant information on Zomato