Sandie Wernick: Pacific Catch Ð Sunset

I have enjoyed the Marina Pacific Catch several times and was delighted to find a new location at Ninth Avenue and Lincoln Way, right across from Golden Gate Park. There's also a third location in Corte Madera in Marin County.

Behind the Sunset's Pacific Catch building is a small parking lot, a joy to find in the Sunset!

Pacific Catch is a lively place that serves large portions, creatively presented, and friendly service. It's only been open a few months and has a "new building" feel to it. It's beautiful, spacious and very comfortable.

The menu features seafood from the Pacific Ocean with a Pacific Rim twist. We were seated in a booth with a good view of the high ceilings, small blue tile work, lots of wood, large paintings of - what else? - fish illuminated by hanging lamps.

It's quite larger than the Marina locale, but what we really came for was the food, hoping it would feature the same high-quality, fresh and original selections as its counterpart. It did, and we loved it.

We started with the miso soups. I had the Signature Miso, which is a house-made blend of red and white miso with tofu and scallions ($2.95). It was incredible and I had another serving packed up to take home for later. My sister had the Shiitake Miso, which featured the Signature Miso with shiitake mushrooms and asparagus ($3.95).

The California salmon hot sandwich with grilled salmon, avocado, sliced tomato and a citrus aioli ($9.50) was very fresh and tasty and the aioli was lightly applied. The portion was very generous.

I had a meal-sized salad comprised of fresh grilled salmon with asparagus, shiitake mushrooms, baby tomatoes, crispy salmon skin "croutons" and citrus miso dressing ($12.95). I particularly enjoyed the salmon skin croutons. Everything was beautifully arranged.

Even though we were full, we couldn't resist sharing a little dessert. We chose the Passion Mango Cheesecake, made with passion fruit, mango and lime zest ($5.95)
Ð totally refreshing and incredibly creamy.

There's one menu for lunch and another for dinner. The range of food includes the miso soups, sashimi-style appetizers, sushi rolls, and various starters, including Baja shrimp ceviche ($7.50), spicy Cabo calamari ($8.95) and Wakame seaweed salad ($4.50). Sweet potato and traditional French fries are served with meals.

The kid's menu is also well-priced and should appeal to the younger set.

Reservations are requested but not required. Pacific Catch offers group dining, gift cards, party platters and semi-private parties for those who want fun dining in a beautiful setting, with guaranteed fresh and tasty selections.

This is a lovely inventive/creative dining experience with reasonable prices (nothing over $20), terrific service, good cooking and a comfortable ambiance.
Can you ask for anything more?

The food, ambiance and service will bring you back to this gem of an Inner Sunset District seafood restaurant again and again.

Sandie Wernick has been a marketing, public relations and advertising executive for 25 years (Wernick Marketing Group) specializing in restaurants, hotels, travel and lifestyle accounts.