"No one was asking Santa Monica for another tourist-friendly seafood spot, but it makes sense that this chain from the Bay Area chain decided to open its first LA location near Ocean Avenue. With a huge wave mural, pineapple-print booths, and tiki cocktails, Pacific Catch has the look and feel you'd expect from a place within walking distance of the water and a giant ferris wheel. Overall though, it gets a lot right: prices are reasonable considering the location, and the crowd-pleasing seafood concept works well for a casual meal or a Happy Hour stop when you need a break from shopping and/or beach strolling. Choosing what entree to get from the sprawling menu is like scrolling through Netflix to pick a new show to watch, but that’s the best part about dining here. Most of the dishes come in individual portions, but our favorites are the shareable appetizers like coconut shrimp or the poke guacamole. Pacific Catch is basically the Cheesecake Factory of seafood, which means you can order a poke bowl, while your mom goes for the lobster roll and your aunt gets fish tacos. And no matter what everyone lands on, it’ll be just fine. Food Rundown photo credit: Wonho Frank Lee Pupu Platter The appetizers here are excellent, so we like this huge platter that lets you sample four of them: coconut shrimp, sticky ribs, sushi tacos, and poke guacamole. Make sure you eat the sushi tacos before the nori gets soggy, and don’t be the person who hoards all the poke. photo credit: Pacific Catch Miso Black Cod Our favorite entrée. The cod is buttery and flakes easily, and the string beans on the side are nicely charred. Plus, the bed of furikake-seasoned sushi rice is good enough to eat alone. photo credit: Pacific Catch Hawaiian Ahi Poke Bowl This rice bowl is loaded with two big scoops of tuna poke—one tossed in a light soy marinade, the other coated in sriracha aioli. The fish is fresh, the rice is properly vinegary, and the edamame and cucumbers add a snappy crunch. photo credit: Pacific Catch East Coast Lobster Roll This lobster roll is warm and generously packed, but the bread is a butter bomb, which is good if you really love butter, but also distracts from the lobster. photo credit: Cathy Park Crispy Dulce de Leche Spring Roll The spring roll part of this dessert will probably throw you off. The wrapper is made of deep-fried flaky dough, with a cheesecake filling that’s too tangy and sweet. Fortunately, the ice cream mellows it out and is the best thing on the plate." - Cathy Park
