Is West Vale fish restaurant really the Catch of the day? Find out here

West Vale has always seemed like a quiet backwater you’d just pass through on your way to somewhere else.

The wonderfully nostalgic emporium that is Andy Thornton’s Architectural Antiques has always been a draw and Newbank Garden Centre has become well established.

But now West Vale is changing … and changing fast. In fact, when you go through you’ll be somewhat surprised.

Its culinary awakening began when Cafe Thai opened a restaurant in a former bank and the place is now so busy you have to book weeks in advance to get a table on a Saturday and Sunday.

Opposite this restaurant the more eagle-eyed will have noticed that the Andy Thornton building – called Victoria Mills – had a brand new Tarmac parking area out front … but bizarrely it looked unused.

All has now suddenly become clear.

The ground and lower part of the mill has been transformed into two restaurants: Catch seafood and Cinnamon for curry lovers – with a separate bar called Vine specialising in cocktails next to them.

Catch seafood restaurant, Victoria Mills, West Vale.

The early signs are that West Vale is going to pinch an awful lot of eating out business from the likes of Halifax and Elland.

Catch is run by the same people who operate The Fleece in Barkisland – recently voted Yorkshire’s favourite pub – so it’s only right that expectations are high.

Entrance is at the side of the mill as it’s in the basement area.

While Catch is the name, seafood is the game, and the restaurant is decorated in the style of a Victorian fish market complete with white tiles. It’s an open-plan kitchen with a takeaway section tucked away next to the door.

Something a bit different that almost gives it a fairground feel is Catch in light bulbs on the inside wall.

It was buzzing when we arrived on a Friday night. It’s the kind of place that has an instant sense of atmosphere … one that makes you want to be a part of it.

And that continues right through to the staff. The waitresses are mainly very young – but the management have chosen well for these girls have the ability to banter with the best of them. And that’s what you want in a place that aims to be lively.

Four of us went – me, wife Ruth and chums Richard and Andrea who are self-confessed fish fans.

And so, dear readers, we decided to push the boat out for you – and every pun is intended with that.

In short, we gave the menu a good battering. Oops, there I go again.

Richard got things underway with six Loch oysters for a tenner.

Loch oysters at Catch restaurant in West Vale

He loved them, declared them ‘chewy’ and finished the lot. Starters were Catch fish soup (£7), fresh fish including white fish, prawns and small mussels in a shellfish bisque with a crouton coated in gruyere cheese; dressed Whitby crab with buttered brown bread (£8), Catch luxury prawn cocktail (£7) featuring Greenland prawns, crevette, bourbon marie rose and brown bread and Bleikers Yorkshire smoked salmon (£7) covered in baby capers and again served with fresh brown bread.

Yorkshire smoked salmon at Catch restaurant in West Vale

Ruth had the salmon – there was masses of it – and it had a more robust and earthy texture than the smoother ones you can get at supermarkets. The soup was brilliant – fish around the bottom of the bowl to net yourself the catch – and the creamy bisque was spot-on, but you’ll probably need more than a spoon to slice through the unfeasibly large crouton. I’d have that again and again. The prawn cocktail was excellently presented – Andrea thought it was great – while the Whitby crab felt like a real treat.

As for the mains Richard was the one who really went for it big style ordering the Catch seafood grill complete with a grilled half lobster and mixed fish including salmon and tuna.

It came with a whopping £33 price tag – the most expensive mains I’ve ever experienced – and the waitresses brought us both a chilli sauce and a thermidor sauce.

Seafood grill including grilled half lobster at Catch restaurant in West Vale

It’s normally one or the other but when you’re paying that much the rules need breaking.

It was so big it came in a pan rather than on a plate and ranged from fish so delicate it really did melt in the mouth through to the oh-so-precisely cooked tuna that was seared on the outside and rarer in the middle. Richard was, it’s fair to say, in some kind of fishy Heaven.

My roast best end of Scottish cod (£13) came with samphire and clams in a subtle garlic and white wine sauce. Probably too subtle. I was certainly not overfaced with it but it was a fair size portion and again the taste of the fish was something special.

Andrea had once more chosen something where the presentation had something of a wow factor. We thought the lobster and scallop spaghetti (£16) complete with capers and parmesan would simply have bits of lobster within it. Not likely. The lobster came on the side and this turned out to be the surprise dish of the day – far more eye-catching and tasty than any of us expected.

The only disappointment came with Ruth’s Scottish haddock and chips. In comparison to the others it paled in terms of the size of the portion, the number of chips and it’s visual strength. Although the fish – which retained its skin – and the batter were fine, it looked too small a portion for the plate.

Scottish haddock and chips at Catch restaurant in West Vale

We’d had to wait quite a long time for the mains but the staff were quick to offer us desserts and coffees for free to make up for it.

Well, it’d seem rude to turn them down, but we only had a couple. The Belgian chocolate brownie served with strawberry ice-cream is one for those who like their chocolate bitter while the Yorkshire curd tart – mixing cured cheese, currants, mixed spice and nutmeg – came with cream and didn’t last long with four of us attacking it. Both were a fiver.

See more dishes below.

Catch in West Vale