During the pandemic, it has been challenging to adjust to life. Even the little things I used to enjoy seem like a distant dream now. For instance, dining out at different restaurants has always been a pleasure of mine — but that’s another thing that came to a halt due to COVID-19. 

Being the foodie that I am, dineL.A. Restaurant Week is something that I look forward to every year. DineL.A. is twice a year, in winter and summer, and participating restaurants showcase their best items for a special price. 

Normally, dineL.A. does not apply to take-out so you can imagine my excitement when I saw they would make an exception this year. I have missed fresh seafood.

As I browsed through participating restaurants, Big Catch Seafood in Alhambra caught my eye so I read up and reached out to a few of its recent customers.

Alex Khoeun, who went for dinner at Big Catch Seafood, wrote in an email that the “menu had a great selection and for what it’s worth with pricing, everything was great. We actually went twice in a week for the dine LA special.” 

Some customer reviews indicated that the restaurant still has a good great variety of items.

“Understandably, they had to change their menu due to COVID-19 implications but signature dishes such as the uni pasta and lobster roll are still there. They now have an eclectic range of new foods that I’m excited to try,” Wendy Tran, a frequent customer, wrote in a Yelp direct message interview.

The fixed dineL.A. menu offers three courses, a drink and a surprise “chef’s choice” dessert at a price of $35 dollars — a great price considering all that’s included. 

Ordering seemed to be a no-brainer. 

The first thing I noticed and appreciated is that everything was nicely separated in to-go containers.

I decided to re-plate on dishware to have the restaurant experience. The first course was grilled garlic and butter oysters. They turned out to be some of the best oysters I’ve ever had. The richness of the butter and the garlic were a great compliment to the brininess of the oysters. Usually oysters tend to be on the rubbery side but these went down really smooth. 

My only complaint up to that point: I wish there had been more than two of them. This would be good for someone who isn’t very fond of oysters, or is trying for them for the first time.

The second course was a Carpaccio Duo, which had two pieces each of thin, raw salmon and yellowtail. They were absolutely delicious. The fish was so soft that it melted in my mouth.  The sauce used to glaze over it, worked really well with the fish flavors. The sauce was a combination of soy sauce and sesame oil.

I don’t eat much raw fish, but this was a great choice. It was deep in flavor and very light, so it complemented the first course, which was very rich. 

The third and main course was half a baked lobster on top of black truffle noodles. This was my first time having lobster served with noodles and it was a really delicious combination. The noodles were thin and served with a creamy truffle sauce.

The size of the lobster was fairly big. Most importantly, the lobster was very tender and cooked perfectly with butter and garlic. The lobster meat was moist and the flavor of the butter came through each bite without overpowering the taste of the meat.

My favorite part was cracking open the claw of the lobster. I finished the lobster but only half the noodles. It could probably feed two people if you don’t mind sharing the lobster.

I also wanted to make sure I had enough room to try the “chef’s choice” dessert.  I like surprises and my expectations were pretty high at this point because the first two courses were excellent.

Dessert was green tea ice cream with one mochi ball. Mochi is a Japanese rice cake made of mochigome, a short-grain glutinous rice. Mochi is smooth on the outside but has a gummy, sticky center similar to a gummy bear, that pairs nicely with ice cream. The ice cream melted due to the travel time it took me to get home, which was about 30 minutes. But I put the ice cream in the freezer before eating it and it was still very delicious. I was very satisfied with the overall meal from Big Catch Seafood. 

I’m not the only satisfied customer. Thessa Villegas, who lives in Los Angeles, wrote in a Yelp direct message interview that she also thought the “food was really delicious and well proportioned. The list is a little overwhelming and it might give you a LOT of FOMO.” Villegas also added “as a person who lives in LA, the food quality and their service has made me a [San Gabriel Valley] food fan.”

Overall, I had a fabulous meal and I’m glad I chose Big Catch Seafood for my dinner night-in. It reminded me of the importance of treating yourself, especially during these times of uncertainty. Taking an evening off to enjoy some amazing food is the self-care we could all use right now.