New to the Hood: An Eco “Catch” at Taikoo Place

Recently opened in the vibrant Taikoo Place neighbourhood, all-day diner Catch shows how small differences can make a huge impact in the battle for sustainability.

The Aussie-inspired diner has expanded from its Kennedy Town location to Quarry Bay, with a snazzy new interior that offers a separate dining and bar area. Famed for its brunch and seafood-focused menu, the cool new outlet is proactive in making sustainable choices. 

“We try and do as much as we can with everything from our menu items to our packaging,” says Catch founder Alex Malouf. “We’re using a sustainable water solution called Nordaq that purifies tap water and cuts out bottle wastage and transport. We’ve also just gone with a dishwashing company that uses 40% less water, and we’re talking to a company called Sustainabl. about reducing our waste.”

Catch is vigilant about choosing suppliers, preferring to go with large companies who have ethical practices firmly in place, and are constantly on the look out for better options. “Whenever we hear from a supplier that they have a new environmental option that won’t affect costs – we’re going to choose that over anything else,” says Malouf.

Eliminating things like plastic straws is also a given, stemming in part from Alex's Australian background where the tide against plastics began a decade ago, and partly by consumer demand. “People are definitely more conscious about plastic use these days,” says Malouf. “If they see something plastic, they’re going to complain, and that's a good thing.”

Aside from operational sustainable practices, Malouf is also supportive of sustainable food trends. “It would be good to see a boom in vegetarian and vegan places, though I don’t think Hong Kong is quite there yet, compared to places like Australia. And while Catch is not a vegan restaurant, we definitely want those options to be available,” he says.

This philosophy will be reflected in the new menu, which will highlight a selection of vegetarian and vegan dishes such as an eggless scramble and tofu panna cotta, with a full vegetarian brunch menu and other experimental offerings in the works.

Though these efforts are in place, Malouf admits there’s still plenty of improvements to be made – both as a business and in the wider industry – but is positive about the developments. The new option to opt-out of disposable cutlery on the food delivery platforms Deliveroo and Foodpanda, for instance, was something he raised. “I just thought, this goes to people’s houses, why are we putting all this cutlery in there? It’s a waste,” he says. “I feel that sustainability is something you not only want to, but are also obliged to do as a business. If everyone does their bit, it’s obviously going to help. And I get emails every day about something sustainable, so [progress is] definitely happening.”

Try the delicious food from Catch yourself – download Taikoo Social to enjoy exclusive takeaway and delivery services.