Sea Salt Restaurant (mentioned earlier) has a poor reputation among Chowhounds. But several dissent, saying food here is exceptionally good, though expensive.
Robert Lauriston thinks the place is actually a good value, considering the quality of the ingredients and the finenss of execution. He had a bunch of stuff, all good: monkfish liver torchon with sea urchin and caviar ($12), clam chowder with bacon and cream ($9), grilled sardines ($12.50), bacon-wrapped grilled sturgeon ($22), gigantes with tuna confit ($10), broccolini with aleppo pepper ($6). The chowder and tuna-bean salad are about as good as these dishes get.
Veebee says that she’s been surprised by how good Sea Salt is, especially given all the negative feedback. Monkfish liver torchon (without sea urchins) is amazing. Grilled sardines are another favorite–the combination of bright herbs and rich grilled sardines is perfect. She still thinks about it. A lot.
Also excellent: grilled calamari with arugula pesto and gigante beans, a great combination. And a super lobster roll, which is particularly satisfying for brunch.
Sea Salt Restaurant [East Bay]
2512 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley
510-883-1720
Map
Board Links: Sea Salt
I just ate at Sea Salt. For a seafood place there were surprisingly few things on the menu that I could eat (I eat CA kosher style.) We shared some salads that were yum, the chicory salad had a bit of cheese and orange to balance out the bitterness, the beet salad also a bit of dairy to enrich the beets. The portions were not generous for the $10, but the quality and flavors were good. We had fish & chips which were good, I don’t know if $18 good. Certainly not really as good as an English fish & chip house that wraps the whole thing in newspaper, but certainly fresh, quality ingredients and a whole lot cheaper and time friendly than taking a plane to England. We also had the arctic char ($25) which was served over a smattering of braised root vegetables in broth. The fish was cooked perfectly with the skin crisp and the inside moist, no lemon on the plate which I always thins enhances salmon. The food was very good, simple competent preparations.
The thing that was a detraction was the service. Our waiter did not flash a smile all night. We had no idea what the cocktail on the menu that started with juniper and was named for a Hemingway novel- could he not have said it was a gin & tonic pleasantly? In any case all through the evening we were scared to ask him anything and then he spilled coffee on me and his initial comment was,” I don’t know how that happened.” There it was coffee pot in his hand coffee on my shirt. Of course the rest. offered to pay for cleaning but really is this enough? I now have a stained new shirt that I have to take and fetch from the cleaners and then present them with a bill- I think it’s a bit more than making me whole – why not throw in a round of drinks or some dessert- they could have thrown us each a $1.5 truffle, but I guess it was just too much of a transaction.
In any case the bottom line review is that the food is good sort of what CA cuisine is, the room is nice, the prices elevated and the personalities humorless, condescending.