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| - We had been wanting to try the Salt Cellar for years, having heard good word of mouth and mostly positive reviews. We wanted to like it. We really really did, but our experience was less than stellar. We started in the bar for happy hour. This was, for the most part, the highlight of our evening. The happy hour food is reasonably priced. The same can't be said for the tiny overpriced drinks. Obviously what you save in food cost is made up on the drinks. We had raw oysters, raw clam, halibut ceviche, and the shrimp san remo, which is a signature dish of the Salt Cellar. the oysters, at $1.50 each, were a bargain. Plump, briny and with just enough "chew" to give them substance. Served with an average cocktail sauce and lemon wedges, it seemed we were off to a good start. Same for the ceviche (I believe it was about $8.00). Bathed in a flavorful lime juice, the moist fresh chopped halibut was ensconced in a bed of chopped onion tomato and herbs. Again, delicious and refreshing. Just 'ok' was the Shrimp San Remo (about $12.00). Eight medium shrimp in a spicy sauce which also included portabello mushroom pieces. While tasty with just enough spice to keep it interesting, the sauce was a bit overly oily. Our waitress brought us a basket of bread and the oiliness didn't stop us from sopping up the tasty sauce. Although my stomach did not appreciate the grease later! Now the bad. The clams ($1.50 each) had gone south. They had a rancidness to them that was very off putting. We brought it to our waitress' attention and she offered to exchange them for oysters, which was ok, but when we got our bill, we had been charged for the extra oysters. Not a huge deal, but when you drop almost $90.00 just for happy hour, it would have been nice if the oysters had been comped or at least offer to buy us a drink.
On to the dining room. First, the whole restaurant is in need of a major decor remodel. Not saying change the charming theme, but get the mustiness out and update the upholstery, carpet and tacky pictures on the walls. Just freshen it a bit. then whole decor harkened back to those rotten clams.
The wait staff is professional enough, nothing particularly outstanding, but capable and attentive without being a perpetual shadow.
I ordered the scallops in crab/shrimp cream sauce (about $35.00)and my date ordered the stuffed lobster (about $45.00). Both came with an average mixed dinner salad and a bread basket. When my dish came, I was a little surprised to see that there was no accompaniment, just the n\entree. No veggie, which would have been fine if the dish wasn't so miserly on the scallops. Only four lonely, medium sized scallops floating in a soupy pink "sauce". The sauce had a faint taste of fishy cream and little other flavor. It had shreds of crab meat that seemed out of a can and those tiny little shrimp that have no flavor whatsoever. The scallops were overcooked so they were rubbery. The aforementioned cream sauce added nothing to the dish and the mound of white rice in the middle of it all only served as a reminder as to the minuteness of the actual seafood in this dish. Not at all a bargain for the cost.
My companions dish didn't fare much better. The lobster was decent size but grossly over cooked. The soggy vegetable accompanying it had no flavor, and the stuffing was dry and flavorless as well. There was a nice surprise of about three scallops in the stuffing. Perhaps they had crawled off my dish to keep warm, which would account for the amount I received. She also elected the lemon rice. Perhaps a bloodhound could detect a faint whiff of lemon, but we sure couldn't.
The Salt Cellar clientele seem to be a bit on the older side, which might account for the lack of seasonings, or perhaps they think the seafood can speak for itself. Well, if the seafood was fresher and cooked properly, perhaps that would be ok. But given the circumstances, it NEEDED A FLAVOR INJECTION!
If this were a medium or lower priced seafood restaurant, I could give them a pass, but I dropped over $240.00 between the happy hour, dinner and tips and in no way was what we were served worth that. they charge high-end restaurant, premium seafood prices but deliver sub-par food and just ok service. It's apparent that there are quite a few people that like this place and are repeat customers. We won't be counted amongst them, although we might consider coming again for happy hour
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