Katherine W.
Yelp
To eat here, it's highly encouraged to make a reservation. As part of the Ritz-Carlton, Salt has a unique set-up and not one that is overwhelming good. The ambiance was nice. However, to see the ocean from some tables, you would have to stand up, because foliage is in the way. If you need to use the restroom you have to walk down a long hall, which is outside the restaurant. Not ideal, so prepare yourself for extra time. Upon our entrance, we met the General Manager, Phil who greeted us with a smile. We were walked to our table and promptly greeted by our server with an extensive wine list and a menu. While it was difficult to chose a wine, they had sooo many good reds and whites, we opted for a bottle of The Prisoner Wine Company Blindfold. An excellent choice I must say, as we are fans of them and Orin Swift, as they are a higher caliber of wine. The pallet feel with their wines is unparalleled.
Moving on to food, we had some delicious breads paired with their specialty salts, such as herbs, clay, and sriracha. All excellent salts.
Next, we had raw oysters from Canada, New Brunswick if we recall. A nice clean taste, not briny. Exactly what we expect from a good oyster. Also, we had the octopus, wow, what a beautiful dish and the cooking time on it was spot on. On the plate was a small mixture of greens. Also mixed up in it was what it looked like a dark small piece of a man's hair. I immediately dropped my fork back onto the plate and looked for our server. While our servers had been extremely attentive from the beginning, it took 20 minutes to get our main server, Chrissy, back to our table to show our disgust. How does this happen in a high-end restaurant?? We've eaten at hundreds of 5 star restaurants all over the world and have never experienced this scenario. Once she came back, I explained that I was disgusted at the hair that was mixed in with the greens. She immediately noticed it and promptly removed the plate and said it was inexcusable and would make it right. Her response was exactly what I would expect. Next, Phil, the GM came to our table. He immediately apologized, said it was not excusable and offered us, free of charge, new oysters and another octopus. We accepted his offer. Because of this, in the hour and a half we were there we had only had oysters and the bread they brought us. We were pretty hungry at this point.
Finally, the new orders of oysters and the octopus came out. Again, these were appetizers, not our entrees. Both were delicious, and this time, free of hair. Phil checked back again, and so did our main server. We appreciated that.
Since we were still waiting for our main entrees, my fiancé went to the restroom. Upon arrival back to Salt, he stopped to express his concern to Phil, again. We learned that the head chef has only been with them a year and basically has all new staff. We all understand that everyone is experiencing employee retention, this is not an excuse as to why a high caliber restaurant fails to put uncontaminated food on a table.
A few minutes later, our entrees arrived. I had a gluten-free pasta dish with scallops and shrimp. My fiancé had the Snapper. The presentation looked great, but the portion sizes were a bit small for the price point. For my dish, the pasta was slightly over cooked, not terrible though, but the scallops and shrimp were prepared excellent, and a decent amount of each too.
Lastly, dessert was offered free of charge, so I opted for the Creme Brûlée. My fiancé had a chocolate, which was a mousse. A nice balance of sweet and not overly done. In addition, we were brought some chocolate macaroons, chocolate truffles, and caramels. All of the desserts were great. However, since our white wine wasn't a good pairing with our dessert we ordered two glasses of The Prisoner Red blend, called Saldo. It, too, was excellent. It was more of a full-bodied red with hints of blackberry, chocolate, and an oaky feel.
Our check was brought to us and we noticed that both appetizers, all of the desserts, and wines paired with our dessert were all comped. We paid and went to leave, and were approached by Phil again. Again, expressing his concern and asking us to please return for another opportunity to impress upon us. He provided his contact information if we were to be in the area again.
Unfortunately, while we loved our food, we cannot shake the the service from the kitchen and the price point for what we received. If we were to return, we definitely would contact Phil, but for now, we remain concerned
