Fish Lovers Unite for Black Salt

Black Salt ($$$) sold me at its name (who needs love at first sight when you have restaurant at first name?).  This fish restaurant is tucked away in the Palisades of D.C. I never would have heard of it had it not been for a friend who visited D.C. and gave it rave reviews.  As a fish lover, I was excited to find a place that specialized in seafood dishes.

You would never guess how nice of a place Black Salt is upon entering.  There is a big fish counter and a hoard of wooden tables casually thrown together. Ten feet behind this room is their dining room, with white table cloths and all.  The room is bright and beautiful, with very spaced out tables (this always wins me over). Even the chairs are comfy.  The funny thing is that the menu is the same for the upscale dining room and the casual eating area.

This was my last Restaurant Week stop, but it was the restaurant I was most excited to try.  After taking a good twenty minutes to decide what to order (everything sounded so good!) I decided on a Squash Soup with Spiced Mascarpone and Toasted Sunflower Seeds. Soup seemed like a silly choice to order in a seafood restaurant, but I decided that it matched best with my entree. Boy was I glad I ordered it- this has to have been the most incredible soup I ever tasted (Sorry, mom!).  It was sweet, but savory, and the sunflower seeds gave it a nice crunch. I could easily eat that soup every day for the rest of my life.

Squash Soup with Spiced Mascarpone and Toasted Sunflower Seeds

Next up was their Provencal Seafood Stew, which came with shrimp, fish, mussels and a saffron white wine broth. It was equally delicious as my appetizer soup.  The broth was really light and the saffron highlighted the fish flavor.  The seafood was moist and only had a simple seasoning. My only wish was that there were more shrimp!

Provencal Seafood Stew

My friend had Louisiana Poached Eggs with crab meat and a spicy cayenne hollandaise sauce.  Just when you thought it couldn't get any better than poached eggs and crab meat- it was on top of toasted corn bread. I have to say that the combination was incredible.  The sweet corn bread balanced out the spicy hollandaise sauce.

Louisiana Poached Eggs with Crab on Cornbread

For dessert, we split the Chocolate Chambord Truffle Cake with a raspberry compote and a Key Lime Pie with blueberry compote. While the Key Lime Pie was tart and tasty, the chocolate dessert took the prize. It was so rich and moist- I was licking the plate clean.

Key Lime Pie

Chocolate Truffle Cake with Raspberry Compote

Overall- A+. I hate to bump Zaytinya out of the number one spot for restaurants in D.C., but Black Salt definitely won me over. Their normal menu can be a bit pricey, but they have lunch specials, which includes a 18$ three course meal during the week.