blacksalt

blacksalt
4883 macarthur boulevard NW, washington, DC 20007
tel: 202) 342-9101
hours: monday-thursday 11:30am-10pm, friday-saturday 11:30am-11pm, sunday 11am-9pm, happy hour daily 4pm-7pm

what was consumed: blacksalt and vinegar chips, boutique oysters, provencal seafood stew (market catch, blue shell mussels, shrimp, saffron), maryland blue crab cakes (sweet corn purée, crispy onions), steamed blue shell mussels (spanish - chorizo, romesco, marjoram)

for being so close to the ocean, i feel like there is a dearth of good seafood here in the dc/metro area (besides maryland blue crabs, of course. i love it!). that is, the dc/metro area is not notorious for its seafood options as is, say, maine and its lobsters, san francisco and its dungenous crabs, etc. but you should not be fooled! there are some amazing seafood options in the city, and enjoying them at blacksalt would be a great option.

c, j, w, and i head out to blacksalt one day when we all finally had the time to check out their happy hour (which is amazing, btw). we tried to come to blacksalt before, but there were too many people in our party to be accommodated by the already filled blacksalt (remember that blacksalt is not only a bar and restaurant, but also a fish market. so many things going on at blacksalt!). we enjoyed a bowl of homemade "salt 'n vinegar" chips and delicious bread as we looked at the rest of the happy hour menu and decided on what we were going to share. the chips were delicious. a bit more oily than i would have liked, but a small small price to pay for the salty and tangy flavor of the chips.

we finally decided to share a number of different dishes: and everything was super delicious. the seafood was fresh, the flavors were well matched, and nothing was too overwhelming. in fact, despite being over full, i felt as though i could've eaten another bowl of the seafood stew, another crab cake, mussels, and oysters of course. it was funny - this was the first time w had raw oysters (according to him anyway) and it took a bit of convincing to get him to try (though c, j, and i already claimed and divvyed up the rest of w's share of oysters had he not wanted the others ... hee hee). but w, aren't you glad you did! a little bit of lemon juice, a bit of vinegar, and slurp slurp slurp! fresh and delicious oysters now in the belly. some days, i think back at blacksalt's oysters and want to go back and just fill up on those (but just during the months with "r"s! is that true?)

c, j, w, and i decided that we were going to stray from the happy hour menu and order a few desserts because 1) we saw the table next to ours order some really tasty lookin' desserts, 2) we were with some folks (j) with crazy sweet tooths (sweet teeth?), so desserts are more often than not in order, and 3) we could (gosh darn-it)!!wow. talk about indulgence! the way that the desserts were presented made them look so delicious. and once we broke into the desserts, we were surely not disappointed! the creme brule trio included original, chocolate, and caramel-like (i've since forgotten exactly what it was) variations. the crisp sugar top layer with creamy and rich custard underneath, topped with special toppings, per creme brule type. the chocolate/peanut butter "cake" (cake? ganache? mousse? whatever the technical term is) was delicious. rich, chocolate-y, peanut butter-y. i really could eat no more than the taste that i had. but for the sweets lovers, this is definitely a go! in retrospect, we probably only needed to order either the creme brule trio or the chocolate/peanut butter decadence. of course, that didn't prevent use from pretty much polishing off all of the desserts.

i imagine the rest of blacksalt's menu is also fabulous and delicious, but i tried not to look at that menu for fear of being tempted to overeat (per usual). for the time being, i will stick to their wonderful and amazing happy hour menu. i can't wait to go back to blacksalt - nom nom nom nom nom ...

online: http://www.blacksaltrestaurant.com/