Restaurant Week at BlackSalt

BlackSalt has claim to one of my all-time favorite DC dining memories. We went with my brother, a true seafood lover, during his first time visiting me from Oklahoma. I get so warm and fuzzy when I can combine my DC life with my Oklahoma life, and that night was truly one of my favorites. We went after a Nationals game, so things were already a little silly. After one of the most amazing dinners I’ve ever had in my life, we shared a bottle of ice wine with dessert and laughed for what felt like hours.
So the restaurant had big emotional shoes to fill when we returned the last week for lunch. We were there for restaurant week, so I admit my expectations weren’t that high. Service started off very slow and a little awkward, but improved as the meal progressed.
BlackSalt’s restaurant week menu covers all of the bases of what you’d want in a seafood lunch, but we noted that many of the available items were not from the regular menu, which is usually not a good sign. Still, we hoped for the best.
To start, I had Addie’s mussels with shallot, garlic, tomato and lemon.
This dish, which is on the regular dinner menu, was quite good. The mussels were fresh and cooked very well, but I thought the broth lacked in flavor a bit.
Tom chose the fried calamari with chipotle aioli, an item that seemed to have been created for restaurant week.
Although this dish was probably added to the menu to cut the cost of the restaurant week offerings (BlackSalt is not exactly a budget-friendly establishment), it was still really delicious. The calamari was extremely tender and the breading wasn’t too heavy. I appreciated that even though they changed the menu to fit the lower price point, they still cooked everything as they would their highest quality ingredients.
For my entree, I was highly tempted to order the burger. But Tom makes fun of me for going to seafood restaurants and ordering meat, so I instead committed to the grilled mahi mahi.
I believe this is the same dish as the wood grilled North Atlantic salmon from the lunch menu, but with a more affordable fish atop the Brussels sprouts, radicchio, flageolets, sultana raisins and ladolemono. I must say, this cost-cutting effort really worked out in my favor since I do not enjoy salmon at all. The mahi was, again, cooked to perfection and I really enjoyed the flavors and textures of the vegetables from the sweet and chewy raisins to the bitter raddichio.
Tom chose the Provençal seafood stew for his entrée, which is a regular lunch menu offering.
Loaded with fresh seafood, this was an impressive dish. Although, it was advertised as having shrimp and Tom’s bowl had none. We asked the server about this, and he returned awhile later with exactly one prawn added to the entrée. Looking around the dining room, others seemed to be swimming in shrimp so my guess is that they were beginning to run out. He said his lone shrimp was very tasty, as was the rest of the stew.
My favorite thing about restaurant week is that you pretty much have to get dessert to participate. I don’t usually eat dessert at lunch, but I’m not at all unhappy to do so. My choice of key lime pie with blueberry compote was, quite simply, heaven.
This pie is a regular staple at BlackSalt and a must-order if you visit.
Tom had the chocolate truffle cake, which was also excellent, although far too rich for me.
Chocolate lovers will love this dessert, perhaps served with a giant bowl of coffee or a glass of ice wine both of which BlackSalt does very well.
In the end, this meal didn’t come close to living up to that wonderful dinner with my brother, but I left feeling rather impressed anyway. Restaurant week is a great way to experience restaurants that may otherwise lie outside of your price range, and even though BlackSalt had to make some adjustments to make their fare accessible at $22, they still turned out impeccably cooked food that I was thrilled to eat.