Seasalt - Berkeley - 4.5 stars

Visited on: September 17, 2006

Comments: Highly recommended

Ordered items:
Oysters on the half shell: Tomales Bay Miyagi, Kumamoto, Beausoleil
Monkfish liver torchon with cucumber, sea urchin and american sturgeon caviar 10

From Seasalt_0920

grilled local sardines with watercress, mint, lemon and roasted red pepper vinaigrette 12.5

From Seasalt_0920

From Seasalt_0920

Grilled California squids

From Seasalt_0920

Grilled bigeye tuna with sweet potatoe puree, bok choy and green curry sauce 22

From Seasalt_0920

Cabbage slaw with basil, mint and lime 5
Nectarine frangipane tart with creme fraiche ice cream

From Seasalt_0920

General descriptions:
Beautiful, small restaurant in Berkeley, done in a warm industrial style. I know, these two terms don't seem to go together, but it really is. A high gray ceiling with bronze walls, but a beautiful azure lighting. Really beautiful. Open kitchen, so you see the chefs cook. In fact, I know when my dishes are ready, because I can see the chefs placing it on the counter right behind my table.

The dishes do the restaurant full justice too. I really love the chef's cooking concept: everything on the plate is meant to be eaten together, in one bite. The flavors of the different items presented on a dish is meant to come together and make a beautiful, harmonious melody. When you do this, you'll realize that the flavors are perfectly balanced, no need to have garnish or a bite of vegetable to cleanse the palate, refresh the taste buds. None whatsoever. Take the monkfish liver for example: the liver for softness and buttery texture, sea urchin to bring in an extra portion of seafood sweetness, the caviar to add in a sharp saltiness to contrast the sweetness, with cucumber coulis to mellow that saltiness, and tiny alfafa sprout heads to add in a bit of crunchiness to balance out the overall softness, preventing it from becoming mushy. The second reason I really admire this restaurant is the chef's boldness to take contrasting ingredients and work them together for a totally new experience. There's no "fushion" here. You can't find a trace of ethnic origin of the dishes. Rather, it's all "creative" cuisine. I was so surprised at how well that peanutty yet slightly spicy green curry works with the lightly sweet sweet potato puree in bringing out the sweetness of the tuna, soften the grilled outer edge and the metallic after taste tuna lean meat has, and the bok choy brings in just the right amount of green sweetness to refresh the entire mouthful. I'll sum up Seasalt in four words: Daring creativity, impeccable execution.


The only disappointment of the evening is the dessert. The creme fraiche ice cream is just awesome, the right slightly tart taste, the right fluffy texture, totally right on. The tart........well...let's just say that I expected it to be crispy and fluffy too, not something I have to tear with my hands to get a piece. Yes, my hands, because they only gave me a fork, no knife. The taste of the pie itself though, is still very very good.

Basic info:
2512 San Pablo AvenueBerkeley, CA 94702 (510) 883-1720Mon-Sun 11:30 a.m.-10:00 p.m. http://www.seasaltrestaurant.com/For price and items, please refer to the website.