BlackSalt
4883 MacArthur Blvd. NW
Washington, DC 20007
202-342-9101
Neighborhood: Upper Northwest, Palisades
Cuisines: Seafood, Modern, American, Breakfast
Opening Hours:
Open for lunch Monday through Saturday 11:30 AM to 2:30 PM. Open for dinner Monday through Thursday 5:30 to 9:30; Friday 5:30 to 11; Saturday 5 to 11; Sunday 5 to 9. Open for brunch Sunday 11 to 2.
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Price Range: Expensive
Noise Level: Chatty
Reservations: Recommended
Website: http://www.blacksaltrestaurant.com
Best Dishes:
Sweet Nantucket bay scallops atop puttanesca; a salad of bitter escarole, sweet candied almonds, salty bacon, and tart apples; chowder with crisp fried clams; steamed mussels with chorizo and tomato sauce; tart Key-lime pie; butterscotch pudding with a Sc
Special Features: Wheelchair Accessible, Kid Friendly
Only the top 40 restaurants were ranked in 2011's Best Restaurants list.
Jeff and Barbara Black’s seafood dining room in DC’s Palisades neighborhood dolls up lesser-seen catches—butterfish, mangrove snapper—with an atlas’s worth of accents: On a given menu you might find raita, kimchee, salsa verde, and ponzu sauce. Until recently, that would have been a danger sign—cooking at BlackSalt has been unfocused and over-accessorized. But chef Rick Cook is turning out dishes that are better and more precise than we’ve seen here.
The menu changes frequently, and standards such as fried clams with curried aïoli, garlicky bouillabaisse, and a tumbler of butterscotch pot de crème are consistent winners. Want something simpler? Much of the fish on the menu is available in the front-room market to take home and cook yourself.
Also good: Bigeye-tuna tartare with cashews; grilled sardines; bacony clam chowder; banana-coconut cream pie.
Open Monday through Saturday for lunch and dinner, Sunday for brunch and dinner. Expensive.
>> See all of 2011's Best Restaurants