Sea Salt
UPDATE:
JoelT pointed out that the restaurant is closing, and Becky RH sent this clip along from Diablo Dish:
Looks like Sea Salt will have a new owner. According to an ABC license report, Haig and Cindy Krikorian, owners of the K2 restaurant group, are selling their popular Berkeley seafood restaurant to a Sung Su Han. This comes just a few weeks after the Krikorians sold off their T-Rex BBQ. According to the Scoop, Sea Salt would remain open at least until the deal was finalized.
I still like the place, but it looks like you only have a couple of weeks to try it. Owning a restaurant is tough, and the longevity of any particular place is questionable at best.
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How often in your life has everyone at the table ordered the same thing? In a good restaurant with decent variety on the menu? It had never happened to me before, until lunch yesterday.
We at at Sea Salt, on San Pablo Ave in Berkeley. Despite many temptations, five people out of five ordered the fish and chips. (Okay, there was a sixth person, but he just had a beer and a long fork to steal from the rest of us, so he really had the fish and chips too.)
First though, the young master had the beet salad.
Mixed baby beets, Laure Chenel Chevre, Arugula, Citrus Vinaigrette and Walnut Salt
Mother said I would learn to love beets. So far, she’s been wrong. Other people love them, I guess they won’t kill you like mushrooms will, but they are not for me. Still, it’s a pretty salad, I wonder what “walnut salt” is, I thought the goat cheese in salad fad had passed, I don’t have any more comments.
On to the fish and chips:
Not exactly like what you get in old England.
Very fresh cod is battered and fried. The “chips” are just standard (albeit excellent) french fries. Nothing particularly exceptional, just a common dish uncommonly well executed.
Cole slaw–creamy or vinegary? A debate more enduring than politics. I’m a creamy voter–if it doesn’t have mayo, it isn’t coleslaw. (Now I have another debate–cole slaw or coleslaw? Opinions wanted) Back to the first issue. Sea Salt serves what I consider to be a good shredded cabbage salad, with an Asian accented vinegar dressing. Call it what you will, you’ll like it.
Excellence resides in the details. The ketchup (or catsup? Lots of lexicographic issues today) here is special. Very few establishments care enough to pay attention to this most mundane of American condiments, but Sea Salt server “Thai curry ketchup”. It’s unlike anything you have experienced–a touch on the hot side for me, but exciting and different and darned near worth the trip by itself.
Susan and Karl thinking about our meal.
Sea Salt is part of the same restaurant group that owns Lalimes, so I’m not surprised that we like it. The food is not fancy or pretentious. Presentations are professional, supporting rather than overpowering the taste. Service is efficient and not obtrusive.
We’ve eaten here a number of times. There really are other things on the menu–in particular, try the Bacon, lettuce and trout sandwich. The room is open and airy, and there is a patio in the back for dining al fresco. As you would expect in Berkeley, the wine list is sufficient for wine snobs and the food is all as local and sustainable as possible. No moral issues are raised by eating here.
I like Sea Salt, you will too.
Totally Unauthorized 
this place will be closing:
http://sanfrancisco.grubstreet.com/2012/11/sea-salt-berkeley-closing-eat-lounge.html
Incroyable!!!!!!!
I saw the sign in the window from the ABC, and wondered what it meant for Sea Salt. Sad to see that it means goodbye.
Thanks, Joel.